The First Gen Facelift Conspiracy

[broncc]

It started with a little disappointment. Then turned into annoyance. Now its full on paranoia. Since before I have purchased my Bronco II there has been a small dent in the front bumper. I am not too upset because the chrome is in good shape and its not contacting the body. Most people won't even notice it if I don't bring it to attention. I can do better. I know I can.

When it became time to purchase a parts explorer I was excited to finally put the bent bumper blooper behind me. Due to a long chat with the previous owner, it was dark when I loaded it up onto the trailer. I did not even realize my mistake until the next day. The explorer had an identical dent! I was inconsolable. Why was I punished to be forever doomed to the "fat lip" look? Even with my spare I'm still hesitant to attempt to massage out the crease. Maybe a block of wood will keep the chrome adhered...

At this point I was feeling dizzy and beginning to forget what the front of my Ford was supposed to look like. I browsed through the files on my computer to find a saved image of another bronco II. To my horror this one was also damaged! Maybe he also tried to repair his bumper only to worsen the damage and require a rattle can correction. Oh I hope this doesn't get out of hand!

I am convinced not a single one of these '89-'94 bumpers survives to this day without the telltale mark. I'm not sure whether to attribute this to gang stalking, evil gnomes, or just pervasive human error. What I do know that I'm stuck with this bumper for a very long time.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Bumpers go bump...

 

[Ranger850]

A 2x4 and a rubber mallet. Hit the wood, not the bumper. Might even want 2 pieces of wood. One to put on the underside of the "hump" to add resistance, so you don't over do it, and one to put on top of the hump to strike with the rubber mallet.

 

[Dirtman]

I owned 4 different 1965 mustangs at one point (kept buying parts cars). Every single one had the same exact damage to the sheet metal between the bumper and trunk lip where the filler neck is. Went to a classic car junkyard and saw several more with either the same damage, or repairs done to that section.

My theory at this point is that it must have been common for cars to pull up too close to mustangs while they were refueling with the pump nozzle in and ended up smacking the nozzle into the back of the car.

As for your bumper damage, that is clearly the work of bigfoots...

 

[Shran]

I think your original could be straightened pretty easily!

I noticed a similar trend with mid 60's GM pickups...they often had wraparound rear bumpers and the sides would get tweaked, which in turn would crush in the box sides.

 

[adsm08]

2nd Gen.

 

[BlackBII]

Hey that's my black Bronco II. I hit that bumper on a rock during that wheeling trip.

 

[franklin2]

You guys may be surprised to find out that damage is not done by a "bump", but by a hook being hooked to the front bumper when the truck doesn't run and is being towed. Or it's towing something else backing up. There is a reason I know this.

With the rubber air dam hanging down in the front, there is little to no place to hook to on the front of these trucks.

 

[broncc]

Hey that's my black Bronco II. I hit that bumper on a rock during that wheeling trip.

Ha small world. I like the truck a lot.

With the rubber air dam hanging down in the front, there is little to no place to hook to on the front of these trucks.

If you look at the first pic of the thread you can see baby's first metal working project: front tow hooks!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

2nd Gen.

Second gen BII and first gen Explorer

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Now I’m going to have to look at all of mine... see what you started!

 

[dvdswan]

Come-along wrapped around a tree with hook on bumper, get taunt, then hit the bulge in the bumper with a sledge on a 2x4. It will come right out.

 

[Rick W]

Hey, I’m crazy, but looks to me like the truck bumped something outside the frame bolts, pushed that outside of the bumper back, so it popped the bumper up and probably down at a “fold” spot.

Check if there’s a similar warp outward at the same place underneath. That would support my theory. Simply trying to push the top warp down and the bottom warp up will just make it more wavy.

Edit insert: I don’t think you can push the warps up and down or squeeze them together resulting in the end of the bumper moving forward. You have to do both at once.

I’m thinking you have to pull the bumper forward near the guilty end at the same time you squeeze the warps inward. (Huh? Yeah, standing on one leg facing north?)

Maybe this: loosen the bumper bolts. Pull the truck up to a tree in front of the guilty side, put a come along around the tree with a strap around the bumper (no hooks), and very very gently start pulling the bumper forward. At the same time, squeeze the two warps together with a big C clamp. Go very slow. Once it’s tensed up, get a big mallet, and you can bump (shock) the end of the bumper forward, and bump the warps inward. The come a long and the clamp will set the alignment, the bumping/rapping will morph the metal and lock it in place.

Note: it’s easy to bend the bumper back and deform it. That’s actually part of the crush zone safety design. It’s very hard to pull it out. Once it’s pulled to the original curve, the curved-in top and bottom stop it from pulling further. So you can’t pull it to far and then let it spring back to the right place. Working it with the mallets will morph the metal so it stays in place.

For mallets, many times I have taken a pine limb of the right diameter (“2” to 10”), drilled in the side, and glued in a handle (a smaller limb). Takes 3 minutes. I have also made these “log” mallets with angles or curved faces, ballpine looking end, points, etc., depending what I want to hammer into place.

As always, my 2 cents, hope it helps. & I lived your write up!

 

[broncc]

Oh my its inescapable. Got a picture from a friend who recently got a Bronco...

This photo actually gives insight on how the bumps are created and how to remove them. Seems if you pull the grille, you can massage the dent down with a mallet while pulling the corner of the bumper in the forward direction supporting Rick's theory.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Funny.... My '90 had a straight front bumper: