1999 2Door Rear Bumper Removal with Tow Hitch

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Black99

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Does anyone know how exactly to remove the rear bumper on a '99 2 door with a tow hitch? I've watched tons of videos but havn't seen this exact set up. From looking at it, there is no way to access the nuts for the 4 mounting bolts becuase the tow hitch is in the way. So I was wondering, do you have to remove the tow hitch to get this thing off? I was looking at the hitch and it looks like the only way to get that off is to drop the fuel tank so I can get access to the bolts. Am I going crazy or is there an easier way to get the rear bumper off? Attached some pics of driver/passenger side bolts and nuts so you can see whats going on here. Thanks!

Driver Side Bolts.JPG Driver Side Nuts.JPG Passenger Side Bolts.JPG Passenger Side Nuts.JPG
 
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Black99

Black99

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Ok so I did some more looking around and apparently the hitch has these little square plates that the bolts mount into which would negate the need to get a wrench on top of them to get the nuts off! It's all making sense now, looks like the hitch has to come off and then I can get the bumper mounting bolts off. Then there's the brackets also attached to the bumper and frame which seem almost impossible to get a wrench on top of to get off, gonna have to figure that one out.

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east302

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I’m doing mine now (two door Tahoe). You are correct, the bolts holding the tow hitch do not have a nut on top - just remove the nuts, the hitch drops down and the bolts stay hanging in place.

The middle bumper bolt nuts are not captive. I wish they were, it’s a pain to get to them. I have two socket wrenches, one on the inside and one on the outside turning maybe one click at a time.

I’m not removing the angled bar mounts on the outside ends (no need to). I didn’t look too hard in just how to get to their top mount on the frame.

There had to be an easier way...maybe thirty swivel joints and learning how to cuss in Swahili.
 
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Black99

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east302

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I probably won’t replace it, just loosening the bolts and pulling it back out/realigning since the previous owner backed into something.

Aftermarket does seem to be hit or miss, though. Mine is painted (sport trim) so the black primer bumpers are not too expensive. I suspect that just about all of them are made by the same few factories overseas.
 

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