Cutting Bumper support

[number80]

I was wondering when you have to cut the bumper support to fit large intercooler cores would that affect the handling of the car? That's not exactly the chassis but still that does stiffen up the front end. I don't know if it would matter for drifting but I'm building my car mainly for grip driving.

[proledoriat]

are you gonna dd your car? most people just take it off, but im cutting mine in 2 pieced it will look like this -.[ ].- get it? haha

[number80]

Haha I get it, that is what I'm talking about. As for the car not it's not my DD, I got my beater to roll around. I'll just drive the car here and there and find the twisties. Like I said i'm building the car to handle so I was just wondering since it doesn't look like the factory wanted to design a bumper support looking like that.

[projectRDM]

It does nothing to the chassis, it's bolted after the suspension, past the frame rails. JDM cars have a much smaller, thinner piece, doesn't change anything.

[number80]

Ok I see, just some protection then, well then chop chop for me gotta rent that plasma cutter.:bigok:

[420sx]

just take it off. its useless. its installed to protect you from 5mph collisions when you bump another car for insurance purposes.

[Skullavera]

Just don't hit anything head on and you'll be ok.

[918DRFT]

just take it off. wieght reduction.lol

[98koukile]

This is the only thing that can happen...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/maxlopes/IMG_0800.jpg
Actually that can happen anyways

[hustlervibes]

^ how much would the bumper support help in this situation??

[CSil80]

Against a tree/light pole/mountain wall, not much.
Just take it off.

[Matej]

There's enough room to fit almost any fmic behind the support. I kept mine, I'd be sad if a 5mph collision bent my frame when I knew the bumper support could've prevented it.

[GabeS14]

Mos people take it off because they dont want to have to do any custom work..
I will definitly save you..and most important your MOTOR in smaller colisions and thats prob the most expensive part in your car..It saved mine ...

its actually really simple to keep it in there and have a large intercooler core..
mine is 12 " tall..and 4 inch thick, i have it behind the bumper support only the top inch and half are covered by the bumper suport..
take off the headlight brackets, cut them right below the screw that holds the headlight so you can still have some support for it.. then put top half of brakets back in..
then put the intercooler in from below..and weld some brackets that the intercooler would sit on. would cost like 40bucks to have a shop do it for you .. the only thing that gets in the way of the intercooler would be those 2 brakets..
where do you live? if near Downtown La and wanna check out my car..so u can see how easy it is..just pm me.

[eastcoastS14]

This is the only thing that can happen...
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w166/maxlopes/IMG_0800.jpg
Actually that can happen anyways

lol yay! I made it in this thread...:duh: doubt a bumper support would have done a whole lot for me there, maybe would have softened the blow a little to save some things on that side, as you can see i hit the telephone pole right where the support should have been...that was like 45-50mph tho

[sd8ted]

i just unbolted mine when i installed my FMIC. less weight, less hassle ftw?

[ALEXTHESUS*PECT]

just take it out all together!

[GabeS14]

basically if you take it off... any little bump (front end)even at like 15mph, will completely crack and push back everything all the way to your radiator support, and push that into the engine..if you keep the support, it will save your intercooler and radiator for the least, and possibly save the rad suport, which is a pain in the ass and expensive to replace if it gets damaged..
just dont let lazy ppl influence your decision..

[nismo tuned s14]

keep it. i fit a 24x12x3 behind mine without any hassle. nothing a little bit of trimming couldnt take care of.

[HalveBlue]

Get a sawzall and trim only as much off as needed to fit your IC core.

The main reason I kept mine was to prevent fascia from sagging, as the fascia retainers attach to the bumper support.

FWIW, I doubt the bumper support will save your IC in any crash as you'll eliminate all the clearance behind the support once you install the IC.

[nissanguy13]

Get a sawzall and trim only as much off as needed to fit your IC core.

The main reason I kept mine was to prevent fascia from sagging, as the fascia retainers attach to the bumper support.

FWIW, I doubt the bumper support will save your IC in any crash as you'll eliminate all the clearance behind the support once you install the IC.

What he said, that's what I did.

[!Zar!]

Take off the bumper support and don't crash.

Done.

If you do, these cars are dirt cheap and you can buy another one.

[Ninjabread]

Haha, not where I live.

My IC fits behind (under?) it, so I keep it.

[WilloW]

Instead of driving around without a bumper support, I would do what this guy did (props to whoever you are).
http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/34155-2/support+1.jpg
http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/34158-2/support+2.jpg
http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/34164-2/support+4.jpg
http://photos.freshalloy.com/gallery/d/34161-2/support+3.jpg

[IStop4NoMan]

^^ thats how i cut mine, but i didnt weld in a new piece like that! but yeah it leaves a lot of support in there still and barely clears my spec-m by less than 1/2 an inch. i think in any accident thats going to kill my intercooler. hopefully it will save the rad support at least.

[S14DB]

just take it off. its useless. its installed to protect you from 5mph collisions when you bump another car for insurance purposes.

No, that's what the foam is for. The crash bar is a major part of the front crash safety system. It boxes in the front and distributes the crash force to both frame rails.

But, hey if you guys want to die for a FMIC that is 2x bigger than you need. go ahead.

[hitman]

ya, but then when you crash it pushes in one side and pulls out the other. if you drift and just hammer your car back to place, i think taking it off is the way to go. flybert still has his though

[Matej]

My setup hahaha.

http://www.1upbonus.com/personal/images/fmic_01.jpg

[PoorMans180SX]

If you're on a budget, then this won't be the greatest, but:

You could just fab up some bars to replace it.

Like almost every drift car has.

[gotta240]

the combination of stupidity and bad advice in this thread hurts my head.


That PLASTIC FOAM shit is the 5mph helper. Do you guys really think that the fucking BUMPER SUPPORT doesnt do shit in an impact?! that is the MAIN force absorber and prevents massive damage. Look at the pick of the white car above... need i say more?

[chibo]

I wish I'd taken pictures of some of the cars I've fixed at the collision shop, the cars with missing bumper supports had quite a few thousand dollars more of damage than those that were right.

As a side note, I'd never own a car that had a damaged frame or unibody, whichever the case my be... I never felt this way until I got to see how they were actually fixed.

[smelly240]

i still have mine -- just cut the center up about a inch so u cant see it in the mouth of the aero -- a lil and the pointy nubs on the end bc they hit the aero as well... i dont have hte foam tho

edit - i should box the bottom where i cut it back in

now its like
----------------
___/.......... \___ pretenf the periods arent there -- its bein gay and wont leave spaces

i should do this

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___/------\___

[Captain_Ron80]

I agree with all of the people with brains. Keep it. It is there for a good reason.

[Matej]

Here's my friend's FC when he hit a lightpole straight on going 40-50mph. Even though the frame was totaled, the support saved his motor which still runs fine to this day in his new FC.

http://a751.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/120/l_851f866ef88ee54b4a0d450072d35e9e.jpg

[rps13sr20det]

what you should do is cut it...and and you can measure the depth of your intercooler and re-weld either flat bar in or 1inch square pipe.....

like everyone has said, cutting it out won't really make a difference, other than if you get in a small fender bender...Just for the sake of saving your intercooler in the chance of that happening. Re-weld something in place of the cut section.

[DaPCWiz]

the combination of stupidity and bad advice in this thread hurts my head.


That PLASTIC FOAM shit is the 5mph helper. Do you guys really think that the fucking BUMPER SUPPORT doesnt do shit in an impact?! that is the MAIN force absorber and prevents massive damage. Look at the pick of the white car above... need i say more?

agreed. I'm pretty sure that the rebar / bumper support / whatever you call it is used to distribute the force of the impact across the entire chassis instead of just one point. This helps make the chassis absorb the impact, and if the the crash is bad enough, the crumple zones take as much force out of the impact as possible before it gets to the occupants.

Here is an example: (pay attention to the renault)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O11Rr3wuDeE
(fast forward to 4:38 if you are impatient)



As a side note, I'd never own a car that had a damaged frame or unibody, whichever the case my be... I never felt this way until I got to see how they were actually fixed.

I totally agree with you there. Here is a good example of why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWEdlUT17PI

[chibo]

^^ Pretty much. It makes me feel horrible when I repair heavy frame damage on a car. I just worked on an 06 Toyota Tundra that had 19k in damage to it - all in the frame and bed. It got a new bed but the frame was torn and heavily twisted - I believe 16 hours went in to fixing it on the frame rack. I'd imagine it will perform like shit if it were to ever be hit again.

Sure, people say 'oh, frame racks are so good now they can get it straight as the day it came off the line' but they don't think about what happens to metal when it is bent, heated, welded, deformed, etc.

Oh my, I've gone off topic. Oops.

[DaPCWiz]

just another heads up. I totaled an S14 about 2 years ago going ~40 mph. Some inexperienced girl ran a stop sign and jumped out between traffic while I was coming down the main road at speed. I railed thru her car... no time to brake or anything.

http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7710.JPG

even though the impact was on the front left, you could see evidence of the frame crushing in across the car to absorb the impact (I wish I took pics with the bumper off, you could see it clearly. I walked out of the car w/o a scratch. In fact my only injury was a bruised arm from my refusing to let go of the wheel thru the impact and the airbag slamming into my arm.

a few more: (really wish I had better pics..)
http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7704.JPG

http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7705.JPG

http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7706.JPG

note: the motor was also saved :)

http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7708.JPG

[GabeS14]

Its pretty easy to realize that most of the smarter more well phrased answers, with more info and knowledge, are the ones telling you you shouldKEEP IT

all the ones saying take it off sound like a pretty stupid and misinformed person that made the wrong decision....when comparing answers.....
such as:
"if you dont plan on crashing then take it off kinda answer.."
I guess it should be pretty easy for you to know which direction to go.

[ManoNegra]

just another heads up. I totaled an S14 about 2 years ago going ~40 mph. Some inexperienced girl ran a stop sign and jumped out between traffic while I was coming down the main road at speed. I railed thru her car... no time to brake or anything.

http://www.dapcwiz.com/misc/totaled/DSC_7710.JPG


That looks a lot like my old crashed S14 - same spot and similar damage. Frame was bent aswell and even the windshield cracked. Bags didn't deploy however.

[DaPCWiz]

That looks a lot like my old crashed S14 - same spot and similar damage. Frame was bent aswell and even the windshield cracked. Bags didn't deploy however.

lol funny... my bags deployed by windshield didn't crack. go figure. The little light that says yours airbags don't work was blinking on my dash since I bought the car. Apparently they did work.

[xkamikazestormx]

Take off the bumper support and don't crash.

Done.

If you do, these cars are dirt cheap and you can buy another one.

sometimes you can crash and its not your fault.

keep it. i would hate to see another 240 totaled because you wanted to fit a massive intercooler waay too big for the power your making.