Side bumper bellows

[joe912/62]

Has anyone ever tried to 3d print these bellows?
I've seen some aftermarket ones without the accordion style.

[kmcteer]

Seems like a good project. There are some very good flexible printing materials now.

-Kelly

[joe912/62]

Do they really need to be flexible?

[kmcteer]

Need, no. But the bumpers and side blades don't align with tight tolerances. You will need to come up with a solution to handle the variability. Obviously they would be sacrificed if the bumper is used .

-Kelly

[76FJ55]

Originally Posted by joe912/62

Do they really need to be flexible?

The other aspect to consider is that the bumpers are mounted on bumper shocks. these shocks are designed with the "5mph" rule. if you contact something below 5 mph, the shocks should absorb the impact with no additional damage to the car. in order for the bumper to move relative to the rest of the sheet metal the bellows was implemented to close the gap and allow relative motion. if you replace the bellows with a rigid piece and have any kind of impact to the bumper it will transfer the load directly to the attached panels. So yes, you can replace them with a rigid element, but in the event of an impact there will be collateral damage.

[Showdown]

If printed in a manner where they’re designed to break apart like the euro crush tubes, then the bellows wouldn’t transfer damage to the car- they’re held on with a few 5 or 6mm studs so nothing major.

The other issue is that most filaments that are flexible don’t have great UV resistance- something like TPU won’t last terrible long….

Unless you’re looking for an aesthetic change and want to design something unique, a la singer’s bellows, the original worked just fine and I’m sure you can find used ones on the forum from all the backdates.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[76FJ55]

Originally Posted by Showdown

If printed in a manner where they’re designed to break apart like the euro crush tubes, then the bellows wouldn’t transfer damage to the car- they’re held on with a few 5 or 6mm studs so nothing major.

The other issue is that most filaments that are flexible don’t have great UV resistance- something like TPU won’t last terrible long….

Unless you’re looking for an aesthetic change and want to design something unique, a la singer’s bellows, the original worked just fine and I’m sure you can find used ones on the forum from all the backdates.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

or buy new dansk bellows at $18 each from our host, would be another easy option.

[joe912/62]

Something like this

[porschedude996]

Joe912/62, those look sexy!