markwilson66

Just got this '09 xB and it's pretty clean but there's this odd misalignment of the front grill on the passenger side.
It's about 1/2" proud (sticking out) compared to the drivers side which looks perfect.
I've loosened up the bolts around the radiator support but it doesn't want to move back in. The hood looks like it is aligned properly and it opens/closes OK but it does rub at the corner where the bumper cover is protruding.
Any ideas on how it got this way or what I could do to improve it?

Thanks!

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

Looks like mine after my ex had an accident. I would take bets that the previous owner re-ended someone on that side and it bent the headlight/radiator support area. Not enough that it obvious, but enough that it is out of alignment.

markwilson66

Thanks Greg,
I suspect something like that happened but I don't see any signs of damage or repair. It's hard to imagine any kind of impact that would make it stick out like that, I would expect it to be pushed in. Maybe the impact was down low and some kind of lever force made the upper part kick forward.
Did you ever fix yours? It's really bugging me because otherwise this car is about perfect.

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

I would bet that the bumper and possibly the headlight have been replaced due to the hit. To give you an idea of what type of hit it takes to move this section I've attached a picture of my car after the accident. I've never taken car of the misalignment because it doesn't really bother me that much. Nothing looks bent or out of place when just looking at the headlight a radiator supports but it is visible when you put all the parts on and they don't line up.

markwilson66

Wow, that's a significant impact! I don't think ours was anywhere near that. I've got matching VINs on all body panels (not sure about bumper cover) and both headlights have equal weathering.
Now that I've noticed it. it jumps right out at me every time I look at the car. I'm thinking about taking the bumper cover and grill off and pushing the passenger side radiator support back with a Porta-Power. It only needs to be pushed 1/2".

kidd

I replaced my headlights today because of hitting a raccoon last fall. The upper headlight mount broke because of it and let water in.
I had the same miss alignment. Found four bolts holding the radiator support. Two on each side, they weren't symetrical. Loosened the pushed in side and wam bam thank you ma'am everything lines up now. Taking the bumper off wasn't even that hard

markwilson66

Thanks kidd,
I forgot to post a follow up but I did exactly as you described a couple weekends ago and now everything lines up perfectly.
There's a fair amount of adjustability in those radiator supports. I suspect that mine had been like that since new. There were no indications of damage or repairs, no tooling marks on the bolts. I only noticed it because when you close the hood it would rub the bumper cover a little and the paint had rubbed off. The original owner probably never opened the hood since she had it serviced at Toyota every 5,000 miles.

kidd

I was surprised to find no marks around the hole too. Probably that good Japanese steel or cheap Chinese bolt

Vespoena

I just got the 09 Scion xB on Saturday and it has this exact problem. The front bumper is slightly tilted down so that the hood does not align properly. the history says one owner and no accidents, plus there is no other damage that I can see other than the very bottom edge of the bumper has some dings and a small dent on the bottom edge. I quickly realized the possible cause of this misalignment and the dings when I test drove it (a standard) after not having driven a standard in many years. I slightly overestimated the honkin nose of this beauty and slightly over ran the curb when parking on a downhill. I would imagine the alignment has happened because I'm not the only one to overshoot a curb in this Toaster. It makes sense to me that that kind of low slow impact could make the top tilt out as it has. I'm glad you guys have posted this. I was trying to figure out what I could do to fix this. Momma's gonna break out her tools.
I'll post back with an update if this helps.

"Cultivate the knack of thinking in a creative anything is possible way."
-Michael Larsen

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markwilson66

Good luck, you can do this. All that is required is a little patience. Particularly with the bumper cover clips, you need to finesse them apart. If you brute force those they could end up breaking. I think I used some plastic pry bars from Harbor Freight, the blue ones.

Vespoena

Thanks for the tips Mark! Ill do my best. Hoping to tackle that project this weekend.