Steelcraft Rear Bumper

[theclaw]

The back of my truck has suffered a couple unintended contacts with harder objects (I've backed into sh*t). After doing a bunch of research I decided I liked the simple looks of the Steelcraft Fortis . Frankly, I wanted to go with the stock carparts knockoff but since I'm towing my motorcycles I was concerned about quality of the hitch.

The whole thing comes out pretty easy once you get the wiring harness disconnected.

The stock bumper is practiacally tinfoil. The difference in material is crazy. The Fortis bumper is pretty hefty. Likely weighs more than the entire rear end of the Ford WITH the hitch. The Fortis is 1.3mm thicker than the stock material.

It claims to be compatible with the tow package. HOWEVER, it doesn't say in the description that you have to cut off all of the brackets and crap on the stock hitch! Some of the trimming involved the heavy part of the mounting bracket.

Edit: Turns out I didn't have to cut the heavy section.

This is what I'm ending up tossing away.

I've ordered a class IV hitch. Just hope it get here in time to install for the weekend.

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[theclaw]

I found @Dr. Zaius Black Horse Bumper install thread and took a second look at things. I think I can get away with moderate trimming.

I'll post an update

 

[theclaw]

So, I didn't have to cut off the heavy section of the hitch. There is enough clearance after the Fortis bracket is mounted on that the extra section of the hitch protruding does not interfere with anthing.

I did hack off a lot of the tin.

A little grinding and a couple coats of primer to prevent rust.

Now it's just a matter of lifting it back up and bolting on.

I did spend some time making sure the bumper was aligned and even. There is enough play in all of the attach points to make adjustments. I just measured left and right, gave it a whack with a mallet (taped up the strike points of course) until it was even.

Once on you have to reconnect the sensors and the harness. The backup sensors did not snap in very tight so I just bent the tangs in the mounting hole to tighten them in.

Back up sensors worked perfectly.

Now all i need are some back up lights. Can't decide to wire them to a switch for use hooking up the trailer or into the back up lights.

A couple of beefy tow shackles are in order too.

Here's the final product.

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