Back in 1973 the DOT mandated that they have to withstand a 5mph impact. Todays cars can't withstand a 1mph impact. WTF :brickwall:
Would you whack your charger at 2 mph?
Would you retrofit big 5 mph bumper guards from the mid-70s?
That's what happened. The public liked good looking bumpers more than practical ones. So the regulations were relaxed.
And people like us are usually the first/loudest to bitch about unwanted govt regulations on cars.
What you are calling the bumper on todays cars are not the bumper. They are officially called bumper covers. The design of the actual function regulated bumper is behind the plastic painted peices.
I agree that the current system sucks. But I see no fix for it as long as people demand that bumpers look perfect.
We basically don't want our cars to have bumpers, we want them to have front & rear ends that are pure styling. There is nothing on the exterior that isn't supposed to remain cosmetically perfect. Every inch of surface is either shiny paint or chrome and any kind of mark on it is 'damage.'
If we had real bumpers then they could be a little scratched/gouged/dented and that would be perfectly acceptable. You wouldn't view that as 'body damage' if you were looking it over on a used car lot. You would view it more like 'wear and tear' like the amount of tread left on the tires.
Ideally those 'bumper' pieces would be kind of sacrificial wear items, like tires are. They would be cheap to buy new ones (read: common across many different models) and they would be easily replaced with hand tools. It doesn't take specialized tools and 2 hours of shop labor to change a flat tire. You don't have to wait a week for the dealership to order a replacement tire specific to your make/model/year. This also means they need to be a generic color like black or grey regardless of the body color.
Quote from: c00nhunterjoe on January 07, 2019, 06:48:25 PM
What you are calling the bumper on todays cars are not the bumper. They are officially called bumper covers. The design of the actual function regulated bumper is behind the plastic painted peices.
This is corect. The rebar (the structural bumper behind the bumper cover) is actually far better engineered than the old style chrome bumpers. There is a hard Styrofoam like insulator between the bumper cover and the rebear, this all works together to absorb the collision instead of your body having to absorb the collision. You may not like the new style but they help people to be injury free in low speed collisions. :2thumbs:
QuoteThis is corect. The rebar (the structural bumper behind the bumper cover) is actually far better engineered than the old style chrome bumpers. There is a hard Styrofoam like insulator between the bumper cover and the rebear, this all works together to absorb the collision instead of your body having to absorb the collision. You may not like the new style but they help people to be injury free in low speed collisions. 2thumbs
The new ones do work well but IMO we shouldn't have to choose between safety and practicality. There could be a setup that does both. Combine a semi-rigid outer bumper with an impact-absorbing setup behind it. The latter could still be something sacrificial as long as it's not a PITA to swap out.
There's no reason why repairing a few pounds of crushed metal or styrofoam has to soak up $2000 worth of parts and skilled labor. They could standardize a few common sizes and make the fasteners easy to access.
You lost me at standardized, easy, and inexpensive. The government, lawyers, and stupid consumers are involved so none of those will ever happen. Look at tpms sensors.... they are a pita and mandated on every vehicle because some snowflake morons wrecked their late 90s explorers and sued firestone blaming the tires.
I only said a better system was possible. I didn't say it was likely.
"There's no reason why repairing a few pounds of crushed metal or styrofoam has to soak up $2000 worth of parts and skilled labor. They could standardize a few common sizes and make the fasteners easy to access." X2
a few years ago I got rear ended in my 2008 Charger by a full size chevy truck that didnt stop in time. Must have been doing 15-20 mph when it hit me. Felt the hit, got out of the car...and my plastic bumper cover was fine. The thing must have flexed, hit the real bumper, and then popped back out into place as if nothing had happened. The guy had some damage in his truck, but we both decided it wasnt worth the aggravation, called it even, shook hands, and went on our way. I suspect a similar impact on my satellite's rear bumper may not have had such a favorable conclusion.
But hey, if reverse-snowflakes that are offended by lack of bumpers want em...here ya go...
(http://www.amcarguide.com/wp-content/gallery/radiantz-challenger/2-2010sema-radiantz-dodge-challenger.jpg)
Quote from: Ponch ® on January 09, 2019, 01:05:04 PM
...and my plastic bumper cover was fine. The thing must have flexed, hit the real bumper, and then popped back out into place as if nothing had happened.
(http://www.amcarguide.com/wp-content/gallery/radiantz-challenger/2-2010sema-radiantz-dodge-challenger.jpg)
Unfortunately, those plastic bumper covers can conceal internal damage. A hard enough impact can compress the inner bumper assembly without it being visible because the cover/fascia pops back out as described. Sometimes there will be a slight bow or distortion in the rear quarter too, which may not be noticed at first glance unless you're looking for it.
Quote from: Brass on January 09, 2019, 08:11:51 PM
Unfortunately, those plastic bumper covers can conceal internal damage. A hard enough impact can compress the inner bumper assembly without it being visible because the cover/fascia pops back out as described. Sometimes there will be a slight bow or distortion in the rear quarter too, which may not be noticed at first glance unless you're looking for it.
hadnt thought of that. But lucky for me, I was planning on trading the car in soon (and I did, a month later), so all I cared about was the body damage not showing.
Quote from: Ponch ® on January 09, 2019, 01:05:04 PM
(http://www.amcarguide.com/wp-content/gallery/radiantz-challenger/2-2010sema-radiantz-dodge-challenger.jpg)
Watch out you'll start a new fad. I like the retro look.
:scratchchin: Now if only one could raise it a little and add 14 inch rims..... :scratchchin: