Bent Rear Bumper Reflector?

[Ender]

Has anyone experienced this issue or have any ideas what might cause this? I noticed that my right rear bumper reflector was bent out of place. No idea how it happened.

I did happen to install a new Magnaflow Catback exhaust, not sure if that had anything to do with it. The thing is that if it was forcibly bent, it should have snapped. Is it even possible my exhaust got hot enough to cause it to bend that way? Doesn't make sense.

It's possible it was like always like this but I'm almost positive I would have noticed.

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[Ender]

No one?

 

[Renner]

someone backed into something...that wasn't something that just appeared

 

[RIBS]

Looks like heat melt. I had a hole in a rear view mirror that looked like the sun was reflected or magnified isn't it causing it to melt.

 

[Ender]

someone backed into something...that wasn't something that just appeared

There's no damage to anything else around it though.

Looks like heat melt. I had a hole in a rear view mirror that looked like the sun was reflected or magnified isn't it causing it to melt.

Seems like the case but could the exhaust cause enough heat to do something like that? Guess I'll have to just replace it and hope it doesn't happen again.

 

[imaginager]

Looks like heat damage to me. Has it gotten any worse? How long do you typically drive the car at a time? Hours? Minutes? Was there a longer drive sometime in the recent past? You might try a drive of moderate length then check the area to see how warm it gets.

 

[MagneticA]

Heat damage? What does the other reflector look like? Wouldn't it be subject to the same amount of heat? It is possible to back into something that was protruding outwards at just the right height to only hit that spot on the car. But then again, you are from PHX and it's hellish hot there...

 

[Ender]

Looks like heat damage to me. Has it gotten any worse? How long do you typically drive the car at a time? Hours? Minutes? Was there a longer drive sometime in the recent past? You might try a drive of moderate length then check the area to see how warm it gets.

I typically drive 30 min to work, and then about 45 min back. I did have a trip not too long ago that was about a 2–3 hour drive each way, but not sure if it was warped before or after that. I'll definitely have to check how hot that area gets after a drive, that's a good idea.

Heat damage? What does the other reflector look like? Wouldn't it be subject to the same amount of heat? It is possible to back into something that was protruding outwards at just the right height to only hit that spot on the car. But then again, you are from PHX and it's hellish hot there...

The driver-side reflector looks fine. It's only the one on the passenger side. I guess it's possible I could have somehow hit something but wouldn't it have broken? I don't think it would warp as nicely as it did.

Yeah it's definitely starting to get really hot here now. I'm really hoping that the hot weather + my exhaust doesn't equal melted rear parts. I'd take it to the dealer but I'm almost 100% sure they'll try blaming my new exhaust.

 

[Free Agent]

I'd guess melting from the sun reflecting off that polished tip at some weird angle.

Our G8 GT has some weird melt damage INSIDE the rear tail lamp housing from the sun being magnified through the clear plastic of the housing and melting and cracking the black plastic of the light.

Being from Phoenix I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often to cars out there.

 

[Ender]

I'd guess melting from the sun reflecting off that polished tip at some weird angle.

Our G8 GT has some weird melt damage INSIDE the rear tail lamp housing from the sun being magnified through the clear plastic of the housing and melting and cracking the black plastic of the light.

Being from Phoenix I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often to cars out there.

That's a good point, I didn't consider a focused reflection off the polished tip. That's most likely what caused it. No way to really avoid that unless I put little covers over my tips haha

Though parking in the shade probably makes more sense.

 

[MagneticA]

That's a good point, I didn't consider a focused reflection off the polished tip. That's most likely what caused it. No way to really avoid that unless I put little covers over my tips haha

Though parking in the shade probably makes more sense.

Shade... good luck finding that! Actually, every time I look for a parking spot I have to weigh 2 things - shade vs. peninsula - do I want a cool car, or a potential door ding? Summertime in the desert :tsk:

 

[Ender]

Shade... good luck finding that! Actually, every time I look for a parking spot I have to weigh 2 things - shade vs. peninsula - do I want a cool car, or a potential door ding? Summertime in the desert :tsk:

Very true. So far no door dings but I'm not very trusting of people anymore so I always park by a curb.

 

[Ender]

So I've been keeping an eye on this and it hasn't gotten any worse, so I'm hoping whatever caused it was just an isolated incident.

I plan on fixing it by popping it out and using a heat gun to slowly bend it straight, then put it back. Does anyone know how I can find out how to remove this? I'm gonna try taking a look at the area tonight to see if I can figure it out but if any of you know, that'd be great.

 

[turtleboy]

Any updates? I'm having the same problem.

 

[Evolvd]

See these pages

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31947
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27644

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