Rear Bumper Drop Fix

[Alfa Male]

So I’ve suffered for a while now the common rear bumper drop. To be honest I’ve had this from brand new but hoped when it went into the body shop to the have the GT350 rear valance dotted they would’ve resolved this issue but they didn’t.

So it went back to Ford but as I’ve ‘messed with’ the rear bumper their warranty would not cover it.

I’ve done a lot of research on this and it’s a really common issue. The Yanks cite a TSB for a repair fix from Ford but it’s very crude by all accounts and they are all rejecting it as an option. Notwithstanding that Ford UK claim there is no TSB despite it being on the net.

So next I stumbled across this thread on here:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/how-to-fix-your-bumper-gap-easy-way.104521/

This got me inspired and I thought I’d try this myself...

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[Alfa Male]

So first up some pictures of the bumper drop. As you can see it’s pretty bad. Almost a point coin width at its worst and on both sides !

So stripped back the lights and looked to follow the mod exactly as per the above thread. But looking at it in more detail I wasn’t convinced that would be enough to fully pull the bumper up.

So I went for two screws, lifting the bumper up to fully close the gap I bravely started drilling my baby

Also despite the fixings being hidden behind the rear lights I painted the heads race red to blend in with bodywork.

So the end result and I’m very pleased with it.
M

 

[SteveS]

Good job, and nice cat

 

[Alfa Male]

Good job, and nice cat

Bloody cat, you can have the damn thing if you want. Keeps crapping in my lawn, bringing in dead animals (sometimes alive) and clambers of the cars.

As you can tell I’m not a fan !

 

[SteveS]

tbh i'm a bigger fan of other people's cats. Not desperate for one myself!

 

[Manders Mustang]

right, i'm trying this! any closer pictures of where the screws went/what they mounted to or any description?

I assume just some self tappers does the job?

 

[Alfa Male]

right, i'm trying this! any closer pictures of where the screws went/what they mounted to or any description?

I assume just some self tappers does the job?

The painted bumper skin fits over a strong black plastic reinforcement sub structure. The hollow black plastic is really rigid and fixed to the body of the car. So when you lift the rear bumper up to close the gap it moves independently to this fixed black plastic reinforcement.
Hence you can lift the bumper and carefully pilot hole drill through both sets of plastic surfaces. Then couple of self tappers with flat head each side. I had a helping hand to lift the bumper whilst drilling, but I’m sure a trolley jack on the corner would work as well.

You can get your fingers in to the void behind this black plastic to feel around, so you can be sure you’re not going hit anything you shouldn’t when drilling.

Hopefully in the picture below you can make out the black plastic sub structure I’m referring to.

When you let go of the bumper it will drop a little so make sure you have the gap as tight as possible whilst drilling to allow for the small drop afterwards.

I painted my screw heads to blend in but there isn’t a need really as the light unit covers these up anyway.

On reflection why Ford didn’t fit a screw to connect the bumper to rear quarter, similar to the one in front bumper to the wing, I don’t know! That wouldn’t been a low cost and simple cure to this issue.

Good luck...

 

[Alfa Male]

Some before and after pictures to hopefully highlight the difference better

 

[2017GBGTPP]

Nice work! Your pics actually helped me solve an issue with the bumper clip right next to the taillight coming undone. I'm not too concerned about the small gap which is typical, but this caused the bumper to wiggle enough that I could hear it squeaking on bumpy roads. I wasn't able to push it back into place from the outside, but by removing the taillight I was able to get to the clip from both sides and push it together. Thanks!

 

[Alfa Male]

right, i'm trying this! any closer pictures of where the screws went/what they mounted to or any description?

I assume just some self tappers does the job?

How did you get on with fixing your bumper drop issue ?

 

[Manders Mustang]

How did you get on with fixing your bumper drop issue ?

Actually doing it tomorrow haha! It's on the list!

 

[Boss302TN]

So first up some pictures of the bumper drop. As you can see it’s pretty bad. Almost a point coin width at its worst and on both sides !

So stripped back the lights and looked to follow the mod exactly as per the above thread. But looking at it in more detail I wasn’t convinced that would be enough to fully pull the bumper up.

So I went for two screws, lifting the bumper up to fully close the gap I bravely started drilling my baby

Also despite the fixings being hidden behind the rear lights I painted the heads race red to blend in with bodywork.

So the end result and I’m very pleased with it.
M

Looking at a GT350 with a little sag, Is it truly as easy as taking the rear light out, having someone hold the bumper tight, and drilling those two screws in and painting over the heads?

 

[V8_MOTOR]

Excellent. I need to put my CF diffuser on and have been worried about this sag issue. No more worries.

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