replacing front bumper shocks

[dcarlson]

is this a big deal? Never messed with these but one has leaked fluid I believe and the bumper is now out further forward on one side than the other...any comments/tips appreciated. I have some good used ones on the way..

[kdjones2000]

Very easy to do.

[gmorken]

Agree with kdjones2000. Two bolts hold the front bumper on. Disconnect lights and remove bumper. The two bumper shocks are held on with 2 bolts and then unit comes right out. Easy to replace with another shock.

[dcarlson]

'spose I'll figure it out then. wondering if front spoiler will be in the way and have to be removed. will get a better look this week if we get a little warm-up around here. could these shocks be one time use things that do not 'recover ' from a minor bump on the bumper?

[dcarlson]

[dcarlson]

one bumper bolt came out OK, other loosens but spins around in the hole and will not come out -acts like there is some captive nut on the end...or..maybe the fitting that bolt goes in is broken in there and spinning around? any thoughts? impact here could have broken something?

[theer]

Bolt threads might be jamming. Try pushing & pulling on the bumper to better align? The captive nut is welded to the top of bumper bracket. I wouldn't expect that to break loose, but it is possible.

I believe you can get the two bumper shock mounting bolts out with the bumper attached, it's just a bit of pain.

[dcarlson]

ok = thnks - I suspect that is exactly what happened then - captive not busted loose - I can force bolt sideways and continue to extract it but I will be left with having to weld or other wise fix captive nut in place - suppose once bumper is out of there it will be doable. So should I be able to pull bumper out once these two bolts are out? It sure seems on there very tight even with bolts loosened. thnx all for input - super helpful.

[theer]

Yes - the bumper is only held on by those two bolts (assuming you have disconnected the lights, etc.). The brackets are a very tight fit on the mounts. The bumper typically will not just fall off once you remove the two bolts, especially if it hasn't been off in a long time.

[dcarlson]

ok good, got it - thnx

[IdahoDoug]

It looks to me like your nose took a pretty good hit. See the distortion that has both headlight flaps outer front corners not visible? So it may be the shocks in fact did their job. They are very effective at reducing vehicle damage. So it would be expected to have some issues with the bolts if things are distorted a bit.

[dcarlson]

agree- good observation. That is from previous replacement of the nose piece some years ago though- not a perfect alignment when done (BTW there are no dents or dings there just the light playing on pass. side). Anyway, will get this bumper out and have a look this week. That is when this shock could have gotten a good jolt and slowly began letting go...little deer action put hoof into nose and nicked bumper but luckily nothing else was found.. that is until now perhaps..

little guy somersaulted right over passenger side of car and ran off...could have been worse for both of us!

[IdahoDoug]

Ah man - my nightmare. Up here in N. Idaho we have Elk, Moose and deer so numerous that in a typical month there are probably 3 days that I do not see one. So we are always super vigilant and I spent crazy money on the Koito headlamps for the 944 in hopes I would continue to avoid them at night. (knocks on wood)...

[jcommin]

Are you sure you have no frame damage?

The reason why I ask, I too hit something and pushed one of the shocks in. I dented my nose panel too. I thought this was an easy fix. I replaced the nose panel (new) and bought a used shock. Putting things back together, getting things lined up wasn't happening. Off to a body shop, I learned the RH side of my fame was damaged.

Now for the fun part. To straighten the frame, the engine needed to be pulled out. I'm back together and everything ids perfect - I don't even want to tell you what it cost.

good luck. I hope you are ok.

[dcarlson]

I hear you but luckily not worse than appearances - my shop that did work does nothing but 944 and 911 repairs, restos and track prep so their word OK by me. All was lined up well and no shock issue 'till several years later - shock just started to gradually give it up last year..

[dcarlson]

so here is what I found - one shock pushed out/in further that the other - replacements are correct part number and very similar but apparently not same BOGE - wondering who else made these.. We'll see how they mount up.


Explains the uneven bumper anyway. Quite a bit of welding repairs on inside of bumper- didn't anyone ever buy new or good used part back in the day? lol. I suppose prices were ridiculous then too. Pretty beefy aluminum. thanks for tips on this. BTW that captive nut on one side was spinning in it's perch and some careful bending of the slot it's in was enough to keep it put for bolt install, fwiw.

[dcarlson]

So when your rubber bumper pads start looking like this:
:

you probably got this going on underneath:





no complaints- not that bad for 33 years..though maybe they could have used some more aluminum inside there....

[IdahoDoug]

Nice work. Hope it evens things out and probably nice to have the proper energy absorption mechanism back in place up front to again prevent frame damage if something untoward happens. Bravo.

[Johnny O]

Years ago when I first bought my 88 924S, I had noticed the front bumper was a little off. Anyway I was able to fit my jack in the area between and with a few turns it popped back into place with no further issues. I guess luck was on my side that day...

[dcarlson]

all lined up ok with the new shocks installed - they have some adjustment in the mounts so takes a few on and offs with the bumper to get spacing all around just right. Very doable - one trick is plug those turn signal lights back in as you mount the bumper which is way easier than going from underneath (like a certain dummy did when first unplugging them before removing bumper). BTW, getting an exact replacement rubber bumper pad is a little tricky - seems some are made with a much harder rubber than originals I had - so color and texture were a little off - I ended up using some vinyl dye and got a decent match.fwiw