Fixing A Ripped Bumper

[ds2chan]

hey everybody,

my fiancee's 2002 Honda Civic has a tear in the rear bumper in the wheel well area (seen in the image below). we just saw this today. not sure what happened.

1) does anybody know if there's a way to fix the bumper at home??
2) does anybody know how much this might cost at a shop (just want an idea of what it should cost before we go asking shops for quotes)?? also, what would they do to repair it??

thanks for any help and info.

EDIT: I think what happened was that a lot of slush got thrown under there (no mud flaps so wheel well area is wide open) and on Wed and Thurs it got really cold, froze up, and expanded. I assume this because today I loosened the screw and pushed the bumper back in and all this slush fell out from under the bumper area. Then we started driving onto the highway and 2 more big pieces of slush fell out from under there.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/ds2chan/200803011627000.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/ds2chan/IMG_0356.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/ds2chan/IMG_0357.jpg

[ShortBus]

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1684/img0356aey1.th.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0356aey1.jpg)

you see that gap in the picture? it means someone hit you or your fiancee hit something, unless that gap is old. if it is old your bumper may have been weakened by it and damaged by some slush or something else.

unless you are good with fiber glass, for repair and repaint it will cost you around $500.

[Noisy Crow]

I can't tell from the picture.... is the rip low enough to cover up with a flare molding?

[yearoftherat]

The bumper is made from a urethane based material so its unlikely that the slush when it froze up caused it to crack. I agree with ShortBus and it does look like it was hit.

[tweak_s]

I think it COULD have been the slush frozen. As the slush was frozen solid.. perhaps it was either frozen to the wheel or was jsut in clsoe proximity tot he wheel..with which becuase of the rolling, could have impacted the ice which was frozen solid onto the bumper and tore it.
I don't think it looks like it was hit. I don't see a dent, it would be way too neat for a hit, and its quite hard to hit something at that angle in that area. Just my 2c.

[ds2chan]

thanks for the responses so far.. we looked at the entire bumper and there is no dent anywhere and my fiancee said that she never backed into anything.. if she did or if somebody had hit her I would think a dent would be made.. also, because of the way the tear is I don't think anybody hit her..

and yeah, it's a 2002 Honda Civic..

would fixing a little tear like that actually cost $500?? that's almost as much as a new bumper.. oh, and that gap is actually like that.. the wheel well doesn't have a cover like the Mazda3.. it's all open space there that's why there was so much slush back thrown back there..

[FLIPDADY]

Maybe a set of rear mudguards would cover it? See the two little dimples below the crack? Those are the drill guide holes to install rear mudguards.

[ShortBus]

getting hit or hitting something doesn't always leave a dent, i got hit near my front passenger head lights and there is no dent but the panel is out of line and my light housing seal is cracked.

i've driven a 2003 civic and unless there is a drastic difference between a 2002 and 2003 that i don't know about the rear quarter panel and bumper should line up and not have a gap like that.

to take the bumper off, prep, fix then repaint it will cost you about $500. a new bumper cover is about $500 new then you have to add paint and install and will cost you about $700. you can also try finding a bumper at an auto wreckers like www.standardautowreckers.com. actually you maybe in luck as they have some for both sedans and coupes ranging from $200-$450, just search the site.

[sicsol]

You can always buy my 2002 Honda Civic that I have for sell...

[ShortBus]

2003 sedan: http://standardautowreckers.net/asp/vehicles/details.asp?s=308AF

2003 coupe: http://standardautowreckers.net/asp/vehicles/details.asp?s=026AG

they should fit your 2002 and as you can see (it maybe a bit hard though) the rear quarter and bumper line up much better than the picture you posted.

[ds2chan]

Maybe a set of rear mudguards would cover it? See the two little dimples below the crack? Those are the drill guide holes to install rear mudguards.

that's true.. they usually come out a bit over the bumper..

if it actually costs as much as shortbus says then we probably won't fix it..

I was able to push the bumper back in so it doesn't stick out at all.. so maybe the mudguards would be the way to go.. I'll have to head down to Canadian Tire to check out the mudguards (or I guess Honda but they'll probably charge an arm and a leg for a set)..



You can always buy my 2002 Honda Civic that I have for sell...

lol.. thanks, you just stole my thread.. j/k.. where's the link??

[Noisy Crow]

that's true.. they usually come out a bit over the bumper..

if it actually costs as much as shortbus says then we probably won't fix it..

I was able to push the bumper back in so it doesn't stick out at all.. so maybe the mudguards would be the way to go.. I'll have to head down to Canadian Tire to check out the mudguards (or I guess Honda but they'll probably charge an arm and a leg for a set)..




lol.. thanks, you just stole my thread.. j/k.. where's the link??

If you don't put a mud guard or something like that on it... I would recommende reinforcing the lip, otherwise the tear will keep going. An easy way would to get a piece of aluminum about 1/8" thick by 1½"-2" long, of a width so that if fits the back side of the lip. Then shoot a couple of pop rivets or screws through the the lip into the aluminum. Use washers to spread the stress out so the rivets don't tear through the plastic.

[ds2chan]

If you don't put a mud guard or something like that on it... I would recommende reinforcing the lip, otherwise the tear will keep going. An easy way would to get a piece of aluminum about 1/8" thick by 1½"-2" long, of a width so that if fits the back side of the lip. Then shoot a couple of pop rivets or screws through the the lip into the aluminum. Use washers to spread the stress out so the rivets don't tear through the plastic.


thanks for the tip. I'll have to look into the mudguards.. I'd like to get the honda ones so hopefully they aren't too expensive.. I was really shocked when I looked back there and there were no mudguards and just an open hole..