aligning a bumper
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Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Charlotte, NC
aligning a bumper
About a year ago, I smacked a deer at about 60, it only knocked the front bumper on the drivers side in, and the passenger out, so its kinda crooked. My poor ol 94 ranger looks a little awkward right now, but before I get it painted, I'd like to get it straightened. My dad and I looked under it and determined the brackets were bent. Would it be easier to replace the brackets, or to try and straighten it another way, and what other ways would there be, I don't want to have to pay a body shop money to do it, don't know of any good ones around the area and the last one i took it to didn't do anything and it cost me $200. Any ideas?
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Joined: Aug 2000
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FTL94, you'll need to remove the brackets to do an adequate straightening job. If they are bolted on, it's an easy removal. If riveted, you'll have to cut the rivets and replace them with large bolts. Once you get them off, a heavy hammer should straighten them.
Another way would be to use a hydraulic bottle jack (or Porta-Power) and pieces of 4x4's to straighten them. Sometimes you can spring things back in place this way, but if the bends are big, it probably won't work very well. This method depends on whether you have a way to position and support the jack (something to brace it against).
If all else fails, a wrecking yard should have tons of those brackets laying around at a reasonable price. That's probably the easiest, quickest, cheapest solution......
Another way would be to use a hydraulic bottle jack (or Porta-Power) and pieces of 4x4's to straighten them. Sometimes you can spring things back in place this way, but if the bends are big, it probably won't work very well. This method depends on whether you have a way to position and support the jack (something to brace it against).
If all else fails, a wrecking yard should have tons of those brackets laying around at a reasonable price. That's probably the easiest, quickest, cheapest solution......
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