ADD Pro Bolt On REAR and accessing spare?

[nikhsub1]

OK so I installed the ADD Pro rear bumper now getting the tool to the bolt to spin the spare tire down is not possible - seems the hole in the bumper to access the spare is in a much lower position than OEM making it impossible to get the tool onto that nut. I called ADD, I am the first to bring this up to them, they haven't even tried to access their shop truck's spare since they put the bumper on! I really don't want to drop the bumper to access the spare so my only option may be to drill the hole bigger where the rod inserts.

 

[nikhsub1]

OK confirmed - I'm pretty sure these specific bumpers you are unable to access the spare dropdown bolt without some mods. I drilled out my lock hole to 1 3/8" with a stepped bit. Even with that, no love if you try to insert 2 rods connected together. You have to connect ONE rod, then bend the shit out of it down to then connect the 2nd rod. Pretty sure you need to drill the lock hole out too like I did - no big deal for me as I don't use the lock anyway, I ordered a flat plug grommet for fill the hole.

In the pic below, the upper right rod is connected to the bolt to lower the spare - to the left, and about 1.5 to 2 inches lower than the connected rod. Anyway, I predict a lot of pissed off folks with this bumper when they try to access the spare tire.

 

[Dustan]

On my SVC bumper if I kept the spare under the truck I think the instructions said something about removing the tube that the spare lowering tool slides into. Which will make it harder to align but if it works for the just in case situations

 

[nikhsub1]

Do you see how high up your plug is? Mine on the ADD bumper is much lower - this is the issue. Look at my pic, this is after I made a bigger hole...

 

[nikhsub1]

Well I went to the tire shop today (yesterday was a fail and discovered how you can't drop the tire with this bumper) and all is good. Here are my recommendations for those of you with this bumper that won't be able to drop the spare.

1. Insert ONE piece of the rod through the bumper hole, put your other arm between the bumper and the spare and guide the rod in. This should be no problem.
2. Now, try to attach a SECOND piece of rod to the first piece - not you will have to bend the attached rod down a significant amount. My guess is you will not be able to bend it enough to attach. If you can, you are done.
3. You can use a socket to fit the end of the rod (or a wrench) that is attached from under the truck and lower the spare that way. This could ultimately be the simplest solution.
4. Since I don't use the key lock, and the shape of the keyed hole was ugly anyway, I decided to use a 1 3/8" stepped drill bit to bore the hole out to 1 3/8". If you feel the same way, you can do this - with this size hole you are able to connect the first rod, then connect the second rod through the bumper hole by pulling the inner connected rod downward. You only need to lengths of rod with this bumper.
5. Get yourself a flat rubber panel plug and be done.

Pic of the drill bit I used:



and the nice clean hole it made - im gonna spray it black for protection.

 

[joegie]

weird, I've dropped my spare twice since getting this bumper, probably took about the same time to remove the spare as with the stock bumper.

it does take a little time to get the tool inserted correctly, also I have the two pieces attached before inserting it into the bumper.

 

[nikhsub1]

Really weird - it is not possible to insert the rods if 2 are connected, you can't get the angle at all.

 

[joegie]

glad you got it sorted, also side note I do have a fifteen52 wheel up there with a stock tire, not sure if that would change anything.

i'll be dropping the spare again when my method wheel bolts come in, whenever they restock lol.

 

[joegie]

just dropped my spare today, took a few pics, I attached the full length of the tool before trying to lower the tire, probably took me 2 minutes to get it seated.

also for reference i've had the bumper since late last year, not sure if something has changed since then.

 

[nikhsub1]

I must have a freak bumper.