Rear Bumper Removal

Hello All,

I've attempted to remove my rear bumper this morning, and the two Torx mounting bolts are very corroded, and seized solid in their holes.

I Plusgassed everything, and I managed to get one out, but the other is polishing off now, and I think I'm going to have to drill it out.

Has anyone had any luck with stud extractors on these bolts, or am I going to have to drill the whole thing out and re-tap it?

Do they just bolt in to a threaded hole on the bumper beam, or is it a captive nut? It's hard to see what they screw in to in RAVE.

Many thanks....

They screw in to a threaded hole on the bumper brackets, although this is actually a nut welded to the inside of the bracket if I recall correctly.

Mine were a bugger to get off, but a bit of "encouragement" knocking an E16 socket on to the rusted bolts did the trick for me. Sounds like you're past that point though

Irwin bolt grip may be your friend

So do you think if I drilled off the head, I might be able to get the bumper off and that might give me a bit of exposed bolt to get a pipe wrench on?

Sounds like another mornings work to me. The wife will be pleased.

If you get the head off then the bumper will come off. Easiest way is to bang a tight fitting socket onto it then sheer it off. The bracket this bolt goes into is itself removable once the bumber is off. I sheered both mine off, so removed both brackets and drilled out the remaining snapped bolt and re-tapped the welded on nut.

I'll drill the bugger out then.

Cheaper than a set of Irwin Bolt grips.

I wonder what Rimmer's charge for a replacement bolt? I bet you I'm surprised!

MrGorsky said:

I'll drill the bugger out then.

Cheaper than a set of Irwin Bolt grips.

I wonder what Rimmer's charge for a replacement bolt? I bet you I'm surprised!

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No need to pay Rimmers prices, I used standard Allen head bolts when I replaced mine Means if they round off next time you have a nice guide hole for the drill

How to the clips that attach at the sides unclip?

I've put my hand up there to do some exploring, and I can't work it out at all. Apart from the whole area being thick with mud, which way do the clips go to undo?

I can feel two "wire" bits that hook round mountings on the bodywork, but I can't move them in, out, up or down.

Can anyone shed a bit more light on which way I should be pushing?

How to the clips that attach at the sides unclip?

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The wire bit of clips are fairly straight forward (they are actually a single piece of thick metal rod passed through the clip's plastic body). Squeeze the wire ends together a little to 'unlatch' them and then pull the wire down vertically so the plastic body is now free to slide in the channel.

Then you should be able to slide the bumper off by yanking/wiggling it backwards. Cleaning muck out of the grooves that the plastic body of the clip slides into will help with the yanking.

Have you removed the mudflaps and the screw on the plastic mud-shield just a little in from the upper two mudflap screws, disconnected any tow-bar wiring (and parking sensors if fitted)?

Remember reading somewhere that you need to remove the towbar to slide the bumper off. At least with my (aftermarket) towbar, that's not necessary.

Cheers,

Malcolm

Thanks for that Malcolm.

I haven't taken the mud flaps off yet no.

RAVE says you should, but the official tow-bar install instructions say you only have to remove the screw that goes into the chassis so I thought I'd try and get away with just that for now.

The reason being that the screws holding the mud flaps on are also really corroded and I don't fancy trying to drill those out too if I can get away without having too!

I have neither tow-bar or parking sensors so that isn't a problem. I'm still working on getting the seized mounting bolt out, I tried a drill but because of the towing eye getting in the way of the drill, I can't get a good angle on it. Looks like Irwin Bolt Grip might be the only answer.

Thinking about it; yes, the mudflaps and splash shields could theoretically stay on if the spash shield is unscrewed from the chassis. Be a right pain though when attempting to slide the bumper out the back with the splash shields still firmly attached (they share two screws with the mud-flaps)...

Grind a slot in the screw heads with a Dremel and use a flat bladed screwdriver to get them out (they aren't screwing into anything more substantial than little clips, so won't be hard to release manually).

Fit new metal clips (pack of six is circa £2 from Halfrauds...cheaper in real car shops!) and also replace the screws with the closest sized stainless steel screws from B&Q with stainless or galvanised washers.

By the way....if you haven't already, I'd get some replacement bumper "crash cans" (the brackets at the back of the chassis that the two big bumper bolts you had so much fun with earlier screw into).

Mine are on their last legs so I'll have to remove my bumper again soon before it falls off on the motorway!!

Should have listened to the adage "Do it right, or do it twice"....

malcolm_durant said:

had so much fun with earlier.....

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Having so much fun with Malcom, havING so much fun with.

I've been out and bought some Irwin Bolt Grips and after a morning of not being able to get any purchase on the bolt, I am having no fun with those either!

I think I'm going to have to cut the towing eye off to get batter access for the drill, to drill out the mounting bolt. Then I'm going to have to drill out all the screws holding the mud-flaps on, then I'll be able to get my bumper off, hopefully.

Either that or attempt to cut the head off with my Dremmel. Neither path looks easy.

Cheers for the tip though. It looks like I'm dealing with 15 years of salt corrosion and mud. Once I get the thing off god knows what I'll find beneath. I suspect a LOT of rust. Some new brackets will probably be the way forward. Wire brush and Hammerite at the ready then.

Wee bit of Dynamite then

It's out by god it's out!

Well, at least after 3 hours of swearing, drilling, hammering, and grinding the bumper bar is free from the bolt.

Now I just need to free up the screws holding the mud-flaps on, (more drilling I expect) and the bumper should be free.

I have no garage, and have run out of light.

If I push down on the back of it, I can already see it's moving free of the bolt.

Sorry to bang on, but my wife has no idea why I'm so elated, and frankly I deserve a beer.

Good evening one and all.