LOL... No need for me to wait quietly in the woods all camoflauged up. I hunt deer in my moving chair.

 

HOW-TO BUILD A BETTER BUMPER

The metal rod was purchased from a local steel distributor (see your yellow pages).
It is a cold rolled, carbon steel, but I forget the actual hardness rating.
I think it was: 1120 Steel, 160 BHN*, with an 85% machine-ability
(BHN) Brinell Hardness Number

Remember, you have to be able to bend the rod to follow the curve of the bumper.
You can use a hydraulic press (or like me) 2 really strong guys and a LOT of leverage.

When you cut the rod make sure it extends 7” past each end of the bumper.

I think the actual diameter was 1 ¼” or 1.5" but you need to remove the front bumper and measure the inside channel to find an average. You also have to use various pry bars to reform and round the inside ends of the sheet metal bumper to accommodate the rod.

The ends of the rod must be tapered with a grinder so they don’t bind.
Use a heavy axel grease and lube up the inside channel of the bumper and about 1’ of the end of the metal rod.
Put the bumper in a heavy-duty bench vice. Have 1 really strong guy hold the bumper.
Have the other really strong guy use a very large dead blow hammer and slowly pound the curved metal bar into the channel on the bumper.
Use a large heavy-duty C-clamp to keep the rod in the channel when pounding.
Use a pipe wrench to rotate the rod if it starts to turn.


When finished. Degrease everything with lacquer thinner and paint the entire bumper and rod.

It a very time consuming and messy process, but it doesn’t require welding and it strengthens the entire bumper, retains the OEM appearance, and provides about 7” extended ends to protect the wheels.

The foam padding is indeed a cut-up Fun-noodle pool-toy held on with GE silicone sealer/adhesive and black duct tape.


The whole process is a lot of trial an error and once the reinforced bumper is back in place you will have to re-bend the ends and re-cut the foam to get it to fit properly under the plastic bumper cover.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
:D

 

Holy crap man--glad you are ok and posting, haha.

 

Cheers,

great idea and good work.

Looks like we share interests in not only modifying cars, but also racing. Looking forward to hearing how/what you plan on doing to the xB.

For me, I'm torn by the fact that I bought this Special Edition car that should be kept as stock as possible, but also want to modify the crap out of it for handling. Specifically add on fender flares and try and sqeeze on 255 or 275 wide Hoosier tires. THAT would be one bad ___ autox car.

 

I was on my way to work the other night when I hit a deer. He jumped over the concrete barrier right infront of me. My little Nissan hit him in the shoulder with the headlight assembly, his head took out the rest of the grille. Now my car that I just bought and didn't even get in my name yet is really messed up. The transmission is howling bad, and it is a new one, just installed before I bought the car. oh well, looks that I'm going to have to wait even longer for my xB.


Wild Bill

 

Excellent How-To with added pics! Thanks very much. ScionLife Forum is the greatest! :D RPM

 

Can someone give an estimate on how much it would cost to do this?

 

Charges on MasterCard:
Hardened steel rod $25
Can of spray paint $5
2 foam funnoodles $6
Tube of GE silicone sealer /adhesive $5
Roll of black duct tape $4
Peace of mind knowing that your car's newly reinforced bumper
is stronger, safer, and can survive an impact with a deer's big fat ___...
Priceless.

 

Could you scan a copy of this MasterCard statement (complete w/CC#) and email it to me. I'm not entirely convinced and would like more proof. Make sure the CC account number is clearly visible.
Thank you

 

ohh you know you can trust him, his name is the saint

 

I was asked a few more queston in a PM, so I though I'd post the answers...

QUESTIONS:
What are the benefits of reinforcing the front bumper and adding foam?
Also how much weight did it add to the car?
Was it expensive to do and or involve welding?


ANSWER:
Adding a reinforcing rod increases overall strength of bumper and adds side protection near the front wheels. If you examine some of the crash photos of other xBs you will notice that if it gets hit on the front corner the damage is extensive as there is no bumper underneath the plastic to absorb the impact. It’s the most vulnerable spot in the front of the car. The weight of the metal rod I used was 7.5 lbs.

Carmakers typically “go cheap” on bumpers for reasons such as:
1. Weight
2. Cost
3. Ability to sell replacement parts (or new cars) .

No welding was involved. It took a weekend of planning and design, then a lot of muscle to pound the rod into the channel of the OEM bumper.

The foam is used to help absorb impact and also to prevent damage in minor (slow speed) accidents.
Think of it this way... imagine hitting your hand with a hammer.

Now place a piece of high-density foam on your hand and hit that with the hammer. Much of the impact is absorbed by the foam and not your hand. The same thing happens with the bumper. In a low speed impact (such as a parking lot accident) the foam will absorb the impact instead cracking the plastic bumper cover and denting the metal underneath.

I got the idea from Saturn car bumpers which are made with massive amounts of (bike helmet) foam over their metal bumpers, then coated in plastic. That’s why Saturn’s get 5 stars in a crash and the driver can walk away from the accident. The bumper absorbs almost all of the damage.

And no, it wasn’t expensive. The foam is a fun-noodle pool toy cut up and the metal rod was scrap at a metal yard.



- Rally xB

 

you should make a new post for just the how to! Great write up!

 

rallyxb

Thank you for sharing a useful good idea :D

 

ur a handy guy to have around

 

I'm sorry, but that's funny

 

I am new here and I hope you dont mind my butting in. Unfortunalty mosification to OEM safety devices on any automobile is illegal. Of course most states also have laws making any modification to a stock suspension illegal to. I am not saying you shouldnt modify, destroy, race, mod out, or cruise your ride cause thats pretty much why we own cars but if you are ever in a bigger accident than a fender bender which will require the insurance company to dissassemble or inspect for quoteing purposes you may find yourself in some trouble. Several years ago some shmuck thought it would be cool to use a rail road tie for a front bumper and his truck. One day a nice lady in a minivan RAN a red light and he plowed her right in the passenger door killing two of 4 kids in the car. She ran the light so she got the ticket but because he midified his front bumper she (with the help of some lawyer I am sure) sued this guy and ended up with well over a million because the jury felt that his modification to his truck made the crash worse since the "crumple zone" and "impact barrier" was no longer exisiting. Instead he had a railroad tie.

 

good point but I don't think a fun noodle is going to mess up the crumple zone

 

no but the steel rod could...

 

and yes, in NJ it is illegal to have non-factory bumpers.

jeeps and trucks like to use 2 x 6's.
and then they wrap it with some rope...

might look trick (to some) but it is illegal.

this is more of a hidden mod, not so easy to notice if it were in an accident...

 

so you can't have a body kit???

that blows!