rugedraw

Hi guys,

I few months ago, I started a thread (link below) trying to find insight into swapping out the rear bumper off of my F150 to one that will nicely fit around the MBRP dual exhaust I installed on my truck. It seemed at the time, no one had done it yet and I was left with more questions than answers. Link below:

https://www.f150forum.com/f129/anyon...513216/index2/

Well, I finally got it done yesterday and wanted to post my findings to make it easier for anyone else who may be thinking of doing this. Down below are the before-and-after pics, and I have to say I absolutely LOVE how the truck came out. It a dame shame I had to spend all this time and money getting this done to my truck. This is how it should come from factory, IMO. Anyway, you will need the two bumper end caps (P/N ML3Z-17906-LAPTM) and two supplemental brackets (P/N ML3Z-17788-A and ML3Z-17787-B). The end caps will come unpainted, so keep in mind that you'll have to get them painted to match your truck. Swapping out the end caps is relatively easy to do and anyone that can turn basic hand tools should be able to do it. Notice in the pics that two of the back-up sensors get relocated further out towards the end of the bumper. This presented a challenge when it came to putting it back together because the wiring was barely long enough for the sensor to be put in the new location, but after playing with the wiring down there, I was able to get it to reach without having to splice into the factory wiring harness to make it longer. The Tremor has a different P/N for the trailer hitch, but you do not need to change the hitch; everything will line up and bolt up with the non-Tremor hitch.

Edit: The grommets that hold the relocated sensor onto the bumper end cap has a different P/N on the Tremor because it holds the sensor at a different angle. You can use the same grommet it came with like I did, but it will require that you cut off a little notch off of the back of the grommet so that it fits in the bumper and points the sensor in the right direction. I cut it off with a pocket knife. Not a big deal, but wanted to mention it in case someone does try this, they don't get stumped once they get to that part of the job. The P/N's for the actual grommets from the Tremor are ML3Z-15K861-ABPTM & ML3Z-15K861-AAPTM if you want to avoid this step.

When we were done, I took the truck to a muffler shop to get the exhaust tips raised and properly aligned to the exhaust cut-outs on the bumper. My exhaust is made by MBRP, but I am guessing any exhaust out there is going to run into the same problem mine did when it came to this part of the process. The exhaust could not simply be raised in place because it would have resting against the suspension. The muffler shop had to cut off the last few feet of both of the dual exhaust exits and make custom ones they bended into shape to allow the exhaust to clear the suspension and fit the tips nice and flush to the new bumper. This was the only modification required to do this, and the modification was done to the aftermarket exhaust itself and not to the truck.

I did this yesterday and have not driven the truck much since the swap. However, I did notice one thing that happened to me last night which I don't know if is was an isolate incident, or this what happened last night is something I am now going to have to deal with. As I was backing out of my parking spot, my girlfriend's car was parked behind me and I had to maneuver around it and get within a few inches of her car in the process. This triggered the reverse brake assist feature on my truck to go off twice which had never happened before in dozens upon dozens of times I have backed out with her car there. It is possible that because two of the sensors were relocated, it is throwing off the system some how and now it thinks I am closer to things when I backing up that I actually am, which is what is triggering the truck to brake suddenly while I was backing up. I would have to drive the truck a bit more to see if it continues to do this to be sure, but even if that is the case, it is totally WORTH IT! I will go into the setting and turn that feature off and forget it exists.

I've had the rear bumper on for less that 24 hours and I already had an F150 owner flag me down on the street to ask me about it. It looks great and it looks OEM. Incredible how such a small detail makes such a big difference.

I tried to be as detailed as possible, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the process.

antho

Looks great!

DGNJ

Really does look great!! You've got me thinking..........





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rugedraw

For months, I would walk past my truck and look the exhaust and it bothered me. I can't tell you how happy I am now when I park, walk and away and look back at it. lol

LostHusker

Looks great, reminds me of older mustangs that had the dual exhaust come through the bumper, always liked the look.


I wonder since you disconnected your sensors to install on the new bumper that they may need to be recalibrated due to being disconnected? Can this be done via for scan without taking to the shop?

rugedraw

Thanks! I am super happy with how it came out.

Not that I know of. I am pretty sure they need to be recalibrated based on the little bit I have been able to drive it since I did the installation yesterday. I have to drive it a bit more to confirm.

superfordman

That looks awesome! I had plans to do the same, but go tired of waiting to get my hands on tremor bumper caps last summer so just went ahead and put my gen2 raptor bumpers back on. Will make the jump to the tremor bumper once I can get some and/or swap out my current truck.

rugedraw

I thought of that one, too, but on the Platinum I don't think it would look as good as it does on yours. Too sporty looking for my truck, imo. I would leave yours like that, tbh.

Hackintoshihope

You very well may need your sensors recalibrated for the backup assist at the dealer. I would hope this would fix the issue of the sensors.

This modification looks great and as long as it is possible to get the sensor issue fixed I’d do this myself!

rugedraw

After driving it some more and backing out in in the same conditions where I had an issue before, I can report that I have had no other issues with the auto reverse brake assist. I also called my father-in-law who works as a manager at a body shop within a Ford dealer and he said there is no calibration needed for the sensors. If they are providing false readings, they may need positional adjustment, but not calibration.