Hey there,

I recently was rear ended in my 96 gle and the impact from their front bumper strut dented-in my rear bumper reinforcement ~ 4" about 1/3 in from the drivers side. From looking around here and other places, it seems that the 97-99 rear bumper beam is significantly beefier than on the 96. I'm trying to keep the family as safe as reasonably possible so want to put the beefier bumper on if readily possible. Both front & rear beams are steel on my max and no foglights.

Info from posts here on the org:
95 front aluminum - 7 lbs 14 oz
95 rear aluminum - 14 lbs 2 oz
95-96 front steel - 20 lbs 10 oz
95-96 rear steel - 23 lbs 1 oz
97-98 front steel -
97-98 rear steel -35 lbs 7 oz

Info from Courtesy Nissan's website shows for the rear, one bumper beam for 95/96 while another for 97-99;and for the front, one for 2/94-9/95 while another for 9/95+.

Is it readily possible to put the 97-99 rear bumper reinforcemnt onto the 96 without structural changes? ie, can i just bolt on the 97-99 rear beam in place of the existing beam and just modify the styrofoam and put back on the existing cover or are the bolt up patterns/size or whatever so different that it won't work?

Also, from the info i've picked up, it seems that i already have the beefier front bumper. Does anyone one that this is this case? ie, is the 96 front bumper reinforcement the beefiest available for our gen? If not, what is the beefier version and could it be readily added as per above or would it require structural changes?

On a related side note, it seems that the 95 max's omitted "side rails at the floor" that resulted in judgement against nissan. From my reading, i've gathered that these side rails were "added to 96 models"; does anyone know if this is the case for all 96's? How can i determine if i have these "side rails" or not? If i don't have them, is there something i can readily do to remedy it?

Thanks to everyone who reads my thread and everyone who adds constructively.

 

The metal bumper itself should be a direct swap. Im pretty sure die hard dieters have swapped to the lighter bumpers. But Im not sure if it works the other way around. The 97-99's have bumper covers, front and rear, that are deeper than the 95-96. I am not sure if the metal or the foam is taking up the space but Id guess its the metal. Worst case is you need all the parts from a 97-99, bumper, reinforcement, and the cover.

As for the side impact, I think its extra metal in the doors and not the floor. You have a 96 so if your info is correct then you should be fine.

 

Thanks. That's the thing though, i'm not so sure about the info i have for it was picked up via web searching so it may not be so accurate. If anyone knows the weight of the front bumper reinforcement from 97-99, that would help. From looking at the fsm for 97-99, the front bumper beam looks different in the picture; the fsm body/trim pictures aren't so detailed though (eg they show the rear bumper the same from 96-99 which isn't accurate).

Hopefully some max'ers that have swapped bumper reinforecements and anyone that has opened up the doors to see the doors beams will weigh in with some first-hand hands-on info.

 

It is indeed extra metal in the doors. My 96' i30 doesn't have near the impact support that my 97 Max does. I discovered this after replacing a window guide in the i30 and fixed speaker wiring in the door speaker of the Max. It has a large beam that crosses the middle of the inside of door structure.

 

I just did a 97-99 rear bumper swap to my 96 max and it honestly both of them looked the same to me as far as construction and metal thickness. What I did notice and Is obvious Is the 97-99 bumper cover and frame it Is longer than the 95-96. And yes like Jsutter said you will need all the parts from a 97-99 max, all direct fit.

I will try to have definitely more info on this. I heard and read that 97-99 max received an upgrade on side railed inside doors.

 

Thanks for the good info so far. I'm checking this thread often and really appreciate the help you're all giving me. Hopefully, we can all have safer cars because of it.

 

Does anyone know the weight of the 97-99 front bumper reinforcement.
Anyone have pics of the front/rear bumper reinforcements for 96 vs 97-99?
Thanks.