help with front bumper shocks

dcarlson · dcarlson's Garage

recently noticed one side of front bumper is out away from car more than the other creating a gap that is not right. Can this gap on driver sider be the result of the passenger side shock giving out which allowed the passenger side bumper to slide in a bit and in then this forced out the driver's side? I am 100% no impact caused any of this so I don't get it. thanks for any comments

flash968 · 12-16-2012, 01:21 PM

not to argue, but when new, you are supposed to be able to hit things at 5mph and do no damage. so, a car in a parking lot backing into you could easily collapse one, and depending on the angle, not even leave a mark.

in 40 years of dealing with cars, i've never seen one fail and collapse or extend on its own. i suppose it's possible though if these are the oil or nitrogen filled type.

John_AZ · 12-16-2012, 02:00 PM

Recent post:
Fender Bender :-( bumper springs?

J_AZ

Gawernator · Gawernator's Garage

The shock can definitely be compressed without much physical evidence.

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

Happens more often & easier than you'd believe. They're right; the bumper shocks don't compress or "fail" all by themselves. In the many years I've had my car as a daily grocery getter, there must have been 4-5 front shock replacements. Sandy the idiotic soccer mom will bump her SUV into it probably without even realizing it.

The good news is that it's an easy fix. Buy one from a dismantler and they cost almost nothing - they don't need to look new & pretty.

dcarlson · dcarlson's Garage

thanks all - only reason I'm confident about the no bump thing is that I've parked it nowhere besides my garage over the time this occurred. SO I'll have a look under there - anyway my question poorly worded I suppose as it was, was getting at which shock my be the bad one? side pushed in or side that is pushed out? I can understand why one side might get pushed in but can't see why one side would be pushed out..

Dave Colangelo · Dave Colangelo's Garage

I have a set if you need them, im in NY, where are you located

Regards
Dave

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

Oh and another thing - it could be one of the big mounting bolts simply got loose or fell off altogether. This happened to me once. When this happens you can teeter the entire bumper all over the place with one hand.