Tremor Modular Bumper Install - DIY

[Mcfly]

It is hard for me to imagine our truck and yours started as twins! I think the Lightning would still be in production if yours were on the showroom floor!!

Thanks! Hard for me to believe it as well. I'm planning on keep it till for a while so figured what the hell. Next up is the shocks, I want to get a set of fox or Bilstein 6112's. After that I might move up to 35's once these tires are worn out. I think they had a plan for this type of trim. There was a test mule running around with a skid plate and metal running boards a few years ago. Shame they canceled it for sure.

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[hikinbengal]

Thanks! Hard for me to believe it as well. I'm planning on keep it till for a while so figured what the hell. Next up is the shocks, I want to get a set of fox or Bilstein 6112's. After that I might move up to 35's once these tires are worn out. I think they had a plan for this type of trim. There was a test mule running around with a skid plate and metal running boards a few years ago. Shame they canceled it for sure.

I’d love to hear your opinion on the trade-off between ride quality and aesthetics. While I appreciate the visual appeal of a leveled or lifted truck, I’ve noticed that most aftermarket kits tend to enhance the sporty and rough driving experience, which contrasts with the smooth and floating feel of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suspension. I’m particularly concerned about losing those driving dynamics.

 

[mk3f.t.w.]

This how-to is great. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mcfly]

This how-to is great. Thanks for sharing!

Your welcome! I updated the initial posts. I dialed in the fit and added a light bar.

 

[Mcfly]

Added the light bar, adjusted the angle of the bumper and skid plate. Much happier now with the fit.

 

[SabidaSubmariner]

This is a great addition to your Lightning. Do you know if you could add a light bar in the battery vent area? Does the bumper give you enough area to thread on to it? Sorry I really liked your setup and would like to go this route. The fender flares were a great addition as well.

 

[Mcfly]

This is a great addition to your Lightning. Do you know if you could add a light bar in the battery vent area? Does the bumper give you enough area to thread on to it? Sorry I really liked your setup and would like to go this route. The fender flares were a great addition as well.

The there's definitely room for a light bar. But the opening is not as wide. I had a 22 inch light bar in the lightning bumper, it wouldn't fit, too wide. There's also no plastic box in the opening to mount the light bar. I think the best route would be to buy a kit, there's a bunch out there for the modular bumper. It comes with a new grill opening for the bumper. The new grill has a mount for the light bar and usually includes the light as well.

 

[SabidaSubmariner]

Perfect, thanks for the quick response. I started looking at Ebay for some bumpers. Did you have a hard time tying off the skid plate or was it simple as set up and bolt up.

 

[Mcfly]

Perfect, thanks for the quick response. I started looking at Ebay for some bumpers. Did you have a hard time tying off the skid plate or was it simple as set up and bolt up.

Tip for the eBay listings, make sure the 2 bumper mounting plates are included. Lot's of them available don't include them. Look at the pictures of the back side and look for plates with 3 bolts sticking out. Example below.

As for the skid plate it was not a simple bolt on for me. I had to trim the rear and front to make it fit. But the bolt holes lined up in the front, I had to widen them in the rear. You might be able to do less trimming in the front, I originally had my skid plate on the original bumper. Search on this form, there's a thread specific to the skid plate I think.

 

[Trucked Up EVs]

EDIT: Wanted to add my truck started as a Pro. If you have the Lariat or Platinum this bumper might not work. It only has 4 front proximity/radar sensor holes. I ended up adjusting the fit and adding a light bar. I noticed the bumper was sitting too far in and angled up. Also my skid plate needed to be angled down and tucked inside the bottom of the bumper. To fix the fit I added a quarter inch spacer on the 4 top bumper bolts, nothing on the 2 bottom bolts. To angle the skid plate down I added 1.25 inch spacers to the rear 2 bolts.

I thought my Tremor build was complete until I saw another lightning owner post his modular bumper install a few weeks ago on Reddit. I can't take credit for being the first. I'm stoked how it turned out. It really finished up the build and looks oem. I think if Ford built this trim it would've looked pretty close to this. Part list below. The Modular bumper is 3 sections, the 2 side "wings" and a center section shared with the Raptor R/37 and Tremor 402a package. It has mounting points in the center for aux lights, bull bars, or even a winch. The tremor side wings have single fog lights. You'll probably want to mount a Raptor skid plate to complete the look. I mounted one up previously, trimmed for the stock bumper. You can get it looking better if you trim it for the modular bumper. Mine has a bit of a gap but I don't feel like starting over. I painted the side wings avalanche, center section magnetic gray, and the lower part ingot silver to match the skid plate. The bumper sections came black.

As for the parts, it's easier and cheaper to source the center section from ebay. Most are dealer take offs. Look for a Raptor 37 or Raptor R used bumper, the base Raptor bumper is one piece, won't work. Make sure the one you pick comes with the 2 bumper mounts. On the pictures of the back side, look for plates with 3 long bolts sticking out. Also make sure it comes with the center grill trim and the 2 covers that go on the sides of the center grill. Lastly see if it has the radar mounting plate. Your going to discard the raptor side wings and mounting brackets. Save all the hardware, you reuse some when mounting up the tremor side wings. I was able to find the fog lights new on ebay sold as a kit, China knock off. It came with the brackets. The rest of the parts I bought new from ford. If your shopping online watch the shipping charges, that's where they get you.

For Install, you have to remove the frunk tub, upper facia, and the mounting bracket to reach the bumper bolts. I removed my wiring harness from the stock bumper and wired it up to the modular bumper. I was able to swap the adaptive cruise control radar to the modular bumper, but had to swap it to the mount specific to the modular bumper. Luckily my ebay center section came with it. When mounting the modular bumper up I left the side bumper wings loose, tip from the reddit post. Then tightened them after I got the bumper tightened down and the upper facia installed. The only problem I ran into was getting the upper facia back on. It's a very tight fit with the modular bumper, pain in the ass. I hope I never have to take it back off. I ended up trimming the rubber pieces on top of the side bumper wings. After lot's of curse words and sweat I finally got it seated and clipped in. Maybe you could put the facia on first and then mount the bumper, tighten the bolts from underneath. I was too stubborn to back track and start over at that point. I wired the fogs to my aux switches.

Parts
Bumper Center section: Used Ebay, came with mounting plates, radar mount, and plastic trim pieces.

Bumper side wings: New Ford RL3Z-17E784-BA and RL3Z-17E785-BA

Side Defectors: New Ford RL3Z-17626-BA and RL3Z-17626-BD

Parking sensor retainer rings: New ford RL3Z-15A862-DA, RL3Z-15A862-DB, RL3Z-15A862-RA, RL3Z-15A862-RB

Top rubber filler panel: New ford RL3Z-17626-BF and RL3Z-17626-BE
(you might be able to get away with trimming if your ebay center section came with the raptor ones.

Fog light kit: New Ebay, knock off, also sold on amazon. Came with the brackets, wires and fog lights. You will need to buy the mounting speed nuts and bolts. Link https://ebay.us/m/JMKpLN

There is an amazing amount of incredibly useful information in you post and threads. Thanks so much fro sharing all of this.
I might have missed it and went back through the threads, and I think I asked it once already at some point (SORRY!), but did you do a post on the running board replacement, and are they frame-mounted?

 

[Mcfly]

There is an amazing amount of incredibly useful information in you post and threads. Thanks so much fro sharing all of this.
I might have missed it and went back through the threads, and I think I asked it once already at some point (SORRY!), but did you do a post on the running board replacement, and are they frame-mounted?

Your welcome! The raptor/tremor OEM running boards mount up same as the factory lightning running boards. The brackets bolt up under the cab. Not frame mounted. Infact if you have the factory boards on your truck you can leave the mounting brackets in place. Just unbolt the boards from the brackets from underneath. The raptor/tremor boards use the same brackets.

If your wanting more of a frame rail type for protection then I would look at other options. The raptor running boards are metal but won't provide much protection if you bash something hard.

Good luck with the build! I'm rooting for you. I'll be following along on here and your YouTube channel. If you need anything else let me know.

 

[Trucked Up EVs]

Your welcome! The raptor/tremor OEM running boards mount up same as the factory lightning running boards. The brackets bolt up under the cab. Not frame mounted. Infact if you have the factory boards on your truck you can leave the mounting brackets in place. Just unbolt the boards from the brackets from underneath. The raptor/tremor boards use the same brackets.

If your wanting more of a frame rail type for protection then I would look at other options. The raptor running boards are metal but won't provide much protection if you bash something hard.

Good luck with the build! I'm rooting for you. I'll be following along on here and your YouTube channel. If you need anything else let me know.

Thank you Billy! I'm looking everywhere for inspiration - and you gave me a bucket load on this build! Looks so amazing - and functional too! That's the real beauty of it.

 

[Mcfly]

Thank you Billy! I'm looking everywhere for inspiration - and you gave me a bucket load on this build! Looks so amazing - and functional too! That's the real beauty of it.

I appreciate that! I wish Ford had continued developing this truck and given us a true off road trim from the factory. It's such an amazing platform.

Against my better judgement I'm going to mess with my current "efficient" tire/suspension combo. In July I'm going to go install the Eibach spring/shock kit and mount a set of 295/65/R20 Toyo AT 3's. This will raise the front two inches and add about 15lbs in tire weight. I'm planning on swapping to the stock 18's for road trips.

Let me know what shocks and tires you go with. There are some ev focused AT tires out there, but most besides the TOYO's don't have that aggressive tread look.

 

[Trucked Up EVs]

I appreciate that! I wish Ford had continued developing this truck and given us a true off road trim from the factory. It's such an amazing platform.

Against my better judgement I'm going to mess with my current "efficient" tire/suspension combo. In July I'm going to go install the Eibach spring/shock kit and mount a set of 295/65/R20 Toyo AT 3's. This will raise the front two inches and add about 15lbs in tire weight. I'm planning on swapping to the stock 18's for road trips.

Let me know what shocks and tires you go with. There are some ev focused AT tires out there, but most besides the TOYO's don't have that aggressive tread look.

The suspension and tires are actually as big of a hold-up as the bumper! LOL
I've already got the full 3" upper control-arm package Rough Country on there and took a serious look at the elegant Eibach solution, but we're attempting to do something more.
The goal is to have available, purchasable options that are simply swap/installs wherever possible, much like Eibach and Rough County - a kit per se - but the challenge of convincing aftermarket players to come on board now that the Lightning is cancelled has really complicated a lot of that approach. Ford really blew a massive opportunity.
The Lightning is - quite bluntly - the only modifiable, relatively affordable, body on frame EV truck. Period.
Maybe folks like you and me will put enough pressure on Ford to have it reconsider its foolish decision!

 

[Mcfly]

The suspension and tires are actually as big of a hold-up as the bumper! LOL
I've already got the full 3" upper control-arm package Rough Country on there and took a serious look at the elegant Eibach solution, but we're attempting to do something more.
The goal is to have available, purchasable options that are simply swap/installs wherever possible, much like Eibach and Rough County - a kit per se - but the challenge of convincing aftermarket players to come on board now that the Lightning is cancelled has really complicated a lot of that approach. Ford really blew a massive opportunity.
The Lightning is - quite bluntly - the only modifiable, relatively affordable, body on frame EV truck. Period.
Maybe folks like you and me will put enough pressure on Ford to have it reconsider its foolish decision!

I agree 100%, I had a Rivian R1T at launch. You need a degree to wrench on that thing.

For the suspension, your building a more true off road set up, I agree the Eibach wouldn't be ideal. Have you looked at Bilstein 6112's? Also ARB now makes a sweet front shock for the Ice trucks that should mount up no problem, a bit pricy though. For the rear you might be able to figure out a way to swap a comparable Ice shock that meets the specs.

Arb shocks
https://store.arbusa.com/coilover-strut-front-2-5in-mt64996008-mt64996008/

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