Front bumper skin loose?

[Okki]

I noticed last night that I had an unusual body gap on the front passenger side where the bumper skin meets the quarter panel.

There is no sign of an impact and it appears as thought he bumper skin is pushing outwards. I've not yet had time to search through the shop manual to see if there is a body clip in that area that might have broken or otherwise loosened up.

The "clean" area is from me pushing against the bumper to see if it would snap back in (assuming a loose clip).

Anyone any suggestions/ideas? I reached around the headlight, but didn't feel anything that would give me any hints.

Okki

(The wife did agree that its not a long term problem with the eventual replacement with a Shrockworks bumper :cheer2 just too bad that's a little ways off with just having ordered my Icon Stage 6.

 

[Jesse1983]

mine does not line up perfect either.

 

[Okki]

mine does not line up perfect either.

From day one? or later on? Mine was fine until recently...

 

[PAYNE]

Here is a diagram from Alldata of the bracket in that area. I'ts not a very good diagram so I'll tell you that this plastic bracket that creates a shelf for the bumper cover to sit on and it has small "fingers" that the small slits of the bumper cover snap over. I have in the past seen the "fingers" give up for lack of a better term and not hold into the slot (causing gap issues). In some cases you can gently heat & bend the fingers up to help hold the bumper cover. If needed the bracket is $39 list price (part# 52115-35131) so if it is broken or can't be manipulated back into shape then at least it's not too expensive. A word of caution though is that you can tear the little slots on the bumper cover when removing so just take your time in manipulating it out of the shelf, wiggling it out vs. tearing it out.

 

[PAYNE]

I went out & took some photos of this type of bracket & bumper cover mounting slots in order to show the details a little better. Please note, this is not photos of the 4Runner bracket but it is the same style so this should help in the understanding of how it works. You can see that there are the little fingers that fall into the slots of the bumper cover to hold it. Unfortunately because there are no bolts there is very limited you can do in order to adjust the bumper cover short of getting creative if you know what I mean. The first two photos are of the bracket itself off of the vehicle. The third is installed on the car and you can see that it basically sandwiches the plastic bumper cover to the lower edge of the fender. The last photo is of the bumper cover slots which are the ones you have to be careful not to tear. Hope this helps.

 

[Jesse1983]

From day one? or later on? Mine was fine until recently...

I'm pretty sure from day one. I've always noticed places where it's off. Sometimes when I take the bumper cover off, and put it back on it's lined up better than it was. you could try that? Or just deal with it until you get your new bumper :fro:

 

[adam2562]

maybe if you had the headlights replaced under the TSB.. they didn't put it back as well? or maybe if you have been off the road.. and inducing chassis twist.. maybe it caused it to pop out? just thoughts/ideas

 

[Okki]

That's probably it [MENTION=45721]adam2562[/MENTION]... Badly put together when the TSB was performed and possibly with the wet and freezing weather here, that assisted with getting road grime in there or some water that pushed things apart.

Thanks for the input guys; I guess this is what will make my truck special until the steel bumper rolls around

Okki

 

[Randyman...]

Have you done the fender-liner mod for tire clearance? Mine doesn't have a gap like that, but it does seem that the fender liner mod can stress the area where this stuff mounts to...

 

[eddiebx]

I just went out to look for you, mine has the same misalignment at those spots but in reverse, ie. the fender is raised slightly higher and sticking out as compared to the bumper cover, if that makes sense. I believe this is how it came from the factory and is on all 4 corners.

 

[westwind77]

maybe if you had the headlights replaced under the TSB.. they didn't put it back as well? or maybe if you have been off the road.. and inducing chassis twist.. maybe it caused it to pop out? just thoughts/ideas

That's probably it [MENTION=45721]adam2562[/MENTION]... Badly put together when the TSB was performed and possibly with the wet and freezing weather here, that assisted with getting road grime in there or some water that pushed things apart.

Thanks for the input guys; I guess this is what will make my truck special until the steel bumper rolls around

Okki

The main reason I did not take mine in under the TSB. Things just don't go back the way they should...especially when it is not done by the owner. I would do the TSB if I would be allowed to do the service. Oh well.

 

[05Rrunner]

The main reason I did not take mine in under the TSB. Things just don't go back the way they should...especially when it is not done by the owner. I would do the TSB if I would be allowed to do the service. Oh well.

So true, I agree 100%. It's sad but you can always trace back shoddy work.
I recently had some major accident work done on a new scion at Toyota and it was amazing how poor of a job they did on the details.I had the same problem with my front bumper cover as the op has
I Always felt like if they don't care about the stuff you can see what about the stuff you can't. I traded it in to the dealer.

 

[mace.]

Okki, not sure if its cold where you live, but I've had this happen on a Nissan I had years ago after slush froze behind a gap and popped a bumper cover up. Just a thought.

 

[Okki]

[MENTION=77504]mace.[/MENTION] That's what I thought as well. We've had rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow here in the last week. Thinking there may also be some roadsalt or something behind there.

Okki

 

[Tleahcim]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, you can blame it on using the search function instead of starting a new thread, but does anyone know if this side retainer will fit with the redesigned 2014+ front bumper covers? When I took my 2014 LE in for service, the techs insisted that I had been hit and didn't know it. The parts department at the local dealer insists that it will but other online sellers say that it's compatible up to 2013 only. I'm wondering if this could be covered under warranty?