2012 F150 - Go Rhino! 23293B Winch Bumper Grille Guard
02-28-2013, 11:12 AM
#1
2012 F150 EcoBoost - Go Rhino! 23293B Winch Bumper Grille Guard
So I decided it was time to get some protection for my truck. I was originally going to go with the 3000 series grille guard from Go Rhino but when I got looking at the different ones from Auto Parts Warehouse, I seen the 23293B for $40 more and seen that it comes with a winch mount built into it. looked a little bit beefier to. So I budgeted for it and bought it beginning of February.
Well bought is a loose term.. Ordered is more like it. was a week later I got a call from a weird phone number over and over and it turned out it was their call center trying to reach me to verify my order and get authorization info for my bank etc.
So that was fine and dandy, Got that done, then nothing nothing nothing, called them again, got the line it just cleared. So Monday the 18th I get an email with tracking info etc (that i had to fish out of the spam folder). Well it didnt work right away, figured it was too new and needed time. tried again a couple days later and still didn't work. So Monday the 25th I had enough of waiting and decided to call them when I was at work. They saw it was not working to and got a line about it being 24-48 hours to find out the problem and resolve it. So I said screw that and drove to town where the package was being delivered. Here it had been delivered Tuesday the 19th!! day after it was shipped out!! much disappointment there!
On Monday the 25th I went to go get it as I had a day off.. So with the help of the guy there and myself, we loaded the beast!
Never would I have thought it was on an entire skid by itself! there was a pyramid shaped "DO NOT STACK" cardboard topper on it to.
So I got it home, went back to work.
That night I went and borrowed my father's shop and got to putting it on. I have a whole hour long video of the trip to get it and the installing of it...
First you have to remove the tow hooks, Seems like no big deal except you can only get to the front bolt (15mm) and the middle one is covered by plastic. I tried to figure out how to get the plastic out of the way but even google failed me so...
I ended up using a cutoff tool to make room for the impact and the 15mm socket. yeah not proud but it's just plastic. might be expensive plastic but still plastic.
They come with mounting brackets that mount up 3 bolts where the tow hooks go. 2 from tow hooks, 1 from the valence under the front from side to side. I still have it, just not installed lol. So the mounting brackets for the frame are on and now there is brackets that go on the outter sides of those brackets.
Now here comes the real STUPID part about the installation of the Go Rhino on the 2012 F150's.... So there is 2 bolts that go into the previous brackets, and there is "T-Bolts" that are bolts with welded bar on them that you have to fish through the inside of the frame and through the hole in the frame and through the hole in the bracket and manage to get a lock washer and a nut on. they give you a wire to do so with but then it holds on so tight you cannot get it off and it screws up the wire.. then try to tighten the bolt and it spins inside, need to use a bar or BIG screwdriver to hold it from moving!
So I get that all done on the driver's side, then it says to put the flat bar in that mounts to the top of this last bracket and it will mount to grille guard itself. WELL, it wants to go through between the chrome bumper and the painted body part... It doesnt work on my truck because it is solid in between there! All that work for nothing!!
Above licence plate holder, between chrome and the green body.
So I tear all that T-Bolt crap and other bracket off and throw it back in the box! Wasted about 2 hours fooling around with that junk..
Atleast you can see in the photo above that there is 3 good sized bolts holding onto the grille guard and there is 3 bolts to the frame that are holding it.
It says to tighten the bolts to the guard first then to center it as good as you can and tighten the frame bolts last. I used the two plastic front parts on the bumper as guides to how far from the truck each side was. Id say it is pretty straight!
One feature I like but I don't know how strong it really is, is that you mount the old tow hooks to the front again. Gets them up and out there and easy to hook onto. I have heard from guys that work at Ford that the hooks can break so if the frame handles that I'm sure it can handle the winch when I get one!!
Will link video here once I get it uploaded!!!
Also being EcoBoost and the inter-cooler sitting down where a winch mounts will play a factor in deciding what winch to get so there is no major air blockage!! I had no problems with a 500 km+ road trip this last couple days either! still ran the same, just people stopped pulling out in front of me LOL!!
Well bought is a loose term.. Ordered is more like it. was a week later I got a call from a weird phone number over and over and it turned out it was their call center trying to reach me to verify my order and get authorization info for my bank etc.
So that was fine and dandy, Got that done, then nothing nothing nothing, called them again, got the line it just cleared. So Monday the 18th I get an email with tracking info etc (that i had to fish out of the spam folder). Well it didnt work right away, figured it was too new and needed time. tried again a couple days later and still didn't work. So Monday the 25th I had enough of waiting and decided to call them when I was at work. They saw it was not working to and got a line about it being 24-48 hours to find out the problem and resolve it. So I said screw that and drove to town where the package was being delivered. Here it had been delivered Tuesday the 19th!! day after it was shipped out!! much disappointment there!
On Monday the 25th I went to go get it as I had a day off.. So with the help of the guy there and myself, we loaded the beast!
Never would I have thought it was on an entire skid by itself! there was a pyramid shaped "DO NOT STACK" cardboard topper on it to.
So I got it home, went back to work.
That night I went and borrowed my father's shop and got to putting it on. I have a whole hour long video of the trip to get it and the installing of it...
First you have to remove the tow hooks, Seems like no big deal except you can only get to the front bolt (15mm) and the middle one is covered by plastic. I tried to figure out how to get the plastic out of the way but even google failed me so...
I ended up using a cutoff tool to make room for the impact and the 15mm socket. yeah not proud but it's just plastic. might be expensive plastic but still plastic.
They come with mounting brackets that mount up 3 bolts where the tow hooks go. 2 from tow hooks, 1 from the valence under the front from side to side. I still have it, just not installed lol. So the mounting brackets for the frame are on and now there is brackets that go on the outter sides of those brackets.
Now here comes the real STUPID part about the installation of the Go Rhino on the 2012 F150's.... So there is 2 bolts that go into the previous brackets, and there is "T-Bolts" that are bolts with welded bar on them that you have to fish through the inside of the frame and through the hole in the frame and through the hole in the bracket and manage to get a lock washer and a nut on. they give you a wire to do so with but then it holds on so tight you cannot get it off and it screws up the wire.. then try to tighten the bolt and it spins inside, need to use a bar or BIG screwdriver to hold it from moving!
So I get that all done on the driver's side, then it says to put the flat bar in that mounts to the top of this last bracket and it will mount to grille guard itself. WELL, it wants to go through between the chrome bumper and the painted body part... It doesnt work on my truck because it is solid in between there! All that work for nothing!!
Above licence plate holder, between chrome and the green body.
So I tear all that T-Bolt crap and other bracket off and throw it back in the box! Wasted about 2 hours fooling around with that junk..
Atleast you can see in the photo above that there is 3 good sized bolts holding onto the grille guard and there is 3 bolts to the frame that are holding it.
It says to tighten the bolts to the guard first then to center it as good as you can and tighten the frame bolts last. I used the two plastic front parts on the bumper as guides to how far from the truck each side was. Id say it is pretty straight!
One feature I like but I don't know how strong it really is, is that you mount the old tow hooks to the front again. Gets them up and out there and easy to hook onto. I have heard from guys that work at Ford that the hooks can break so if the frame handles that I'm sure it can handle the winch when I get one!!
Will link video here once I get it uploaded!!!
Also being EcoBoost and the inter-cooler sitting down where a winch mounts will play a factor in deciding what winch to get so there is no major air blockage!! I had no problems with a 500 km+ road trip this last couple days either! still ran the same, just people stopped pulling out in front of me LOL!!
Last edited by TheStuffz; 02-28-2013 at 11:45 AM.
03-26-2013, 02:31 PM
#5
UPDATE!!!!
After contacting Go Rhino and AutoParts Warehouse about this, they now say it is NOT intended for Raptor (duh), Lariat, or ECOBOOST!
My guard is getting RMA'ed...
After contacting Go Rhino and AutoParts Warehouse about this, they now say it is NOT intended for Raptor (duh), Lariat, or ECOBOOST!
My guard is getting RMA'ed...
03-29-2013, 10:39 PM
#6
Senior Member
Trending Topics
03-30-2013, 12:24 AM
#8
Senior Member
10-27-2014, 02:49 PM
#10
Wow, what did yah wack? Ive got an '11 5.0L and would like to get a bar for it. Im having a hard time finding something i like. I love the ranch hands, but thats crazy money. All other skrawny brush guards dont look good.