'97 Front Bumper Work

[FordandPolaris]

So about two years ago I was heading North on the Interstate pulling my snowmobiles and creamed a deer doing around 55. The truck itself has been just fine thanks to the nice steel bumper on those 97's, but the bumper itself is dented pretty bad. I am simply wondering if anyone has removed those bumpers on the 97/98 model years and if they ran into any trouble regarding rusted bolts, etc. Also, the plates that the bumper is mounted to are probably damaged to some degree, although it is tough to tell without knowing how they should look in the first place. Is that something where I am going to need to cut them off the frame? Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[walnuts4x4]

shouldn't be too hard to remove the bumper... some PBblaster a few days before and possibly some torches to heat the nuts and you should be good to go. I know DGray69 bent the crap out of his frame horn and front bumper offroading last year and he heated and beat it fairly straight again.... so doubt deer would bend frame... but you never know...

 

[tonydiv]

Mine came off without any problem.

In fact if anyone wants to pick up my original bumper, it's yours for $75 (including aftermarket lights)

 

[FordandPolaris]

Alright thanks for the advice!