boozinbuzz

iTrader: (1)

I've seen a few folks asking how to access the tow hooks on here and haven't seen anything about how to take off the front bumper so I took a few pics while I was doing mine this morning. I've read where you can dremel a hole in the plastic covers to get to the tow hook bolts but I wanted to avoid anything permanent.

Without further ado, here is how I did mine. If anyone has any tips or shortcuts please let me know and I will update the post.

*This was done on a Lariat 501a. If you have Adaptive Cruise or other features, there may be additional components that need to be addressed.

1(optional) Remove the air dam- This has been covered on here before, its eight 10mm hex screws and 3 plastic tabs holding it onto the lower bumper. You don't need to remove it but it gives you more clearance if you are laying in your driveway as I was.

2- Unhook fog lights and plastic wiring connector. Twist the bulb a quarter turn counter-clockwise to unlock and pull towards the back of the truck out of the housing. Gently work the plastic wiring tie down thats about 18 inches from the light out from the bumper.




3- Remove bumper front insert. This is the black center insert that the license plate holder attaches to. Gently pry it from the bumper. There are metal clips holding it in. Be careful prying here to not crack the plastic or scratch your bumper. A wide plastic prying tool would be ideal here.

4- Take metal clips from bumper and put them back on your insert. The metal clips that are still attached to the bumper have to be removed and placed back onto the insert to correctly align for reinstall. Bend the metal tabs back towards the elbow side to slide them back onto the insert. Maybe you can get a handful of these from Ford and just replace them?








5- Unhook plastic nuts connecting sheeting. These are the plastic bolts that secure the plastic sheeting stuff in place. There is one in the middle that is easy to get to and another on the sides that you may have to wait until you slide the bumper out a little to disconnect.




6- Unbolt bumper nut from underside of truck. There is one on each side from the inside. These are 2 of 6 serious bolts that physically hold the bumper on. I used a deep 13/16 socket and a breaker bar to get them off.




7- Unbolt bumper nuts from outside through insert hole. There are 2 on each side from the outside that are the same size as the inside bolt in the step above. They are easily accessible from outside after you remove the plastic insert.


9- Remove bumper by sliding it towards you. Be careful not to drop and scratch it!

10- Unbolt tow hooks. Once you have the bumper off its easy to remove the tow hooks. Each hook is held on by 2 15mm bolts.

The reinstall is the bolting the bumper back on, connect the plastic nuts for sheeting, reconnect fog lights and then gently press/tap middle insert back in. Make sure bumper is level and aligned before tightening it down all the way.

SoIlBoy

If all you want to do is remove the tow hooks, then just pull the rubber tow hook covers out and down from the fascia, remove the 2 15mm bolts, slide out the tow hooks then slide the backing plate out of the frame. Took me 10 minutes. I had to do this to install a towing baseplate to allow me to tow the truck behind my motorhome. Good instructions at roadmasterinc.com.

T_R

Or just take off the plastic part between the bumper and the air dam. It's just a bunch of 10mm nuts. Leave the air dam bolted to that part. Once it's down the tow hooks are wide open. This is how you do it to install plow push plates that bolt on in place of the tow hooks.

boozinbuzz

iTrader: (1)

I hadn't seen any instructions anywhere about simply removing the rubber tow hook surround by just pulling it through the front bumper but I did consider this before I moved on to full on bumper removal. In my case it didn't seem like the rubber surround was anywhere near pliable enough to pull it out through the hole. Maybe you can take a heat gun to it to make it a little more workable? I was trying to avoid any permanent damage and this didn't seem like a workable solution.

I also considered this but the location of some of those 10mm nuts did not look very accessible with the normal tools I have (i.e. ratchet set and wrenches). A few of those nuts were tucked way back there and I don't think my fat fingers would have been able to get them off and back on.

I'm not saying anybody is wrong, just trying to share my experiences. The best parts of message boards like this is sharing thoughts and coming to a community consensus on things that enable average joes like us to figure things out!

donnyonee

anybody have a pair 2015-16 for sale?

donnyonee

found

TNT799

Thanks for the info. Installing bull bar this weekend and need to remove tow hooks....

Ill let you know what the best way for me

Devil68

I took off my entire bumper to install my reservoirs for my king set up. With the adaptive cruise control you just unscrew the post after taking off the 10mm bolt. Kind of like the end link for the sway bar the post have a maletter star key end that you can unscrew and just pull off. Just remember to unplug the control unit.

paperhanger

Here's my 2017 Lariat I just got two toned!

mike69440

Air Lift 5000, wit stainless hardware. This was the first time we needed to put some air in them.