Using 2009-2014 rear bumpers on 2004-2008 f150
10-24-2014, 12:18 PM
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Using 2009-2014 rear bumpers on 2004-2008 f150
An uninsured driver rear-ended my '08 F150, a basic regular cab, V6, 5-sp work truck. From behind the truck it was apparent she destroyed the bumper and the plastic cover, and damaged the paint and sheet metal of the tailgate and left rear fender. A small piece of plastic trim along the bottom edge of the rear left fender was also damaged. Her car, an '09 Fusion, was totaled.
This isn't the first time an uninsured driver has rear-ended a pickup of mine. The last time it happened I took the rosebud tip to the bumper and heated and hammered until it was fairly straight, and then welded on segments of scrap 1/2 x 2 hot rolled flat until it was adequately, ahhhhh ...um..... reinforced.
A look under the bumper demonstrated that the heavy metal core of the assembly was badly damaged at the left end.
The appraiser agreed that the brackets were damaged as well.
After the uninsured driver deductible, the insurance company would write me a check for a bit under $2k.
I wondered if I might save some dollars by finding used or take-off parts. That way, I could use some of the insurance settlement to handle all the paintwork plus a respray of the roof, which is oxidizing badly under peeling clearcoat. I figured I could find less costly parts, handle the prep, and let the body shop do all the 2-part primer and finish. I would come out about even for quality work, or a little bit ahead.
But there's a shortage of used 2004-2008 F150 rear bumpers out there. They're tough to find, and when you do find them, they're not cheap.
And there's still a ton of 2009-2014 new/take-off work truck parts out there. I found a stash in the midwest of dozens of 2014 bumpers for $140 each for black/black work truck "complete" assemblies.
Research online revealed one Yahoo Answers entry from a guy who had had the same idea. As I'd noticed, he said he found the bumpers to be identical in shape and size, but the body shop and the Ford dealer say it's impossible. He found a craigslist 2013 bumper and mounted it on his 2007, but he said he needed to replace the "brackets" and it bolted up just fine.
So I ordered one of those bumpers from the midwest. And I ordered a pair of 2009 brackets on ebay.
The brackets are Ford part numbers 9L3Z-17788A and 9L3Z-17788B for left and right. They go for $80 to $90 for the left and $50 to $90 for the right, but I found a pair for $50.
The $140 bumper itself arrived in a few days. I found that it was hollow -- a shell -- no heavy steel core. It consisted of a big plastic center and covers and two separate steel ends.
A little bit of research demonstrated that the core is now the "bumper reinforcement" and is not considered part of the bumper assembly. As with the front ends, the "bumper" is now a cosmetic piece and the real steal is a re-bar. Gone are the days of a pickup truck's rear bumper being a single piece of iron!
I found the 2009-2014 rear bumper reinforcement bar Ford 9L3Z17D826A on ebay for $125. Ordered that. When it arrived, I found it fit perfectly inside the bumper assembly and bolted it up.
On tear-down, I found that the bumper brackets are welded to the truck frame. The right bracket on my truck was nice and square. The left bracket had been compromised. I found that the 2008 brackets installed on my truck were substantially longer and heavier than the 2009 brackets I'd bought but that the interface to the re-bar appeared to be identical to the later model parts. Furthermore, it would require quite a lot of cutting and grinding to remove them. Rather than do that, I broke out the big pry bars and the heavy sledge and found I could warp the left bracket back into position without heat. I did that. Then I reinforced it by welding on some scrap 1/4" plate and covered it all with black Rustoleum.
Once done, I found that the assembly of the 2009 re-bar and the 2014 bumper bolted up just fine to my 2008 truck.
Since I found only one online reference about this and it was technically imprecise, I thought I'd share my detailed research.
First, let me summarize, it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to bolt up a 2009-2014 bumper AND RE-BAR to 2004-2008 rear bumper brackets. The re-bars are NOT interchangeable. The later re-bar has a different orientation of the end brackets and is quite a bit lighter in weight.
The older and newer outer bumpers are likewise NOT DIRECTLY interchangeable on any one re-bar. The 2004-2008 bumper consists of a single steel outer bumper skin that runs from right to left and the plastic cover snaps into place over it, extending over the entire upper surface and down as far as the bumper hitch in the center. The 2009-2014 bumper, on the other hand, consists of two steel bumper right and left outer portions and a much heavier, larger plastic cover and center piece. The complete assemblies are interchangeable on the truck, but only the complete assemblies including the re-bar. Your brackets, if undamaged, will work just fine. The plate lights and the spare lift winch key lock plug both interchange between bumper assemblies just fine.
So... in order to mount a 2009-2014 bumper to your older 2004-2008 F150, you'll need a new step pad/top cover, a new re-bar, and both steel ends. Here are the part numbers:
RE-BARS:
9L3Z17D826A 2009-2014 rear bumper re-bar, light duty, for bumper hitch ( $100 to $150 )
9L3Z17D826B 2009-2014 rear bumper re-bar, heavy duty towing, with hitch receiver ($150 to $300 )
Top Step Pad:
9L3Z-17B807-A Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, carbon black, no prox sensor holes
9L3Z-17B807-B Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, dark gray, no prox sensor holes
9L3Z-17B807-C Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, dark gray, with proximity sensor holes
( any of these will run about $100 to $120 online )
BUMPER LEFT AND RIGHT ENDS: ( Many vendors sell right and left sides separately, adding a -LH or -RH to the part number. The part number stickers don't have these options. The part number seems to be for a PAIR. Know what you're buying! )
9L3Z-17906-ACP Rear bumper halves, left and right, chrome, w/o prox holes ( $200 to $340 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-B Rear bumper halves, left and right, chrome, w/prox holes ( $200 to $360 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-C Rear bumper halves, primer, left and right w/o prox holes ( UNCOMMON -- $320 to $360 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-DCP Rear bumper halves, primer, right & left, with prox holes ( $160 to $300 per pair )
9L3Z17906CPTM pre-painted, black, no prox holes ( $250 to $320 per pair )
9L3Z17906DPTM pre-painted, black, prox holes ( $200 to $300 per pair )
I could NOT locate the part numbers for the work truck dark gray bumper halves.
Clearly, if you need to assemble a bumper from parts there's no economy here. BUT... if you can locate a take-off for a hundred and a half, as I did, then add your re-bar and you're good to go, and you come out way ahead. Likewise, if you can find a damaged complete later bumper, you could replace only the damaged end and again, you'd see a huge savings.
- ep
This isn't the first time an uninsured driver has rear-ended a pickup of mine. The last time it happened I took the rosebud tip to the bumper and heated and hammered until it was fairly straight, and then welded on segments of scrap 1/2 x 2 hot rolled flat until it was adequately, ahhhhh ...um..... reinforced.
A look under the bumper demonstrated that the heavy metal core of the assembly was badly damaged at the left end.
The appraiser agreed that the brackets were damaged as well.
After the uninsured driver deductible, the insurance company would write me a check for a bit under $2k.
I wondered if I might save some dollars by finding used or take-off parts. That way, I could use some of the insurance settlement to handle all the paintwork plus a respray of the roof, which is oxidizing badly under peeling clearcoat. I figured I could find less costly parts, handle the prep, and let the body shop do all the 2-part primer and finish. I would come out about even for quality work, or a little bit ahead.
But there's a shortage of used 2004-2008 F150 rear bumpers out there. They're tough to find, and when you do find them, they're not cheap.
And there's still a ton of 2009-2014 new/take-off work truck parts out there. I found a stash in the midwest of dozens of 2014 bumpers for $140 each for black/black work truck "complete" assemblies.
Research online revealed one Yahoo Answers entry from a guy who had had the same idea. As I'd noticed, he said he found the bumpers to be identical in shape and size, but the body shop and the Ford dealer say it's impossible. He found a craigslist 2013 bumper and mounted it on his 2007, but he said he needed to replace the "brackets" and it bolted up just fine.
So I ordered one of those bumpers from the midwest. And I ordered a pair of 2009 brackets on ebay.
The brackets are Ford part numbers 9L3Z-17788A and 9L3Z-17788B for left and right. They go for $80 to $90 for the left and $50 to $90 for the right, but I found a pair for $50.
The $140 bumper itself arrived in a few days. I found that it was hollow -- a shell -- no heavy steel core. It consisted of a big plastic center and covers and two separate steel ends.
A little bit of research demonstrated that the core is now the "bumper reinforcement" and is not considered part of the bumper assembly. As with the front ends, the "bumper" is now a cosmetic piece and the real steal is a re-bar. Gone are the days of a pickup truck's rear bumper being a single piece of iron!
I found the 2009-2014 rear bumper reinforcement bar Ford 9L3Z17D826A on ebay for $125. Ordered that. When it arrived, I found it fit perfectly inside the bumper assembly and bolted it up.
On tear-down, I found that the bumper brackets are welded to the truck frame. The right bracket on my truck was nice and square. The left bracket had been compromised. I found that the 2008 brackets installed on my truck were substantially longer and heavier than the 2009 brackets I'd bought but that the interface to the re-bar appeared to be identical to the later model parts. Furthermore, it would require quite a lot of cutting and grinding to remove them. Rather than do that, I broke out the big pry bars and the heavy sledge and found I could warp the left bracket back into position without heat. I did that. Then I reinforced it by welding on some scrap 1/4" plate and covered it all with black Rustoleum.
Once done, I found that the assembly of the 2009 re-bar and the 2014 bumper bolted up just fine to my 2008 truck.
Since I found only one online reference about this and it was technically imprecise, I thought I'd share my detailed research.
First, let me summarize, it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to bolt up a 2009-2014 bumper AND RE-BAR to 2004-2008 rear bumper brackets. The re-bars are NOT interchangeable. The later re-bar has a different orientation of the end brackets and is quite a bit lighter in weight.
The older and newer outer bumpers are likewise NOT DIRECTLY interchangeable on any one re-bar. The 2004-2008 bumper consists of a single steel outer bumper skin that runs from right to left and the plastic cover snaps into place over it, extending over the entire upper surface and down as far as the bumper hitch in the center. The 2009-2014 bumper, on the other hand, consists of two steel bumper right and left outer portions and a much heavier, larger plastic cover and center piece. The complete assemblies are interchangeable on the truck, but only the complete assemblies including the re-bar. Your brackets, if undamaged, will work just fine. The plate lights and the spare lift winch key lock plug both interchange between bumper assemblies just fine.
So... in order to mount a 2009-2014 bumper to your older 2004-2008 F150, you'll need a new step pad/top cover, a new re-bar, and both steel ends. Here are the part numbers:
RE-BARS:
9L3Z17D826A 2009-2014 rear bumper re-bar, light duty, for bumper hitch ( $100 to $150 )
9L3Z17D826B 2009-2014 rear bumper re-bar, heavy duty towing, with hitch receiver ($150 to $300 )
Top Step Pad:
9L3Z-17B807-A Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, carbon black, no prox sensor holes
9L3Z-17B807-B Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, dark gray, no prox sensor holes
9L3Z-17B807-C Rear bumper step pad / cover / center section, dark gray, with proximity sensor holes
( any of these will run about $100 to $120 online )
BUMPER LEFT AND RIGHT ENDS: ( Many vendors sell right and left sides separately, adding a -LH or -RH to the part number. The part number stickers don't have these options. The part number seems to be for a PAIR. Know what you're buying! )
9L3Z-17906-ACP Rear bumper halves, left and right, chrome, w/o prox holes ( $200 to $340 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-B Rear bumper halves, left and right, chrome, w/prox holes ( $200 to $360 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-C Rear bumper halves, primer, left and right w/o prox holes ( UNCOMMON -- $320 to $360 per pair )
9L3Z-17906-DCP Rear bumper halves, primer, right & left, with prox holes ( $160 to $300 per pair )
9L3Z17906CPTM pre-painted, black, no prox holes ( $250 to $320 per pair )
9L3Z17906DPTM pre-painted, black, prox holes ( $200 to $300 per pair )
I could NOT locate the part numbers for the work truck dark gray bumper halves.
Clearly, if you need to assemble a bumper from parts there's no economy here. BUT... if you can locate a take-off for a hundred and a half, as I did, then add your re-bar and you're good to go, and you come out way ahead. Likewise, if you can find a damaged complete later bumper, you could replace only the damaged end and again, you'd see a huge savings.
- ep
