Jeep Front bumper repair

[85Hokie]

I need some ideas on how to "fix" this bumper.

I was at a stop sign last week, about 10 feet behind another car. Another car on my 6 - and all of a sudden the car in front of me starts backing up quickly!
I had no place to go - just held on! BAM!

He got out and apologized profusely, like 30 times. Gave me his contact info and off we went. Insurance company already paid the fix for new bump and all.

My question is this - how would YOU pull the bend back out. I dont want to take it off to fix unless I have too - and that way will make it more difficult IMO.
I dont want to use heat -not sure that is an answer here anyway. There should be a way to slowly apply pressure to pull it back. If I mess it up, I am prepared to buy another bumper.

I have 4 come-a-longs and lots of tress.

Picture here is left side and the offset from body - nothing damaged here.

this picture below is right side where damage is

front of bumper :

The eye-hook was BENT when I bought this lovely chinese bumper ....... that did not move a bit!

Another angle:

So - let them ideas rip - I want to try something soon JUST to see if I can get it back "somewhat straight!"

thank you!

 

[Trimley]

Find a solid object.
Wrap a 6" strap on the bent wing to the solid object.
Back-up.

You want to pull "slightly" past perfect.

When done, you officially earn ShitBox status...

 

[cthomas]

I would look at the mounts for the bumper as they might be bent, from your pictures I can see the bumper does not fit right, but does not look bent. In older vehicles they had a shock like thing to absorb the impact , back did not always come but out. Some pictures of how in mounts might be helpful. Maybe a dozen thick washers and longer bolts if it mount to just a bracket?

 

[85Hokie]

It was a perfect fit to mount - nothing is out-of-wack there.

The deflection point is here

 

[Vlach7]

Underneath where the mounting brackets are we need to see them, just pulling on the bumper will help some, but getting the hidden bracket straight is the best is, just nuts and bolts to remove.

 

[bbxlr8]

I have a TJ also (& love it). Sounds like you put it on so you know it is solidly mounted to the frame and not hard to remove (other than weight etc) If it were me I would not buy another either.

I would leave it mounted and use a cable come-along puller rather than attempting to use the engine. MUCH more controlled. Anchor to a big tree or perhaps tractor. Of course, you do have them at the ready to pull with also... HF has some hydraulic tools intended for frame straightening as well.

Edit - even though it is chinesium sourced - looks like it took a serious whack to do that.
What were they driving & what did it look like after?

 

[je1279]

I would try either a come along attached to a solid tree or a hydraulic puller attached to something solid. With both of these options, you are making small incremental adjustments rather than a large adjustment all at once. Nice looking TJ btw. I had a '97 and my wife currently has a '18 JLU.

 

[85Hokie]

I have a TJ also (& love it). Sounds like you put it on so you know it is solidly mounted to the frame and not hard to remove (other than weight etc) If it were me I would not buy another either.

I would leave it mounted and use a cable come-along puller rather than attempting to use the engine. MUCH more controlled. Anchor to a big tree or perhaps tractor. Of course, you do have them at the ready to pull with also... HF has some hydraulic tools intended for frame straightening as well.

What I was thinking exactly - the frame and bolt pattern is past the bend - thus the "bend" is simply out past the solid bolt placement. This monkey metal is NOT that solidly built - maybe a hair better than a stock bumper but if a winch was placed on it - not sure it is strong enough to pull toothpaste out of the tube!

I tried to take a picture but the "hole" is so damn dark the flash will not illuminate it enough to see anything!

 

[Trimley]

Of course a controlled pull is best. As mentioned there are many ways to approach the tweaking.

Maybe a better question for us to ask is, what do you have at your immediate use.

Personally, I would use a 6" strap (wrapped as short as possible) or a treesaver, then attach that to a come-along...that's attached to the tractor, a tree, another vehicle, etc. Tension as needed..back-off and check it...if necessary, rinse/repeat.

There's a strong possibility you're efforts will not correct a minor tweak like the bumper has.

 

[GeoHorn]

Take it to the Archimedes Body Shop “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the Earth.”

A long lever placed against that eye-hook (now the fulcrum)… and a strap around the lever to the end of that bumper…and you standing at the long-end of that lever….

 

[chim]

First of all, if this is a mall crawler I'd just go get a new bumper and that'd be the end of it. If it's a Jeep that gets used, I'd try the below approach:

Use a 4x4 (black lines) to brace the front bumper against something solid - utility pole? Get the 4x4 between the bumper and pole to make a solid connection just on the "passenger's side" at the kink.

Then use a binder strap (red lines) with the bent metal end like the one in the link below to grab the end of the bumper and ratchet it toward the pole. A few wraps around the pole over itself will fasten the end of the strap and you can use the ratchet right near the bumper so you can monitor things closely.

When you have good tension on the strap, bump at the arrow with a small sledge. Paint protection optional.

Use the same sledge to whack the tow point back straight{er} if you want.

Ratchet Strap w/ Flat Hook - 3" | J.J. Keller

Ratchet straps feature 3" wide webbing that offers a greater working load limit (5,400 lbs.) for tie-down of heavy loads. Strap meets or exceeds cargo securement & DOT regulations.

www.jjkeller.com

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Break out the plasma torch and a welder!
That sucker was build warped, and no amount of pulling is likely to straighten it out!

 

[RCW]

I'm with @chim, but think I'd just try a good ratchet strap first.

Pull up to a tree. Put a piece of 1x wood block in the back of the bumper. Hook the RS hook into the 1x wood block behind the bumper.

Just give it a couple of "pulls" with the rachet strap.....see if it pulls out.

You'd only need a couple of yanks.....

Years and a couple trucks ago I had a ton of wood pellets slide forward, and pushed the front edge of my truck box into the cab. Didn't break anything.

I judicially used a couple ratchet straps to pull the front of the pickup box away from the cab.

I was tempted to drive the truck away, but using the ratcheting function of the straps was sufficient enough to make it work. Also much more controlled.

 

[Tughill Tom]

Why not just pull it off and get it bend back straight, by somebody with a Hyd, press ? I think a case of good beer would do it.
EZ Pezzy.

 

[85Hokie]

SO,

thinking more or less the same as a couple of people.

I used a telephone pole as my base = a come-a-long with a pully and a 5/16" chain.

First time around (in picture) I had some success - but the pole at 2' off the ground was doing
a little moaning.

So, I backed down further down the hill - thus lowering the pull against the pole to ground level.

I had the jeep in 4wd low and e brake on - I ratcheted away - the jeep was "trying" move a little - but the metal started to give way. Cranking on that handle - two thoughts came to mind. IF that hook or chain breaks, where am I facing?? AND if something else breaks - how expensive is THAT going to be?

Anyway - a got it back to where it was. well more or less. I cannot really tell. So good to go.

thanks to all for ideas and help

after the "bend back"

 

[je1279]

I would have opted for a similar diameter healthy tree for fear the pole may snap and cause additional damage and problems, but I'm glad that it worked out for you.

 

[RCW]

I would have opted for a similar diameter healthy tree for fear the pole may snap and cause additional damage and problems, but I'm glad that it worked out for you.

True - - I've got a bunch of Sugar Maple trees at 18" DBH in my yard. Not everyone has a similar option.

Looks like @85Hokie did a good job with what he had to work with.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Glad that the original picture wasn't as bad as it looked, and the metal was thinner and easier to move than it looked.