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Can the brush guard be lowered without the wrench?
Is it possible to lower the brush guard without the wrench designed for it? I can't seem to find mine and I have to replace a burned out headlight (I cannot remove the headlight assembly with the guard up!)
Yes, you can just stick 2 allen keys (or 2 rods, or screws/nails) into the recesses on opposite sides of the quick release bolt and use a screw driver to turn. Same idea if you have some angle tip needle nose pliers, snap ring pliers, etc.
Yes, you can just stick 2 allen keys (or 2 rods, or screws/nails) into the recesses on opposite sides of the quick release bolt and use a screw driver to turn. Same idea if you have some angle tip needle nose pliers, snap ring pliers, etc.
Can I remove the nuts on either side of the vertical bar to do the same thing?
If you remove the nuts that are attached to the bumper brackets, you still will not be able to lower the brush guard since the bolt heads will still be stuck in the bracket with no way of getting them out with the quick release bolt still in there. The nuts and bolts attach the quick release bracket to the bumper bracket. This will also ruin the alignment of the brackets and make it more difficult to reattach the brush guard later. You can also use pliers or knuckle busters on the outside of the quick release bolt but you will most likely damage the plastic.
Here's a picture of the brackets on the truck with the brush guard lowered
The quick release bolt look like this:
You can stick anything in there that will fit in the space and allow you to turn. I made a 3D printed tool for this a while back but it doesn't stand up to much force, so I scrapped the project. I have since just replaced the quick release bolt with a correctly sized bolt and lock washer.
On the above picture, the tooth groves in the quick release bolt are at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 o'clock. Any two that are on opposite sides (12 and 6, 2 and 8, etc). Stick in a pin, screw, nail in 2 sides, then use a screw driver between the two to turn the quick release bolt.
Shiann has it covered here but I picked up an adjustable pin wrench from harbor freight several years ago for about 5 bucks that did the job as well (in case you don't have any of the tools he mentions).
Get the two adjustable pins positioned in two of the slots in the quick release bolt, twist 90 degrees and the bull bar will be free to drop down from the bottom hinges.
Then all you have to do is slide to one side and it comes right off.
So I lowered the brush guard. Now I can't get it locked back into place.
It seems as if the quick release bolt won't line up laterally with the cylinder mounted on the brush guard. I made sure the guard was aligned properly and it appears to be mounted properly on the horizontal pins located at the bottom of the front bumper:
You really just have to force it on. The quick release bolt has some left/right/up/down play to find the pin. There is also the very good chance that your brush guard is not entirely straight. Mine was not only not straight, but was mounted about 1" off of center.
Is your driver side quick release also the same amount offset? You may have to push the brush guard slightly toward the passenger side to get it to fit. Also make sure the brush guard is sitting completely flush against the flange on the lower pin. There should be little to no gap where the brush guard hinges downwards.
There is some adjustment in the brackets themselves if you want to try that. There are 2 nuts on the under side of the bumper that fix the bracket holding the quick release bolt to the bumper. The also have some play in them. To access them you have to remove the fog light. I would caution this as there is basically an infinite amount of adjustability in these brackets so you could be fiddling with it forever.
If you remove the nuts that are attached to the bumper brackets, you still will not be able to lower the brush guard since the bolt heads will still be stuck in the bracket with no way of getting them out with the quick release bolt still in there. The nuts and bolts attach the quick release bracket to the bumper bracket. This will also ruin the alignment of the brackets and make it more difficult to reattach the brush guard later. You can also use pliers or knuckle busters on the outside of the quick release bolt but you will most likely damage the plastic.
Here's a picture of the brackets on the truck with the brush guard lowered
The quick release bolt look like this:
You can stick anything in there that will fit in the space and allow you to turn. I made a 3D printed tool for this a while back but it doesn't stand up to much force, so I scrapped the project. I have since just replaced the quick release bolt with a correctly sized bolt and lock washer.
Do you have the file for that still? That's a super clever solution!
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