Hi all,

I have an 06 XLT with the chrome bumper, my only problem is that it is bent down on the driver side, so that there is a gap about twice a wide as it should be on the left side of the truck and the corner of the bumper goes up and almost touches the fender on the driver side. It is a little off on the passenger side as well, but not nearly as bad and I think it is only the driver side that is a problem.

My question is: Is there an easy/cheap way to straiten this out? Im in college so tools and resources are very limited until i go home for christmas.

Thanks.

 

Throw up a pic of it. These guys are real good about helping out and giving good advice. This forum is my first stop when I need to know something.

 

I dont have a good camera, but i will try to get a pic on my phone that looks ok.

The bumper looks like it is undamaged, but the mounting brackets on the drivers side apear to be bent doen from their origional position. Thus the bumper is angled down slightly and the gab between the chrome lower and painted uper bumper is about twice what it should be. Conversly, the end of the bumper angles up and almost touched the front fender infront of the front left tire.

Like I said, I'll try for a pic, but any advice on how to straiten the bumper out would be great.

 

I'm guessing you bought used since you don't know how it happened. My guess would be a previous owner rear ended someone and replaced the bumper, but wasn't smart enough to check on the mounting brackets.

If the bumper is straight could you just get new mounting brackets and put it back on?

 

i would try and loosen the mounting bracket bolts and push it where you want it and then tighten the bolts. easier with an extra set of hands.

 

Got a tree and a rope?

I'd remove the bracket and beat the crap out of it until it resembled straight if money was really tight.

Really though those ways won't do much for you since the metal is bent your best bet is to take the bracket to a body shop and have them heat it up with a torch then knock it back into shape. Pretty easy that way.

 

Thanks guys, I did buy the truck used and t came like that, it really didnt bother me till I hit a concrete wall the other day. I want going fast at all but my mind said it made it worse so Im going to try to do something about it.

It doesnt affect driving at all, it just makes me mad at myself when I see it sometimes, im at college 800 miles from home so that limits my ability to work on it. My computer also just crapped out on me so getting a pic up is going to be a bit difficult, but I will still try.

Thanks for your hep and advice, I'll see what I can do when I go home at christmas.

 

note to self- avoid concrete walls.

 

Thanks, i will keep that in mind in the future. I was talking to my girlfriend and wasnt paying attention while I was puling into a spot. Ive been kicking myself for it ever since

 

Don't worry, I was pulling into a parking space the other day and I think I tapped two concrete pillars. I pulled back, got out and inspected and I don't see any damage... I think they made contact with the chrome so that helped rather then the paint.

 

Yeah, im not worried about the paint, it was a work truck before i bought it, so the paint is far from mint. It did scratch the chrome a bit on the top of the bumper where it hit.

The bumper was already crooked before I did it, and if i hadnt been I dont think it would have done anything, but I think that it got bent more because it was already bent down and made contact on the top of the bumper.

Another question I thought of, How hard is it to remove the front bumper, I dont have fog lights, and It doesnt look too bad, but I might be missing a bolt or two when I looked at it.

 

really easy but it helps to have a second pair of hands.

 

Thanks, it really didnt look too hard when I got under the truck.

I think i will have to wait till i go home for christmas to do anything about it, I have a lot more tools there and my dad will provide a good set of smart extra hands, and I can call some junk yards looking for replacement brackets. Im pretty sure thats whats wrong with it.

 

I have a 2005 STX that has the same issue, and I bought it new. Oh yeah, and I've never hit anything yet. It sounds like your issue is a bit more severe than mine; I've got no problems with anything rattling or anything weird like that. If it's just bothering you cosmetically, and money is tight, I'd just leave it alone. Who knows if you'll make it worse or not; then money will be really tight!

 

It is only a cosmetic issue, it just makes e want to kick myself every time I see it. I probably wont do anything about it for a while, at least until Christmas time when Im home from college.