Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics bumper warp

I realize this is not, in the strictest sense, an aesthetics mod, or a mod at all, but I figured y'all would have the best knowledge of this.

Earlier today I was rear-ended by someone and it didn't appear to have done any damage, since it was really low-speed, so I decided not to report, etc. etc. Anyway, when I got home, I took a more careful look at my bumper and noticed that there is an odd bulge on the passenger side. The top edge of the bumper no longer follows the curvature of the fender. I imagine there are just some simple plastic clips that hold it into shape and they have been broken. Does anyone know if there are, in fact, clips on the upper edge of the bumper to hold its shape, and if not, how does it maintain its shape? Is this an easy fix that I can do? I don't especially want to visit a body shop and get charged up the a$$ for something so small, but it will bother me for ages if I don't do something.

could you post pics? that would help us out. All I can think of is that a mounting point was probably bent. If we can see the buldge we could probably tell you exactly where to look.
you might want to look where the rear fender meets the bumper in the wheel well. Theres a mounting point there that would give you the buldge but I dont see how it would be bent in a straight rear end collision

Maybe it just loosened the connecting bolts and now the dreaded bumper sag is rearing its ugly head. There is a bumper sag fix in the FAQ section.

Sorry about not posting pics, I don't have a digital camera right now, so I have to take film pics and then get them processed with a photo cd. Anyway, I think I can give a more detailed description now that I have looked more carefully.

The top edge of the bumper on the right (passenger) side doesnt' follow the curvature of the fender anymore. Viewed from the rear, it looks sort of like bumper sag, but only affecting one side of the bumper. From the passenger side, it bulges out horizontally a bit, maybe only about 3/4-1cm. If I push in on that side with my hand gently, the bumper moves back into position. I can't figure out why its changed shape like this. There are no stress marks on the bumper and no paint damage and its only on the one side. The only explanation I could think of was that a small clip broke and it has lost its shape. I don't know what kind of attachment points or devices of any kind run acros the top of the bumper though.

The collision was pretty much straight on, but the guy who hit me wasn't going too fast, as I said, since there is almost no surface damage anywhere on the bumper.

Ok guys, I have pics now. You may tell me I am crazy for fretting over this, and its just Ford's poor fit-and-finish, but I would like to fix it if at all possible.

Pics comparing Driver to Passenger Side (these are looking straight down, the URL's should make clear which is driver and which is pass.)

http://djno.mine.nu/bumperpics/passs.jpg
http://djno.mine.nu/bumperpics/drvrs.jpg

Pics comparing Drvr/Pass from the Rear

http://djno.mine.nu/bumperpics/passr.jpg
http://djno.mine.nu/bumperpics/drvrr.jpg

And if these pictures are too big, just let me know. Even on a fast connection, they will load slowly because they are served from my computer, which has relatively poor upload bandwidth.

I have the same exact problem! Except no one hit me, that I know of. It's pushed in on one side and sticks out on the other. I don't know if it's always been that way or not?

There is a little bit of play in the way the bumper mounts to the car. From the pics it looks like the position it used to be in was knocked out of alignment by the impact. if you crawl under the bumper and look up you will see 4 bolts and nuts holding the bumper on. you can loosen these nuts and w/ the assistance of a second person, have them hold the bumper in the proper position and you tighten up the nuts to secure it in place. this is a lot more common on the svt rears, even just from everyday driving...

Are those 4 bolts the only attachment points for the bumper? It would seem to me like there should be more, but I've never seen inside a contique bumper, so I wouldn't know. Also, although I will check those points, that fix seems to make more sense for the bumper sag problem, which is even (more or less) across the entire bumper. My sag+distortion only occurs on the passenger side.

Also, when I get a chance, I will put up links to resized pics. I checked them when I was at school (I can't check the load times from home) and they load unbearably slowly.