Soon to be How To: Convert from Chrome Bumper to Sport Bumper

[J Rod]

I got my bumpers swapped out this weekend, overall it wasn’t too difficult. The worst part was putting the air dam on, it took forever to get all the clips in simultaneously. The damn things kept popping out on me as I worked my way around. I’m thinking it may have been a lot easier if I had installed it before attaching the bumper cover to the truck though. Also, I still ended up with a few parts that I didn’t need. So for future reference, these are the only parts I ended up needing for the swap that I couldn’t reuse from the old bumper……

68197698AA BUMPER COVER W/O PARK SENS or 68239435AA BUMPER COVER W/PARK SENS.
68003844AA AIR DAM PUSH PINS
68196999AB IMPACT BAR
68145441AC ENERGY ABSORBER
68033135AA AIR DEFLECTOR

Thanks again OP for the write up, it was a HUGE help!

Before....

After....

 

[Jared4.7]

Got it dirty...



Promptly cleaned it:

That looks pretty good to me!

 

[2016 OutDoorsman]

I guess I wasn’t aware you could easily paint over powder coating, or at least I’ve never heard of it being done. You’ll have to let us know how it turns out.

J ROD -

here is my bumper fun from this weekend, hope this helps.

http://www.ramforum.com/f41/new_painted_bumper_w_sensor_weekend_project-94438/#post1410836

 

[J Rod]

J ROD -

here is my bumper fun from this weekend, hope this helps.

http://www.ramforum.com/f41/new_painted_bumper_w_sensor_weekend_project-94438/#post1410836

That came out really well! Thanks for the link, guess I'll be adding that to my to-do list now.

 

[mooreman21]

just curious, but what did you guys do with your original bumpers after swapping?

 

[J Rod]

just curious, but what did you guys do with your original bumpers after swapping?

I'm going to list mine on here and Craigslist, not sure what I'll get out of it.

 

[J Rod]

So I just realized that there is another added benefit to doing this swap. I think I've gained close to an inch or so of lift in the front due to the weight savings. I wish I had taken some measurements and weighed each bumper before swapping them out to be sure, but my truck went from having about 1" or so of rake to being almost level. It makes sense I suppose, the plastic support and bumper cover hardly weigh anything and the new steel support that attaches to the frame is much smaller and weighs a lot less than my chrome bumper did. Bonus!

 

[zstampe]

If anyone wants to swap near the kc metro area I'm looking for chrome bumpers, I have a 15 brilliant black I'm wanting to swap them on.!




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[Ramfink]

I know the bumpers changed in 13. But are any of the guts the same on a 10? Like would a 13 bumper cover go on a 2010 sport?

 

[Sk8ing4Life33]

I have been kind of jealous of the light bars in the sport bumpers and have considered doing this swap. This helps alot in understanding the final cost. THX guys

 

[2016 OutDoorsman]

Has anyone done this conversion with stock fender flares?

I am going to do this next week (now that I have all the parts) and I have stock flares that I think might be tricky to work with.

Any help would be awesome.


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[2016 OutDoorsman]

Finally got my front bumper conversion done.

Before

After



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[Dirtyd70301]

Was it the same brackets or did you have to buy different ones to do the swap.

 

[Goat28]

I got my bumpers swapped out this weekend, overall it wasn’t too difficult. The worst part was putting the air dam on, it took forever to get all the clips in simultaneously. The damn things kept popping out on me as I worked my way around. I’m thinking it may have been a lot easier if I had installed it before attaching the bumper cover to the truck though. Also, I still ended up with a few parts that I didn’t need. So for future reference, these are the only parts I ended up needing for the swap that I couldn’t reuse from the old bumper……

68197698AA BUMPER COVER W/O PARK SENS or 68239435AA BUMPER COVER W/PARK SENS.
68003844AA AIR DAM PUSH PINS
68196999AB IMPACT BAR
68145441AC ENERGY ABSORBER
68033135AA AIR DEFLECTOR

Thanks again OP for the write up, it was a HUGE help!

Thanks to everyone for these write ups. Very helpful and the trucks look great.

So I'm definitely going to do the swap for my 2017 Bighorn. Are these listed items the only things I would need?

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[Itsme71190]

If anyone wants to swap near the kc metro area I'm looking for chrome bumpers, I have a 15 brilliant black I'm wanting to swap them on.!




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Damnit... making me regret painting my chrome bumpers.... im in va and would of traded

 

[LAram22]

Ok so can someone break down exactly what parts I would need and where to order them for my 2010 front and rear?

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[BEAST19]

Thanks to everyone for these write ups. Very helpful and the trucks look great.

So I'm definitely going to do the swap for my 2017 Bighorn. Are these listed items the only things I would need?

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Any idea how much it all added up to??


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[rtm03862iq]

Any idea how much it all added up to??


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I priced it out and it was at minimum around $900 to $1,000 with paint. I'm probably gonna go the route you went with and get a paint-to-match steel bumper and have it color matched and do the same with the rear bumper. All in, it should be less than $700 for both.

 

[konfuzed]

Got my chrome bumper painted, suppose to get it back tomorrow


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[konfuzed]

Got it back, just haven't had a chance to post it....

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