New camera, hazy day and nothing to do equals...

[Lee]

Eric,

I took them off my '99 Silverado to save some money on mods. Your guy was right. They don't fit on the SS because of the cladding. My guy told me the same thing. Then again, they told me 18" wheels would not fit on my '99 Silverado either until I asked him to mount just one tire on the front to check turning clearance. He did and said, "Well, I'll be damned. It fits."

 

Here's what you need to do. Buy a set to fit any late model Silverado. It will mount normally except for two things. You will need a 1/2 inch spacer on the front brackets and a 1/4 inch spacer on the rear. That way the bar will clear the cladding (barely) but that's all that counts. When you do that you will also need two case hardened bolts that are 1/2 inch longer to replace the front body bolts that will no longer fit because of the spacers. I just used two pieces of 1/4 inch steel for the front, have them cut to match the bracket (I think it was 3 1/2 inches sq. but don't recall exactly, Eric) and drilled holes in the middle for the bolt.

 

Bottom line, use two 1/4 inch spacers in the front and one in the rear and you're good to go. Just do it yourself and save some $$. As far as mounting, it's a no brainer. Take out four original bolts, put in your brackets, replace the bolts and finally bolt on the bar itself.

 

If you've had them before you know they can sometimes squeak as they are bolted to the frame and frames sometimes flex when going over speed bumps etc. A trick I learns before. Put just a little grease on the metal parts that touch. It will never make noice if you do that.

 

Good luck.

[ericwf]

Thanks a lot for the tip and instructions Lee!! I went ahead and purchased the nurf bars the dealer was going to install for me. I'll let ya know how it goes (with pics)!

 

Eric

[Lee]