Front Underrun?

[Megafreak]

Hey all, I have a 58 plate Rav4 and someone cleverly decided to hit the front of it a few months back, not entirely when or where and the only damage was the plastic cover on the bumper was cracked. Yesterday went through a car wash and the part has finally given up and snapped.

Removed the bit hanging down and it is a 'Front Underrun' I wondered several things:

1 How important is this bit?

2 Would I get away with actually just resining/glueing it back together until I can afford the £300+ I have found them for on eBay?

3 Do you guys know of an aftermarket version that I can buy that wont cost £300?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Craig

[Megafreak]

Anyone? Lol

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[firemac]

Can't see why you can't try to repair the damaged one as there are no safety critical issues involved, as far as I know. The steel impact-bearing structure is behind the plastics, which are mainly cosmetic and provide a certain amount of impact protection but from small knocks only.

Replacement front & rear bumper panels are horrendously expensive given how easy it is to irreparably damage them. More annoyingly, it's usually near impossible to repair any permanent deformations or splits.

The sort of bump that an old style chromed steel bumper would have shrugged off would easily write off any of the modern panels (you can't seriously call them bumpers!).

Good luck.

[Megafreak]

Can't see why you can't try to repair the damaged one as there are no safety critical issues involved, as far as I know. The steel impact-bearing structure is behind the plastics, which are mainly cosmetic and provide a certain amount of impact protection but from small knocks only.

Replacement front & rear bumper panels are horrendously expensive given how easy it is to irreparably damage them. More annoyingly, it's usually near impossible to repair any permanent deformations or splits.

The sort of bump that an old style chromed steel bumper would have shrugged off would easily write off any of the modern panels (you can't seriously call them bumpers!).

Good luck.

Excellent,many thanks for replying. Think I'll have a go at putting it back together this weekend

Thanks again

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[Avalon]

Dichloromethane (DCM) may work but it depends on the type of plastic used. Worst case scenario assemble both bits and reinforce with something front and rear or buy the plastics from another donor car of the same generation/engine configuration from a breakers.

[firemac]

Dichloromethane (DCM) may work but it depends on the type of plastic used. Worst case scenario assemble both bits and reinforce with something front and rear or buy the plastics from another donor car of the same generation/engine configuration from a breakers.

I'm no expert but, depending upon where the damage is, I suppose you could also "weld" it back together using a soldering iron and some waste plastic of the same type.

This method is often used to repair the fairings on motorcycles with quite a bit of success.

[Avalon]

Plastic welding is usually done where you need to preserve the cosmetics on one side, this is out of sight and it's more of a splash guard In fairness it could be riveted together as it's non cosmetic as long as you add a suitable brace to the back.