DIY: Stock Rear Bumper Slide Replacement (with PICS!)

This DIY is to repair a rear bumper slide on a stock facelift sedan.

I had a towbar installed last year by the dealership (don't worry, they didn't charge me since they owed me some favours...), but they did manage to break the rear bumper slide. This is apparantly a commom occurence when installing a towbar. Since they never got round to fixing the slide I decided to DIY, so here goes: (PS: All the 'I'm-not-responsible-if-screw-up-your-car stuff is applicable here...)

1. Bought a new slide form the stealership ZAR85 (US$8). This is not something that you would get freely from a scrapyard as it usually breaks in an accident, or when it's being removed.

2. Jack up the rear (only one side is good), prop and support adequately and remove the wheel.

3. Remove the liner inside (Plastic nuts and a screw or two)

4. Remove the bumper trim. It just clips off. Tuck a finger nail or padded screwdriver at the rear and pry off.

5. The slide itself is held by three 10mm nuts and two 8mm screws. Please not that the slide goes in with the 8mm screw sides towards the REAR.



6. Since the correct procedure for replacing the slide is to REMOVE the BUMPER, this operations will be slightly more challenging, but will save you the trouble of removing the WHOLE bumper. Loosen all the nuts and screws with 10mm and 8mm Sockets from the front to the back. This allows you to pull the bumper down as you go along so you can see where the next screw is. It's a tight fit, but I managed.



7. Now just slide the slide out forward.



8. Slide the new slide in and clip the front into the little slot on the bumper.



9. Fasten the two 8mm screws at the back and then the two 10mm nuts and lastly the 10mm plastic nut at the front end of the slide.

10. Here you can see the broken tabs on the slide



11. Replace the liner and wheel and there you go!

PS: I did the same with the front bumper slides without removing the whole bumper. (The slides broke after hitting a chicken at warp speed)

can i ask why u change that ? ;P

Thank you! Very nice. I was looking for this specific DIY.

Originally Posted by HELLAS NC

(The slides broke after hitting a chicken at warp speed)

pics???

I tried this DIY as I asked a local indy shop how much it would cost and it was going to be over $200. I bought the part for $16 at the stealership and followed the DIY. Removing the old slider was more difficult than I thought. The last 8 mm screw was a royal PITA to take out, and to put back in. One piece of advice, though, do wear gloves - there is all kind of caked-in mud around the wheel well. Also, if you have access to someone who has small hands (e.g. my 11 year old son) taking out and putting in the 8 mm screw will be much easier. All-in-all, a good DIY that saved me a lot of money. Thank you OP!

Hm. Does this part break if you accidently bump into something?

Yes, it breaks if you accidentally bump into something or if something bumps into you.

Originally Posted by iansanderson

Hm. Does this part break if you accidently bump into something?

Yes and it also breaks if you bump into something on purpose.

Originally Posted by jenewein

Yes and it also breaks if you bump into something on purpose.

OP fix your pictures please

Just did this yesterday because one of mine broke...very easy install, but I did it with the bumper off.