Bumper Removal Towbar fitting

Have a towbar to fit should be fun as I don't have the correct bolts with the arms on, sure I can improvise, but before I get to that point I have to remove the rear bumper to get to the ends of the chassis rail. Is it easy, is it straight forward or an absolute barstool only to be tried when there is plenty of time?

It’s easy to remove, there are a few online videos if you do a search, but mostly the fixings are obvious. Taking the bumper off will be one of the faster jobs, fitting the wiring will take longer.

Get something to rest the bumper on when you release it, the cable goes the near side and is not super long. You will need to swing it to one side to fit the tow bar.

The special bolts go inside the rails and the tabs hit the rail sides so you can tighten the up from the outside. You can do the same thing with a ring spanner.

Robin

Thank you very much Robin, I was hoping I can use normal bolts & fish them through the holes, or blutac them into a ring spanner etc.

Alan.

I'll second what Robin said, very easy job to do once the bumper is out of the way.
it's slightly easier if you can put the rear of the car on ramps or axle stands, but not essential. It just saves you laying on you back, turns into a sitting down with coffee sort of job that way. 
Depending upon the make of towbar and your current exhaust clearance can be a little tight between the two. My aftermarket rear silencer hung at an angle, I needed to bend the mounts on this to get it level to prevent "knocking". Again not difficult, but something you may need to correct if you have the issue.
Mike

wrote:

Thank you very much Robin, I was hoping I can use normal bolts & fish them through the holes, or blutac them into a ring spanner etc.

Alan.

Make sure you use the correct grade bolts. Minimum of 8.8 or maybe even 10.9, they must be high tensile. Don't use stainless ones.

The right size is also important.

Very easy, mostly 10mm fixings in the boot opening, wheel arches and a couple on the underside. You need to remove the upper tail lights too access the last 2 and once the bumper is loose you can disconnect the wiring with 2 connectors behind a rubber flap on the left hand side. Saves having to leave the bumper hanging around!

300bhpton.

I agree that some stainless fixings are of dubious quality but some reach industry standards in both 8.8 and 10.9 strengths.

Roger

Thanks guys all done, nice steady job without too much hassle apart from the older I get the longer jobs take as I keep losing things. Put the 2 angled brackets down, lost 1 of them, no idea how, but it dropped on the floor, then lost the 19mm socket somewhere between the workshop round the back of the house & the car on the drive at the front. Then after finding the socket in the back of the car lost one of the 12mm locking nuts, it was underneath the mat I was kneeling on that had never been moved, then couldn't find the electric socket & bracket. Oh & the rain which meant I got everything put away only for it to stop, so got it all out for it to start again. Still need to do the electrics, but hopefully that can be done one night this week.

Wasn't raining tonight so as a bonus & a way of keeping away from the grandkids, I went out & routed the cables into the nearside wing & connected them all up to a spare TEB7AS I found in the workshop. Running a temporary feed direct from the battery proved everything worked including the additional reversing lights I've fitted. Only thing to do now is sort a proper permanent feed out, are there any spares easily obtainable under the dash or is it just as easy to go back to the battery?

Was rummaging around in the back of the Jimny yesterday & came across 2 of the special bolts with the tabs on, they are unused & in the back of a Jimny that has never had to towbar, one of those weird occurences, that are beyond explanation