bumper Fix

97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage and no
one hurt. (thankfully)

My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and need
replacing. Is that right?

QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says they
hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped forward but
other than that, nothing looks wrong.

Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be replaced
correct? Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and returned to the near
original position. Is there something I can measure? Any help is appreciated

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 14:33:59 +0000, bobQ wrote:
[color=blue]
> 97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
> My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage and no
> one hurt. (thankfully)
>
> My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and need
> replacing. Is that right?
>
> QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
> repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says they
> hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped forward but
> other than that, nothing looks wrong.
>
> Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be replaced
> correct? Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and returned to the near
> original position. Is there something I can measure? Any help is appreciated[/color]


I would take it to a shop, even the dealer, and have it looked at. There
are a lot of things that can go wrong, even if it looks good.

As far as the crushable mounts, you are correct. They are something like
shock absorbers, although (for some unknown to me reason) they don't
bounce back. Common fix? Get a chain and find a strong tree, wrap the
chain around the tree and then attach to the bumper and yank them back out
again. You're on your own on this; BE CAREFUL you don't pull the bumper
right off the car!!!

"bobQ" <eza9nt@verizon.net> wrote in news:r1zve.3962$4M1.2505@trnddc07:
[color=blue]
> 97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
> My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage
> and no one hurt. (thankfully)
>
> My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and
> need replacing. Is that right?[/color]



Not these days. Most cars these days have an EPS ("Styrofoam") insert a
couple of inches thick between the bumper skin and the steel reinforcing
bar. It's glued to the back of the skin. The rebar is normally solidly
bolted to the body.

The old-style "crushable mounts" went out with exposed chromed-steel
bumpers.


[color=blue]
>
> QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
> repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says
> they hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped
> forward but other than that, nothing looks wrong.
>
> Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be
> replaced correct?[/color]



The foam crushes, yes. It normally breaks up, as well. You must buy a whole
new bumper skin, since you cannot buy the foam by itself. And then the new
skin will have to be painted and installed.


[color=blue]
> Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and
> returned to the near original position. Is there something I can
> measure? Any help is appreciated
>[/color]


If the damage is that hard to notice, just leave it alone. It ain't worth
worrying about.

--
TeGGeR®

"Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.06.26.15.45.57.31000@ae86.gts...[color=blue]
> On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 14:33:59 +0000, bobQ wrote:
>[color=green]
> > 97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
> > My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage[/color][/color]
and no[color=blue][color=green]
> > one hurt. (thankfully)
> >
> > My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and[/color][/color]
need[color=blue][color=green]
> > replacing. Is that right?
> >
> > QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
> > repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says[/color][/color]
they[color=blue][color=green]
> > hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped forward[/color][/color]
but[color=blue][color=green]
> > other than that, nothing looks wrong.
> >
> > Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be[/color][/color]
replaced[color=blue][color=green]
> > correct? Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and returned to the[/color][/color]
near[color=blue][color=green]
> > original position. Is there something I can measure? Any help is[/color][/color]
appreciated[color=blue]
>
>
> I would take it to a shop, even the dealer, and have it looked at. There
> are a lot of things that can go wrong, even if it looks good.
>
> As far as the crushable mounts, you are correct. They are something like
> shock absorbers, although (for some unknown to me reason) they don't
> bounce back. Common fix? Get a chain and find a strong tree, wrap the
> chain around the tree and then attach to the bumper and yank them back out
> again. You're on your own on this; BE CAREFUL you don't pull the bumper
> right off the car!!![/color]

Or a rotting tree down on your car =)

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 19:02:00 -0400, Josh wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
> news:pan.2005.06.26.15.45.57.31000@ae86.gts...[color=green]
>> On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 14:33:59 +0000, bobQ wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>> > 97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
>> > My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage[/color][/color]
> and no[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > one hurt. (thankfully)
>> >
>> > My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and[/color][/color]
> need[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > replacing. Is that right?
>> >
>> > QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
>> > repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says[/color][/color]
> they[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped forward[/color][/color]
> but[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > other than that, nothing looks wrong.
>> >
>> > Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be[/color][/color]
> replaced[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > correct? Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and returned to the[/color][/color]
> near[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > original position. Is there something I can measure? Any help is[/color][/color]
> appreciated[color=green]
>>
>>
>> I would take it to a shop, even the dealer, and have it looked at. There
>> are a lot of things that can go wrong, even if it looks good.
>>
>> As far as the crushable mounts, you are correct. They are something like
>> shock absorbers, although (for some unknown to me reason) they don't
>> bounce back. Common fix? Get a chain and find a strong tree, wrap the
>> chain around the tree and then attach to the bumper and yank them back out
>> again. You're on your own on this; BE CAREFUL you don't pull the bumper
>> right off the car!!![/color]
>
> Or a rotting tree down on your car =)[/color]

Ya otta sell this one to Vonnage for one of their 'dumb' commercials!

"TeGGeR®" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote in message
news:Xns9681A55933A20tegger@207.14.113.17...[color=blue]
> "bobQ" <eza9nt@verizon.net> wrote in news:r1zve.3962$4M1.2505@trnddc07:
>[color=green]
>> 97 Avalon (Camry should be similar)
>> My daughter rear ended another car, similar weight. No visible damage
>> and no one hurt. (thankfully)
>>
>> My expectation is that the front bumper shock mounts are crushed and
>> need replacing. Is that right?[/color]
>
>
>
> Not these days. Most cars these days have an EPS ("Styrofoam") insert a
> couple of inches thick between the bumper skin and the steel reinforcing
> bar. It's glued to the back of the skin. The rebar is normally solidly
> bolted to the body.
>
> The old-style "crushable mounts" went out with exposed chromed-steel
> bumpers.
>[/color]
On the Avalon, the backing, foam and skin are separate parts. Look under
the bumper and you will see a bunch of bolts. Remove the bolts to remove
the skin and expose the foam.

[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>>
>> QUESTION: how hard is this? I've done Rack and Pinion and Timing belt
>> repairs on this but have no experience with bumper mounts. Wife says
>> they hit em pretty hard. Under the hood I can see the battery slipped
>> forward but other than that, nothing looks wrong.
>>
>> Is my assumption that the bumper uses crushable mounts that must be
>> replaced correct?[/color]
>
>
>
> The foam crushes, yes. It normally breaks up, as well. You must buy a
> whole
> new bumper skin, since you cannot buy the foam by itself. And then the new
> skin will have to be painted and installed.
>
>
>[color=green]
>> Seems like the bumper may have pushed in and
>> returned to the near original position. Is there something I can
>> measure? Any help is appreciated
>>[/color]
>
>
> If the damage is that hard to notice, just leave it alone. It ain't worth
> worrying about.
>
> --
> TeGGeR®[/color]
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply[color=blue]
>[/color]

"Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote in
news:jPidnXC0DOEeCV3fRVn-uw@comcast.com:
[color=blue]
>
> "TeGGeR®" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote in message
> news:Xns9681A55933A20tegger@207.14.113.17...[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Not these days. Most cars these days have an EPS ("Styrofoam") insert
>> a couple of inches thick between the bumper skin and the steel
>> reinforcing bar. It's glued to the back of the skin. The rebar is
>> normally solidly bolted to the body.
>>
>> The old-style "crushable mounts" went out with exposed chromed-steel
>> bumpers.
>>[/color]
> On the Avalon, the backing, foam and skin are separate parts. Look
> under the bumper and you will see a bunch of bolts. Remove the bolts
> to remove the skin and expose the foam.[/color]



That's good to know. So the foam actually has a separate part number?

--
TeGGeR®