DIY Crack Repair?

*Mods, please delete, I moved this to General, thanks*





Lovely. Too bad if I have to replace the entire bumper, is there any way I can clean up a crack like this, or am I going to have to get a replacement cover from Pelican? I managed to find everything else here (great picture guides for everything!) on my to-do list for spring as I hit 100k - moonroof shade repair, filters, control arms, maybe springs and shocks, plugs, coolant, fuel filter are all on deck.

Again, not really XI content- will get more views/responses/feedback in the General Forum.

Yeah, you can fix that. I'm not sure what you'd use. I'd probably throw some tape over it in the meantime so it doesn't crack more.

Thanks, I'll move it over there.

Originally Posted by Grubby

*Mods, please delete, I moved this to General, thanks*





Lovely. Too bad if I have to replace the entire bumper, is there any way I can clean up a crack like this, or am I going to have to get a replacement cover from Pelican? I managed to find everything else here (great picture guides for everything!) on my to-do list for spring as I hit 100k - moonroof shade repair, filters, control arms, maybe springs and shocks, plugs, coolant, fuel filter are all on deck.

you can repair it, but you have to repaint it regardless. I would just jbweld it, sand it smooth and do a spot paint instead of having the whole bumper resprayed

Would you recommend JB Weld over Bondo?

Originally Posted by Grubby

Would you recommend JB Weld over Bondo?

Hell no don't use either. Get a dremel make a nice V shaped groove along the crack. Use Universal Ribbon (plastic welding band) you can pick up a plastic welder cheap. Start filling in the void you just made go slow with just enough heat to move the plastic around. After that wet sand with like 2k+ If that plastic gets too hot from the friction of sanding it will ball up. Kinda like you would expect it to. After that clean it up toss some thick coats of primer resand, put down another coat of primer. wet sand, color coat, wet sand clear, wet sand/buff done! do not use bondo it's not made for that if anything use a plastic fill putty. I've already told you how it should be repaired If you have a metallic paint steps will be a lil different

since your gonna notch it, drill a small hole at the end of the crack. this will keep the crack from propagating after your repair. your gonna fill it anyway so you need to take precautions from allowing this to crack again.

just take it to a shop. $100 max

as for control arms, i dont think xi's would need them to be replaced, unless theyre already damaged somehow. the control arm problem seems to be for the RWD models mainly.

how about checking your valve cover gasket for leaks and replacing that if needed?