Installation of SDHQ Rear Frame Reinforcement Kit

[Ruger]

Picked mine up today and installed today in about an hr (had my 3yo helping out).... I got mine in by going nuts down... /

Pictures or it didn't happen!

 

[Sokoloka]

Read this thread, figured "how hard can it be?" - came back after 15 minutes of futility and actually followed the tips, had everything bolted in 15 minutes later!

Thanks guys

 

[JRaptor11]

Just ordered the kit. Thanks for the write up.

 

[farman]

Just wanted to say this kit is a great way to spend 100 bucks. I just took off my kit that has been on for about a year and half, (because I am going RPG Stage 3) and was surprised to see that the oval piece and the parallelogram piece were both slightly bent. the oval pieces also have a tiny crack in the top weld. I offroad down state forest roads and logging road at a good speed but don't jump very much, so I wasn't expecting that but I am very glad I got this kit I have no doubt my frame would have been a lot worse without it.

 

[2008fx4]

ordered these for my 2013 and installed them this morning before breakfast. moving the brake lines out of the way enough on the drivers side was easy - more than adequate play in the hard lines. also inserted the long pieces for the outside of the frame "nuts up" but from front to back carefully as to not slide the piece down the frame rail. theres more than enough room to move the piece into position after its inside the frame rail. on the passenger side, i figured it would be easier to take the 5 minutes to remove the 3 10mm bolts holding the last two exhaust hangers to get the system to droop and give you more room. again on the passenger side as well went "nuts up" and from front to back. then once the piece was inside the frame rail just slid it forward into position. the two bolts went in easy on both sides and then it was time to move onto the oval/parallelogram pieces.

for those i left about two threads into the parrallelogram and they went in very easily. then just used a ratcheting combo wrench and snugged those up. bolted the exhaust hangers back up and i was done.

from start to finish took about 30 minutes with a couple coffee breaks.

 

[Droid]

Finally got around to ordering this kit Wednesday morning, showed up today (Friday, 48 hours later). Impressive turnaround, SDHQ!

Regarding brake lines...just wanted to add a suggestion. In addition to pulling the brake lines out of the retainer (which is forward on the frame from to the bumpstop), also unbolt (or at the very least loosen) the "bus" or whatever it's called that the brake lines run into aft of the bump stop. It's just one 10mm bolt that goes into a clip on the frame. With that thing able to move ever-so-slightly out of the way, you won't have to put any force on the brake lines at all.

I previously didn't realize the reinforcement bar contacted the bottom of the frame. Between that and the plug I can certainly see how this adds significant structure.

I am curious about the parallelogram pieces though, i.e., is the orientation of them actually important? I need to go check that they're as vertical as possible, but it seems as though they would just rotate if any load were put through them.

Now that these have been out for a while, has anyone bent a truck at the bumpstop with them?

Also I'd like to present the world's worst work area. I need a real garage. With a two post lift. At least the water wasn't there the whole time. I discovered it while I was under the truck and rolled into it.

 

[tbone]

I had this kit before I even had the raptor and put this on just as an isnsurance for my frame i ran with just that in the rear for 5 months until I could afford bumps and it saved me granted I didn't want to push my truck and meet the point of failure but it worked well I even have the hole piece on the raptor with my bumpstops on. I think for 100$ it could be the best bargain mod of this truck what else besides a stubby and plastidip sent 100$ for this truck haha

 

[goinsvt]

I did this mod last weekend and this thread saved me hours. I, of course, tried installing it using the SDHQ installation instructions first but quickly referenced this thread to get me past the obstacles. It's very important to insert the reinforcement in the bump stop hole from front to back and not back to front. Once I figured this out, I was done with both sides in 30 minutes. Thanks to all for the tips.

 

[Ruger]

I'm glad this thread has been of benefit! I figure we're all in this together, so it just doesn't make sense to not be helpful.

 

[Kahuna]

**** me I've just give-up after an hour of wrestling with this and barely managed to fish the longer pieces out of the frame rail. Now while I am mechanically retarded, SDHQ's idea of "Easy 20 minute install" is very different to mine. Perhaps with the bed off, gas tank out, brake lines disconnected and exhaust removed this is a 20min job.

I am advertising on Craigsist for a spider monkey with yoga training to help with the install. Failing that I will attack on the weekend with some of the tips in this thread.

Thanks,
K