Front Bumper Alignment / Adjustment Question
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Front Bumper Alignment / Adjustment Question
I hit a stupid deer last night. I was doing about 75 mph, and one of those morons just poped up right in front of me. Luckily, the only casualties other than the deer were the air dam and a fog light. I have hit them a few times before with out having any problems, but this time it caused the front bumper to be slightly off center. It is a factory bumper with a Ranch Hand grille guard. My truck is a 95 F150. The bumper and brush guard is now about 1 inch or so higher on the driver side and is pushed back about 1 inch or so. Nothing appears to be damaged. Anyway, my question is this. How much adjustment do the mounting brackets for this style bumper have? Would there be enough adjustment room to straighten this up? I don't want to go taking things loose if it won't do any good.
Thanks
Thanks
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: New Jersey
The frame ends have a right angle piece welded to them, to which the bumper brackets bolt to. That right angle piece, at least on my 93, had slots rather than holes, so I could adjust the bumper's position left and right. My bumper brackets had vertical slots, to adjust it up or down, and I guess tilt as well. Not a lot mind you... but 1/4" of adjustment at the bumper bracket is about an inch at the outer edge, so maybe there's enough for you to adjust.
Maybe that's why it's crooked - the bumper moved on the brackets?
Maybe that's why it's crooked - the bumper moved on the brackets?
Junior User
Joined: May 2004
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From: Central Wisconsin
I carefully adjusted mine with a large tree and a tow strap. This is dangerous and if done stupidly could cause bodily injury. All straps must be secure. I had to back up very slowly and check several times before i got it right. To much and the bumper will be overextended. This is only recommended if the slots do not give enough adjustment.
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: New Jersey
One could also dremel or die grind the slots larger as necessary. Or make new brackets out of angle iron, or use washers to shim longer bolts from a hardware store. There are many ways to fix this, if the bumper is just crooked, and not bent like a pretzel.
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I saw what frederic was talking about. There are slotted mounting points. That might be able to allow the bumper a guard to be leveled out straight accross, but the driver side corner has been pushed in. I thought about doing what Twitche said with a tow strap or maybe a come-along. It may be a better bet to do as frederic suggests. At least safer anyway. Yeah its just crooked. I'm pretty sure I can adjust it to sit level. As for being pushed in, I don't guess there is any real adjustment for that. As mentioned, washers could be used to space it back out. I did find a small stress point on the bumper hidden just inside of the grille guard, but thats all that is wrong with it. Its not bent like a pretzel. Thanks for the input. I'll try adjusting it some and see what happens. I'll try to post back when finished. Thanks again.
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