Regulators, It’s Finally Time!

Back in one of the rear bumper updates I mentioned that the body mounts probably needed to be replaced. I also already posted that I had the new mounts.  So why then did it take me almost 3 months to get them done?  Well I had never swapped them before.  I had done a bit of research, but to be honest that was probably the worse thing I could have done.  Those people made this sound way harder than it is.

Obviously it was time to do this, and it didn’t take more than a few feet out of the shop on the test drive for me to be wishing I had installed these the day I got them.  The best way to describe the upgrade is the feeling of new shoes.  This won’t apply if you’re a shoe whore that buys new ones every 2 weeks or more.  If you’re like me though and where your shoes until they’re just too ugly for the girlfriend to look at anymore, cause you back and feet pain, and maybe even have holes, then you’ll know what I’m talking about.  That feeling of being more comfortable but more supported at the same time.  That’s how these new mounts feel.  Oh it’s blissful!

So how do you do it?  Well we started with a quick wash.  It’s been raining and I didn’t want dirt and mud in my eyes.  Dripped on by dirty water also sucks, so we probably should have done this part a day earlier.

If the back of your truck looks like this, well things are gonna take longer. The rear bolt access was covered by the fridge and water mount.  All of that had to go.

At least we didn’t need to empty or remove the middle storage section.

You will need to remove the door sills, lower b pillar trim, kick panels and maybe flop the back seats around, but all these bolts are easy to access  once the black covers are removed.  The forward most body mount I got using a really long extension and accessing behind the headlight.  You will probably need a friend, but at least you won’t need to pull the bumper off.  I was dreading that part!

I got lucky and my hardware was in pretty good shape.  With the exception of buying new lock nuts I reused the existing stuff.  Take a look under your truck if these are rusty buy new ones!

To make the swap, loosen all of the bolt and nut combo’s but only remove one side completely.  I used a floor jack and a 2′ section of 4×4 post (sideways to spread the load) under the pinch seam to jack the body up.  The bolt in body mounts can be removed once the body is lifted up and you can gain access to the bolts.  Both nuts are welded to the frame, so they have to come out the top.  With both sides loose, the body should easily come up enough to make the swap.  I didn’t need to disconnect any wiring, steering, etc.  This is probably a different story if you are doing a body lift at the same time.  I was not.  All and all I think this was around 5 hours of leisurely work time.  It would have been quicker if the back of the truck didn’t double as a kitchen.

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