sKauGhTiEe,
I had to do these mods because the SMA Brush Guard is made to mount to the valence above the factory bumper. With the RA bumper, in an effort to provide a higher mounting point for the winch, the valence in built into the bumper. Not only is it not as tall as the factory valence but instead of sticking out past the grill, as with the factory, it is actually even with or slightly recessed from the grill. It also has a slight tilt back from the bottom to the top. All of these changes to the mounting points necessitated all of the mods to the stock mounting brackets and the tilt of the hood.
The Gobi rack is their stealth model which is lower than their standard rack. This gives you the ability to mount a rack and still get in a standard 84" garage door opening, provided you don't add 37" tires and a high lift jack mounted to the top like I did
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Tim,
Good to hear from you again. It appears that you have a new truck. Some of us are planning to go to the Badlands at Attica, IN in April, you should think about going.
The mounting brackets are held on with the two bolts per side. These are the same grade 8 bolts as the factory used. However, with this mounted directly to the bumper instead of to the brackets cut into the plastic valence, factory install, the brush guard is very sturdy. With the factory install you could grab the guard and wiggle it back and forth due to the mounting system. In fairness it probably moved about the same amount as the factory wraparound guard that is attached to the hood but I was expecting something more substantial from looking at the pictures. This new set up provides that and more.
You can grab the guard and try to shake it but there is no movement. It is very solid.