2004 G3500 Front Tow Hooks

[rpaoness]

With spring mud season upon us, I'm planning on putting some tow hooks on the front of the box truck. I settled on a front 2" receiver from Curt:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GOAIQY?re ... asin_title
What really sold me on buying a front receiver hitch was that I can insert my flat receiver hitch carrier rack and use it for a generator platform when set up on site (or during transit? not sure how good an idea that is).

I also splurged and bought a recovery strap and some "soft" shackles, which are just heavy knotted ropes:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJM ... =UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGZ ... =UTF8&th=1

Hopefully this only gets used as a base for the generator.

[rpaoness]

The front bumper has a couple rust holes. Thinking about replacing it while I'm installing the front hitch.

Ebay black el-cheapo, ~$220:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184662239214?_ ... R8rv4a21ZQ

or
Ebay chrome el-cheapo, ~$250:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283189634694?_ ... R_zV1621ZQ

[rpaoness]

I just had another thought - I could get RockAuto supplier "quality", which I think would at least be a step-up from ebay el-cheapo, for not a crazy amount of money if I combined shipping on the new pickup truck front bumper that also has rust holes in it the same time I order the box truck front bumper.

Looks like ebay total for pickup/box truck bumpers would be about $650-$700 (pickup is $430+ on ebay)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235977585732?f ... R_KLk661ZQ

Rock Auto has chrome box truck bumper for $195, pickup bumper for $195, and $209 shipping. w/ 5% code, the grand total is $616.

Hmmmm....

[rpaoness]

Ordered the chrome one from RockAuto and a replacement for my pickup. I did take the bumper off to make hitch install easier. I'm not thrilled with the approach angle impact. It's no lower than the stock air dam, but that was flexible plastic.

[rpaoness]

Box truck bumper fit fine and looks much better. I think it's thinner gauge than the OEM black bumper. Since I soaked it with fluid film before/during install, I really hope it doesn't rust out much quicker.