Seeking Advice - Rear Bumper

[Rogo]

Just got back from doing some trail driving. Lots of ruts, ravines and creek crossings. Good fun.

However, I hit ******* my rear bumper. I was dropping down into a ditch, and the greater angle in front was fine, but the rear angle is smaller, so I caught it on the way down. I think I hit on one corner - I can see a small crack that looks like its the impact point. Not worried about that, but there are two brackets that hold the bumper steady from the underside. Plastic pieces that connect the bumper to the frame - just for stability, not to absord any impact.

Anyway, they both broke off completely.

I am looking for two things: 1) an easy way to fix it to reduce bumper vibration. Not even sure its a problem. I need to follow the wife while she drives to see if it even needs to be fixed. 2) a way to help prevent me from completely loosing the rear bumper next time.

Any advice?

 

[nwoods]

I happen to have a fair amount of bumper experience, and as I sit here typing, I have a pile near my feet of broken plastic bits that originally held my bumper on. My point is that my bumper is still on, despite the alarming pile of bits near my feet.

The bumper is held on with a combination of bolts, screws, and heavy duty spring clips. Mostly spring clips, only two small bolts, and an unknown amount of screws (most of mine were broken off...).

Its possible to re-seat the bumper over the spring clips without removing anything, but I found it easier to disassemble the bumper and re-seat it properly. Sadly, I took very few photos of the process, as I did it myself in the approaching twighlight of camp, and wanted to get supper started.

The bumper is fairly easy to take off. There is a screw in each rear wheel well to remove. There are two screws for each brake light assembly, then just pull straight back and they pop off. Under/behind the brake lights there is a tab with a hex bolt to be removed. Then there are misc. screws for the various plastic stiffener pieces inside the bumper itself.

Once the bumper is off, simply reseat it by putting the tabs in the rear under the tailgate into the slots, then move to either corner, pulling the bumper over the spring clips. repeat on the other side. Its pretty straight forward. You'll need a #2 philips screwdriver, and small metric sockets, I think a 10mm?

Cheers,


BTW> If you happen to need a new bumper, I have one for sale for $25, it has the PDC knockouts. Its NOT the one in the photos! It's a replacement that I'll never use because I don't have the PDC sensors.

 

[Rogo]

nice field repair. good to know its not too bad to repair if it does come off.

I'm looking to see if there's a way to prevent loosing the bumper in the first place. Maybe bully bars for the rear...?

 

[richpike]

BTW> If you happen to need a new bumper, I have one for sale for $25, it has the PDC knockouts. Its NOT the one in the photos! It's a replacement that I'll never use because I don't have the PDC sensors.

Nathan - does it actually have holes where the PDC sensors are? Or are they "capped"? Would it look weird to put it on a non PDC car?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[nwoods]

Nathan - does it actually have holes where the PDC sensors are? Or are they "capped"? Would it look weird to put it on a non PDC car?

Thanks,
Rich

It would look wierd, which is why I'm not using it

 

[richpike]

Thanks for the honest reply

-Rich