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$200 Hauler Update: We Give It A Butt Lift With Some New Chrome And Ghetto Bodywork

Project Cars

August 28, 2012
 
HW0B6579
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In our last installment of the $200 Hauler build you saw us replace our broken grille, bashed lower valance, and boring bowtie which cleaned up our front end a lot. In fact, we’re not sure photos did it justice. At the same time we also replaced our rear bumper and brackets with more parts from LMC Truck, did a little “bodywork” on the rear quarter, and a little cleanup out back, which is what we have to show you today. It’s the BangShift equivalent of a Brazilian Butt Lift. Now the $200 Hauler looks completely respectable, and is ready for more custom touches. In fact, we  already installed our new Anzo lights and will have the story up on that soon. They are awesome.

Now that the front and rear have both been tuned up, the $200 Hauler just looks cleaner overall. And I’m not just saying that, even Daphne said so. Plus, she seems to be driving it a lot more than her Suburban now. Hmmmmm, I wonder why that is? The cool kids all want the Hauler.

Remember, f you are looking for parts for your truck, van, or SUV,  LMC Truck has got bumpers, mirrors, grilles, body parts, trim pieces, and much much more. You name it, they’ve got it, and the quality and prices are right. Check them out at LMCTruck.com.


Before:

With a $200 purchase price, we couldn't complain that the previous owner backed into stuff, but the bumper was all kindsa wrong, and the left quarter had some rash to match.

This side of the bumper was the “bad” side, but neither one was good. You can see where the plastic trim hit the body and put a pretty good dent in it too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We believe that the Hauler had some lot damage in it’s past, because their was bondo on this quarter and the right side behind the rear door as well. That got fixed and covered by the wrap, but this one is in a much tougher spot. The body is double walled here with no access to the inside. Cutting and welding or bashing and bondoing are the only choices.

 

 

 

 

As you can see, our trailer hitch has most definitely been used. Faded paint, dirt, and rust make it not the prettiest thing. We’ll fix that with a few inches of painter’s tape, some spray paint, and 5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New vs. Old. Note that the new LMCTruck bumper has no odd reflections where the dents are. We actually had two dents we didn’t even realize were there because they were so symmetrical. We know now. NOTE: LMC Truck delivers the bumper as you see it with the trim already installed which saves you time and money.

 

 

 

 

We also ordered new brackets because we were fairly certain the originals were bent. We also added bulbs and license plate light housings because we were stupid. Stupid? you ask. Well if we had paid closer attention we would have realized that the bumper came with all the trim, including new chrome license lights, bulbs, harness, etc. We didn’t read, and ordered extras. We chose black for our lights, so it’s all good anyway since the ones they sent are chrome.

 

 

 

After pulling the license plate it was time to yank the old bumper. We unplugged the wiring first so we didn’t end up having to fight it while the bumper was hanging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite all the tools on the ground it only takes a few sockets and end wrenches to remove the old bumper. Once you unbolt the whole thing it will hold itself up thanks to the trailer hitch. There are five bolts per side plus one on each side of the trailer hitch. Luckily our truck spent its whole life in Texas so the bolts were easy to remove with hand tools. You may need some air power if your truck has lived its whole life up north.

 

 

 

Be careful when you remove the old bumper. It should slide out after a good yank, but you don’t want to bash the body with it. One person can do it no problem, but a buddy wouldn’t hurt either. We have no friends so we are doing it alone.

 

 

 

 

 

At this point we really wished we didn't have body damage because a hidden hitch and rollpan would look sexy on this thing. Note the nasty looking hitch. We don't want that thing looking ugly under our new bumper so we are going to fix it up.

After removing the trailer plug, we wiped it down with brake kleen, masked the sticker on the hitch, and shot some semi gloss black on the hitch. It’s amazing what five minutes of work and $1 worth of paint will do. Trust us, this is time well spent because it will make your new LMCTruck bumper look that much nicer.

 

 

 

 

While the hitch was drying we decided to restore our spare tire lock cover. We could have shot it with some paint, but decided to try the Mother’s Back to Black that we had used on the upper half of our front bumper. Look how bad this thing looked before.

 

 

 

 

 

Ten minutes later it looked this nice with nothing more than a rag and a few drops of Mother’s. This stuff really is amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we mentioned earlier, this quarter left us with only two options to fix it. Bash and bondo, or cut and weld and metal finish. We weren’t interested in either of those so we went with the BangShift option. We sanded all the loose stuff off, feathered the edges and then brushed on Rustoleum gloss black spray paint. It’s not perfect by a lot, but it’s all black now and should be hidden by the bumper mostly.

 

 

 

This is how the LMCTruck bumper comes. The main brackets and bumper supports are installed, but you’ll have to install the old brackets off your bumper, or new ones like we ordered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the new brackets, installed loosely. They come with all new hardware, and are super simple to install. Remember to leave them loose so that everything slides together easily and then you can tighten them all up once you align the bumper on the truck.

 

 

 

 

 

Sliding the new bumper in was a little tougher than removing the old one, but we got it first shot with some wiggly jiggly action. And the nice thing is that with the trailer hitch on the truck it will hold the bumper up once you slide it in.

We found that sliding the bumper around until it lined up with the trailer hitch holes made the rest of the bumper virtually mint. We snugged them first then went around and tightened the rest and were good to go.

 

Note how our trailer hitch looks virtually new thanks to a quick paint job. This little stuff really makes a difference in the way your install is going to look. Don’t skip the small steps, and a little extra time will be worth a lot better look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bodywork isn’t “mint”, but we knew it wouldn’t be. It’s still way better than before and while everyone that walked around it before commented on the bashed sheetmetal, nobody else has mentioned it since the fix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like the front end makeover, the results are subtle, but really make an overall difference when you walk around the $200 Hauler. If it had no wrap on it and some soccer mom was driving it around town, you would think it was just a clean Suburban thanks to all the parts from LMCTruck.

Whereas people would look at this thing before and say “Holy crap I can’t believe you only paid $200 for this thing. I mean it has a couple little rough spots but for $200 who cares.”, now they just can’t believe it was a $200 Suburban.

Remember, if you need restoration or custom parts for you truck, van, or SUV LMCTruck has got the parts you need. Check them out below.

For all your truck, van, and SUV project needs, visit LMCTruck.com!

Stay tuned for more updates on the $200 Hauler, including new spark plug wires from MSD Performance, spark plugs from E3, and cold air kit from Spectre Performance, which we just put on this week. We also have some custom suspension, shocks from Ridetech, tires and wheels, new Floor Liners from Husky, a TCI Torque Converter and Shift Boss controller, along with exhaust, towing accessories, lubricants from Lucas Oil, and more!