If I did this right...

vanilla_gorilla said:

Yeah, i made the mistake and ripped mine off too, now i have to buy a new one. Any advice on how to put them on/off without removing the entire bumper? I can only get to one of the bolts for the bumperette thing.

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It's a pain but its possible to get to both nuts on each bumperette. I used a quarter inch flex head ratchet and a ratcheting wrench iirc. It looked to me if you remove the tow hooks, getting to the bottom one would be easier, I never tested that theory though. IMO its the ONLY way to correctly remove and install the bumperette covers.

pirate air said:

It's a pain but its possible to get to both nuts on each bumperette. I used a quarter inch flex head ratchet and a ratcheting wrench iirc. It looked to me if you remove the tow hooks, getting to the bottom one would be easier, I never tested that theory though. IMO its the ONLY way to correctly remove and install the bumperette covers.

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The only way to correctly to remove and install the bumperette cover is to remove the bumper or the tow hook?

You can get up at the bolts for the bumperetts from underneath. A ratcheting wrench will probably be helpful/required. I followed the Rigid instructions and just bent the tabs out slightly and pushed them back in. I have a feeling that was a bad idea and that they will fail now in a matter of months.

I had to loosen my bumper, and basically remove it when my driver side cover came off..not sure how, but its on there good now, I think, like has been stated, that they're not installed 100% at the factory!

It was her idea, not mine...

If I would have known the bumperette covers were such a pain in the ass to reinstall, I never would have removed them. I had the bumper off to install a winch, and I wanted to plastidip the light grey portion of the bumper. To get good coverage on the bumper I removed the bumperette covers. They came off easy enough, but trying to put them back on is a different story.
I had tried the long skinny screw driver technique, but every time I got one or two of the plastic tabs on the cover into place, another one would come undone. Under some frustration, I did a quick search on FRF and it looked like people had the best of luck installing the bumperettes with the bumper off and by removing the complete bumperette. Damn, I had just put the bumper back on. I didn’t want to take it back off.
So the Raptorwifey said “Why don’t you use some string to pull the tabs out as you install the cover?” I was skeptical at first, but thought about using some strong twist ties I had in the garage. I got the top two plastic tabs hooked in place. While she held the top in securely, and using two twist ties at the same time, I looped them around the bottom two plastic tabs. I pushed the bumperette cover into the final position and pulled the twist ties out. Perfect, it worked.
So that is an alternative why to install the bumperette covers.

012BLUESVT said:

If I would have known the bumperette covers were such a pain in the ass to reinstall, I never would have removed them. I had the bumper off to install a winch, and I wanted to plastidip the light grey portion of the bumper. To get good coverage on the bumper I removed the bumperette covers. They came off easy enough, but trying to put them back on is a different story.
I had tried the long skinny screw driver technique, but every time I got one or two of the plastic tabs on the cover into place, another one would come undone. Under some frustration, I did a quick search on FRF and it looked like people had the best of luck installing the bumperettes with the bumper off and by removing the complete bumperette. Damn, I had just put the bumper back on. I didn’t want to take it back off.
So the Raptorwifey said “Why don’t you use some string to pull the tabs out as you install the cover?” I was skeptical at first, but thought about using some strong twist ties I had in the garage. I got the top two plastic tabs hooked in place. While she held the top in securely, and using two twist ties at the same time, I looped them around the bottom two plastic tabs. I pushed the bumperette cover into the final position and pulled the twist ties out. Perfect, it worked.
So that is an alternative why to install the bumperette covers.

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Did you put the ties on the bottom tabs before installing or after?

I installed the top of the plastic cover, then the ties around the bottom tabs. As I got it installed, I pulled the wire tie out by pulling only one side.

What are you having trouble with?

Yukon Joe