Rear bumper/tow hitch mounting bar removal

[Al Housman]

I am in the proces of doing quite a bit of work on the Doka and the rear lower part of the valance, behind where the big solid tubular bracket which the bumper and tow bar bolt onto, is pretty rough. 

Is it a case  of undoing the two large bolts underneath which go into the rear chassis member on each side? And of using considerable force to get it out?

My truck has definitely been used as it was intended by me (woodland/field work)and the previous owner ( a pipelaying company in the former East Germany) so most of the chassis members I am getting into are full of mud/gravel and general muck!! So everything will get a good rake out and get soaked/sprayed in oil of some sort. I am considering using chainsaw oil as it's pretty thick, can be sprayed everywhere and I have plenty of it!! Any other thoughts?

Cheers

[Aidan]

yep tow bar is held by 2 or 3 bolts in the rear chassis members and then corroded in place over time, may also be slightly bent

[Al Housman]

Thanks Aidan.
On closer inspection I'm not sure that I want to try pulling that apart.
I'll maybe look for a bodycut at some point. I imagine that that part of the panel (the bit with the holes!) is common to vans and pickups and that it's only the upper part which is different.
 

[Robsey]

I removed the rear irons from my van.
Each side had two large hex-head bolts threaded through the rail into threads in the iron itself.

As Aidan describes, on these old vehicles, the bolt heads were severely corroded, and in my case had to be cut off carefully with a cutting disc.

Fortunately, I was able to drill out the bolt remnants from the iron without damaging the threads.
Ready for repainting and new bolts.

As for repair panels - it does look like there are subtle differences between the Doka rear valance and the Van body rear valance.
I presume mainly to do with the location of the tailgate lock mechanism on the van models.

[Al Housman]

Thanks for clarifying which bolts hold it on. There is a third forward of those which I thought moved a little too easily!

Are those two bolts threaded on the side where the heads are? By which I mean is the threaded section immediately next to the bolt heads and not on the opposite side of the chassis member?  If so I may try lots of heat and maybe even welding onto the bolt heads to try to free them up with that heat.

Hope that makes sense!!

Cheers

[Al Housman]

Aha!

I can answer my own question. Brickwerks and others sell the brackets and they only have threaded holes on one side......

[Robsey]

This is a typical bumper iron...





As you can see. Welded in nuts (captive nuts).

[Al Housman]

Thanks for the photos.

I have learnt this morning (thanks Aidan) that my bumper irons are the Westfalia type. There is a pretty solid tube welded between the irons and also there are 3 bolts holding them into the chassis.

Thanks all for clarifying the situation.