Trailer hitch attacked my friend's STi bumper, options???

[skid542]

To make a long story short, a trailer hitch attacked my friend's 05 STi's front bumper. It basically got under the lip on the passenger side and pulled it out and the right. It didn't pull the whole bumper off, cracked it in a few places and broke a couple mounts, did pull that corner off though. I'm pretty confident that I can fix it so that there are only a few small cosmetic blemishes. Being that my friend only has about 7k on his car he'd like to have a completely perfect looking bumper but doesn't want to pay an arm and a leg (which to do completley right I know you kinda need to) but he wanted me to ask what all options he has. Would a standard WRX bumper fit? Are there any aftermarket ones that are cheap? I know this is a legacy board but you guys seem to know soo much about all Subaru's so I thought I'd ask. Art, you have an STi, got a spare bumper laying around in the garage somewhere.... . Thanks guys.

Lee

[tris91ricer]

ouch, dude. I don't think art has another bumper, either..
ebay?

[evolutionmovement]

Is it plastic or fiberglass? Both can be fixed. Plastic welders can be bought for under $200 all day long.

Steve

[LaureltheQueen]

art's got a spare bumper beam!

[skid542]

Thanks guys, it looks like it's a plastic bumper and I'm assuming so since it's stock. Thanks Laurel but I think the bumper beam is fine, only had a chance to look at it in the dark and rain last night though but it seems like the hitch just got under the lip only and then pulled it off. The way the plastic broke it looks like I can get it to snap back into place and might require a tad of sanding to fix the surface. As far as the backside, I don't have a plastic welder but I am very proficient with composite work so I'm thinking if my resin will stick to the plastic (roughen and acetone wipe) I should be fine. Tomorrow we pick it up from the shop, he had it towed to subaru since he had an apt. with them today anyhow (which didn't happen since they towed it to a body shop instead). They've been told to remove the bumper, check it, leave the bumper off, and then call. I figure if I'm going to work on the bumper might as well have them take it off for me . Any additional suggestions or comments still welcome.

[LaureltheQueen]

how do you fit a truck hitch all the way under an STi?

[Yukonart]

how do you fit a truck hitch all the way under an STi?

Stock ride height, perhaps?

[skid542]

^^^ Bingo.

[LaureltheQueen]

but still... that seems really low for a truck

[BAC5.2]

Gooseneck drop hitch? For one of those little u-haul bitches. Probably on the back of an older S10 or Tacoma or some other tiny ass peice of shit.

[skid542]

Stock bumper height, slightly lowered hitch, and the hitch came in from the back left slightly and under and then out and to the right if that makes sense. It was a big truck, easy 1/2 ton but with one of those interchangable hitch configurations that drops them. No there wasn't any other damage to the bumer aside from the couple mounts and couple cracks, the STi logo things popped off instead of breaking.

[professor]

can you really work on the bumper when it is off of the car ??? usually the bumper cover is a relatively thin layer of painted polypropylene-based elastomer, and doesn't have any real rigidity unless it is draped over the beam and impact absorbing material (egg crate or foam). The cover may be ABS but I doubt it, most are polypropylene now.

I've always seen body shops repairing bumpers on the car. A little heat at the beginning of the process can return a lot of the shape, the heat relieves stresses and amazingly a lot of the distortion will be removed. Then weld as necessary. Your surface prep sounds ok with the sanding and solvent but there are special preps for polypropylene that will work better than acetone.

If you remove the cover it will probably have the recycling code molded on the back <PP-T10> or similar for polypropylene, and <ABS> naturally for ABS. You can also use a lighter to light a rib on the back or something you can't see...if the smoke is black with ash and really stinks, it is ABS, if white and smells like a candle, PP.

Your chances of success are much worse with PP, it is damn difficult to get anything to stick reliably without the fancy corona discharge treaters they use at the factory, to increase the surface tension.

[skid542]

The repair of the bumer itself is going to be pretty easy. I'm well versed in bonding disimilar materials and composites. Heat molding isn't new to me either, I'm thinking I can get the dented in areas out pretty well. The way the front breaks down into smaller pieces will make the process a bit easier. The biggest bitch though was found today when it was dry and had a chance to look at it at the garage it got towed to, the steering connector rod is bent, a good 5-10 degrees. The endlinks look alright to me but I am by no means an expert with suspension or qualified to okay an STi that gets pushed. So we had it towed to my shop (where it should have gone first had I been there when the incident happened). So it's sitting at the shop to here back from them monday.