How to Replace a Car’s Rear Bumper

One of the biggest dangers when driving is other road users. When you’ve stopped at a junction no-one wants to hear that crunching sound that indicates a good rear-ending from the vehicle behind. At low speeds your rear bumper can absorb the shock and strain of a collision, but often it will take tremendous damage in the impact. In such cases you can quickly and easily buy a spare rear bumper and replace yourself with very little mechanical knowledge.

This is a relatively easy job and one that can be performed with only the most basic of mechanical knowledge. To complete the task at hand you’ll need a set of spanners or a wrench, a flat headed screwdriver and an assistant to help hold the new bumper in place whilst you reattach it to the car.

Work in the Rear Boot

Open your car boot and locate the plastic trim that covers the bolts that hold your bumper onto the car. First unscrew the small screws that hold the trim in place, then you’ll need to pry it off carefully avoiding damage with a standard flat head screwdriver in order to expose the bolts. It’s then a simple case of taking off the bolts with a spanner or wrench.

Under the Rear of the Car

You will now need to disconnect the remaining bolts from the inside of your rear wheel arches. These should be easy to find and remove with an even number of screws located in each wheel arch. Then slide under your car and use your screwdriver to pop out any plastic rivets along the bottom of the rear of your vehicle that hold the bumper in position. When you’ve completed this final task it should be easy to pull the bumper off the car. Make sure that you place all screws and fixings somewhere safe as you’ll need them later.

Find a Friend

For this next stage you’ll need an assistant or friend to help you out. Open the boot of your car and get your helper to hold the bumper in place against the rear of the car. This may take a little time as you have to get the bolt holes described in step one to line up with the holes in the bumper. Once you have achieved this use your spanner or wrench to reattach the bumper. Then carefully reattach the plastic trim and screw it into place.

Final Steps

Now go round the car bumper and put the screws back in place under the wheel arches. Next use the plastic rivets to reattach the bumper to the underside of the rear of the car holding it firmly in place to the bodywork. As a final step you can go around the car pushing down on the bumper to check that all the screws and fixings are tight enough to hold it in place. If there is any movement in the bumper whatsoever, locate the nearest screws and bolts and tighten them further.

Once you have replaced your car’s bumper there’s nothing more to do other than to enjoy safely driving around knowing that the occasional bump or prang isn’t going to affect your bodywork. It’s that easy. All you have to do now is to try to stop other motorists from driving into the back of you.