Rear Bumper Reinforement.
11-15-2004, 06:24 PM
#1
2060lbs and falling...
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Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 5,160
Rear Bumper Reinforement.
Long story short, I was rear-ended on Saturday. There is no structural damage but the bumper is damaged beyond repair. The trunklid is damaged but not beyond repairable.
Tonight I started tearing into it. I got everything off. I also decided that I'd take off the bumper reinforement. I found that it was lighter than I expected but still fairly hefty(9.?Ibs). My questions are as follows:
How many of you have removed this?
How much does removing this increase the extent of damage if in an accident?
Does removing this piece reduce the chassis stiffness at all?
Does the bumper cover have trouble with the wind if the reinforement is removed?
Basically is it worth removing?
I can't imagine that it would make the chassis flex more due to the style and look of the mounts. Also, it is aluminum which means that it isn't very rigid to begin with. Finally, how much less safe would removing this make the car. It seems that this piece is designed to lessen the damage of crashes less than 15MPH(It did a good job stopping a Suburban that was going 3MPH). Any more speed than that and the piece is simply going to crumple like a tin can. I know thats the idea but still. The time within the impluse of the crash cannot be significantly effected by this aluminum toothpick.
As you can see I'm desperately trying to convince myself to lose the 10Ibs. Please try to convince me otherwise. If you have done this and have had a bad accident please relate. Thanks in advance.
Tonight I started tearing into it. I got everything off. I also decided that I'd take off the bumper reinforement. I found that it was lighter than I expected but still fairly hefty(9.?Ibs). My questions are as follows:
How many of you have removed this?
How much does removing this increase the extent of damage if in an accident?
Does removing this piece reduce the chassis stiffness at all?
Does the bumper cover have trouble with the wind if the reinforement is removed?
Basically is it worth removing?
I can't imagine that it would make the chassis flex more due to the style and look of the mounts. Also, it is aluminum which means that it isn't very rigid to begin with. Finally, how much less safe would removing this make the car. It seems that this piece is designed to lessen the damage of crashes less than 15MPH(It did a good job stopping a Suburban that was going 3MPH). Any more speed than that and the piece is simply going to crumple like a tin can. I know thats the idea but still. The time within the impluse of the crash cannot be significantly effected by this aluminum toothpick.
As you can see I'm desperately trying to convince myself to lose the 10Ibs. Please try to convince me otherwise. If you have done this and have had a bad accident please relate. Thanks in advance.
11-15-2004, 08:24 PM
#2
Yep, you knew exactly what I'm going to say. 
Don't remove it. It's at the very back of your car anyway, you don't need to remove weight from there. Although you don't want weight at the extreme edges of the vehicle (you want the center of mass to be as close to the center of the car as possible for better cornering), you definitely don't want to increase the front weight bias. Stock on an autotragic the weight distro is 63% front, 37% rear. I would continue to focus on the front of the car for weight reduction.
Perhaps more importantly, you don't want to remove the actual bumper. If you hadn't had it on Saturday, the Suburban probably would have done structural damage. Every single car made has a bumper, and they are more than flimsy aluminum toothpicks. They are designed well and refined year after year to do their job.
You should remove your audio system if you care enough about weight reduction to consider removing a vital part of your Maxima
Don't remove it. It's at the very back of your car anyway, you don't need to remove weight from there. Although you don't want weight at the extreme edges of the vehicle (you want the center of mass to be as close to the center of the car as possible for better cornering), you definitely don't want to increase the front weight bias. Stock on an autotragic the weight distro is 63% front, 37% rear. I would continue to focus on the front of the car for weight reduction.
Perhaps more importantly, you don't want to remove the actual bumper. If you hadn't had it on Saturday, the Suburban probably would have done structural damage. Every single car made has a bumper, and they are more than flimsy aluminum toothpicks. They are designed well and refined year after year to do their job.
You should remove your audio system if you care enough about weight reduction to consider removing a vital part of your Maxima
11-16-2004, 11:06 AM
#5
2060lbs and falling...
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Thank you much for convincing me. I still have the question of whether or not this is a structural piece that increases chassis rigidity.
I'd definitely be intersested but I have never been to NY and I can't imagine going any time soon. Thanks for the offer but shipping will probably make it more than a brand new local piece. How much would it be to ship one? Probably nearly $100. That would make it $20 more than local pieces.
I'd definitely be intersested but I have never been to NY and I can't imagine going any time soon. Thanks for the offer but shipping will probably make it more than a brand new local piece. How much would it be to ship one? Probably nearly $100. That would make it $20 more than local pieces.
12-05-2004, 04:27 PM
#7
2060lbs and falling...
Thread Starter
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It definitely isn't steel unless you had one custom made. Just because you can't drill through it doesn't mean it is steel. Try to stick a magnet to it. What were you drilling there for?
12-05-2004, 08:19 PM
#8
i took off a tow hitch that was on my car when i bought it. It was bolted to the bumper reinforcment so i tried to drill a hole to get the bolts out from the inside of the bumper because they were rolling around but had no luck. so this could be a custom one that was made for the hitch. I will have to double check because it seems like it weighs 50 pounds.
12-05-2004, 08:35 PM
#9
well i have 96 so this just has me puzzled
Just went and double checked. Both my front and rear are steel. I checked with a magnet and it stuck also they are a little rusty so thats why i couldn't believe they were aluminum.
Just went and double checked. Both my front and rear are steel. I checked with a magnet and it stuck also they are a little rusty so thats why i couldn't believe they were aluminum.
12-06-2004, 11:21 AM
#10
2060lbs and falling...
Thread Starter
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Location: Madison, WI
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You must be looking at the wrong thing. It is the rectangular thing just behind the bumper that spans the beam of the car. If mine were steel it would weigh like 30Ibs and then I'd definitely be removing it.
12-06-2004, 07:01 PM
#11
i know what a bumper reinforcment looks like.i planed on taking the rear off only but saftey was a concern. I now know that it comes in aluminum so thats no longer a concern. This would have came off today but i got busy doing other things. When it does i will have a pic.
12-15-2004, 11:43 AM
#12
Originally Posted by fanaticrockford
i know what a bumper reinforcment looks like.i planed on taking the rear off only but saftey was a concern. I now know that it comes in aluminum so thats no longer a concern. This would have came off today but i got busy doing other things. When it does i will have a pic.
12-16-2004, 11:13 AM
#17
2060lbs and falling...
Thread Starter
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 5,160
Krismax, yep. Both are fully aluminum. Both have been replaced since production though. When the car was four months old it was severly rearended. A year and a half ago I was in a frontal collision. I'm am seriously suprised this thing still drives straight.
Fanatic, the aluminum one is ~9Ibs. I'd guess the steel one would be at least 20Ibs.
SE-L, sorry 'bout your accident bud.
Fanatic, the aluminum one is ~9Ibs. I'd guess the steel one would be at least 20Ibs.
SE-L, sorry 'bout your accident bud.
12-18-2004, 11:54 AM
#21
Originally Posted by fanaticrockford
my rear steel one is off i will have to find a scale to weigh it. I wonder how accurate a bathroom scale would be for this.
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