There are brackets that need to be bolted on there to give you a place to bolt your bar to. I installed the Mopar kit on mine and the new bracket bolts up utilizing the same bolts that hold the bumper on. These brackets come with the kit and don't come on trucks that didn't have tow hooks from the factory.
Got the tow hook bar....IT DOESN'T FIT???
OK now I'm not too happy :VHOT: I got the tow hook bar from the guy for $40.00, sounded like a good deal. RIGHT? He even had it all painted up black for me! :rck: I got home and proceeded to remove the billet bumper insert and then the plastic bumper insert. MAN, those plastic screws on top were a ROYAL PAIN!!! I had to pop them out with a pair of *****. It will make it very hard to put them back in (more on that later.) SO now I clean everything up around the area so I can install the NEW piece. NO PROBLEM right, 6 bolts and it's DONE? NOT....., the holes DON'T LINE UP AT ALL, NONE of them. Am I missing something here? Did the 02 have a tow hook option on it? The hole spacing is way off in every way. There is 4 holes on the bracket behind the bumper and only 3 in the tow hook bar and NONE of them will line up in any position. I thought about drilling new holes to make it fit but I would have to drill ALL SIX holes and that would really weaken the bracket up too much IMHO. Does ANYONE have any info IF the 02 rams ever had tow hooks as an option? Or was all of this a waste of time? I called the guy back and he was cool about it, said he would refund my money if it wasn't going to work! THANKS CORY!! :gr_patrio :gr_patrio
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Thanks for the reply, I know what brackets you are speaking of but they won't do me any good since none of the bolt holes on the hook bar line up to the holes on the existing flat frame bracket. I think I have figured out that the 02 1500 was NEVER meant to have factory hooks on it. Now you could fab up something to fit.........
If you read my first post more carefully, you will notice I said that you add additional brackets, not use whats there. The 02's were the same as the rest. Plain and simple: you are missing brackets. Not because it's an 02, all years are missing those brackets, they are part of the tow bar kit.funinak said:Thanks for the reply, I know what brackets you are speaking of but they won't do me any good since none of the bolt holes on the hook bar line up to the holes on the existing flat frame bracket. I think I have figured out that the 02 1500 was NEVER meant to have factory hooks on it. Now you could fab up something to fit.........
read his post carefully. he acknowleged the needed brackets but says the bar's 6 holes (3 on each side) do not align properly with the flat surface behind the plastic insert. i scored a freew towhook bar last night from a buddy with an 04. i have an early 03. he forgot the braclets that use the bumper bolts but i was able to bolt the bar to the front of my frame using the 6 holes.04AlmondHEMI said:If you read my first post more carefully, you will notice I said that you add additional brackets, not use whats there. The 02's were the same as the rest. Plain and simple: you are missing brackets. Not because it's an 02, all years are missing those brackets, they are part of the tow bar kit.
when i pulled out that bumper insert i ruined those screws and by the time i was ready to put it back in i had lost them... at checker they have a couple of fat plastic pins that were perfect to snap right in... they were the fatest ones i could find... and they were about 5 bucks... i can only imagine what the dealer would have wanted...
What we have here is a FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE!! Thanks Kyle for backing me up bro. I'm not sure what AlmondHemi is trying to say, other than I need the brackets....I KNOW I NEED THE BRACKETS!! The hook bar WILL mount up without them on trucks that are configured properly. But none of the holes line up anyway. Besides the brackets being referred to go on the BACK side by the frame rail ends and are just strengtheners for the whole thing. Now I believe that the 02's were NEVER configured for hooks. Dodge decided in 03 that they should put hooks on the 1500's. Unless someone can show me an 02 1500 with FACTORY hooks!04AlmondHEMI said:If you read my first post more carefully, you will notice I said that you add additional brackets, not use whats there. The 02's were the same as the rest. Plain and simple: you are missing brackets. Not because it's an 02, all years are missing those brackets, they are part of the tow bar kit.
Tell me about it, those things were NOT coming out properly for me either!! I will have to look into some replacements IF I decide to put it all back. Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one that has had problems with them!lardcore said:when i pulled out that bumper insert i ruined those screws and by the time i was ready to put it back in i had lost them... at checker they have a couple of fat plastic pins that were perfect to snap right in... they were the fatest ones i could find... and they were about 5 bucks... i can only imagine what the dealer would have wanted...
if it makes you feel any better i tried unscrewing one and when it stripped the phillips head out of the plastic screw, i took two flat headed screw drivers and pried one end of the air dam out and ripped the whole thing off. it left six or so quarter sized holes in the air dam and the plastic screws popped back up into the bumper.funinak said:Tell me about it, those things were NOT coming out properly for me either!! I will have to look into some replacements IF I decide to put it all back. Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one that has had problems with them!
Thats what i'm talking about, I pried one side loose and riped the insert off. After that using my two brackets the installation was simple.
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