Front bumper bar rusted out?

[sleveritt]

Is it fairly common for the front bumper bar of the VX to completely rust off? Once I removed all the cladding, I noticed the left foot or so was missing and the rest was badly rusted. When I grabbed it to see how bad it was..... it fell off in my hand.

What do you guys think about taking it to a fab shop and having them custom bend to 2" OD tubing to be welded back in place?

(Future plan of course. I haven't decided about what to do with the drivetrain - replace engine with used one, upgrade to a 5.7L SBC, beefier rear axle and SAS up front???)

I'm about ready to tear it down to the frame and start fresh....

[lasturbo]

Or you can buy one here:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=17244

The factory one is over $260.00 if I remember.

[tom4bren]

I wouldn't say it's common but a couple of members have told the same story.

[Mr.Badguy]

Yea, i saw my left side hanging down below the cladding. i was surprised when it just came off in my hand when i went to investigate. right side is fine. thought it was weird. glad i'm not the only one.

[alanbradley]

Happened to me. I wondered what all the rattling was and, in the spirit of investigation, removed the front cladding to have the bar land on my foot. I replaced it with the custom scaffolding...
A

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

I yanked both ends of mine off last fall and also my liscense plate lamps are both shot along with the mounting bracket that holds them in place. I ordered (1) new mounting bracket & (2) complete lamps/harness and only got
1 lamp/harness so far from dealer...rest on backorder since November. Might have to call Merlin to see if he can work some magic on getting me the parts faster!
Also, my spring tension on my wiper arms is shot...tried to get new springs...no can do...tried to get new wiper arms in order to get new springs....on backorder.....ugh.

[Ascinder]

Weird, I guess I lucked out. I took mine off to mount my winch and aside from a couple of chips in the paint, it was totally fine. In fact, it was in such good shape I welded it on my adventure trailer for a step bumper. Nevada VX for the win

[kinnaq]

If you live in a winter area that salts the roads, it accelerates the corrosion.

Mine will need replacing soon.

[Otto]

Hi all, here is a very good price for reinforcemennt bumper. Need to get one myself. http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/Cus...CEMENT/510971/

[vt_maverick]

Don't know if that will work though Otto. Here's the pic of the aftermarket reinforcement:



...and here's a (crude) pic of the reinforcement bar from the Isuzu parts catalog (pulled off the IsuzuParts.com site). It's part #15 in the picture.



They don't look the same to me, but maybe they'll work anyway?

[JAMAS]

Keep us posted on how it works out.

[samneil2000]

I too am interested in this one. My bar is shot. My VX came to me from Indianapolis, but I don't know much about it before that.

[MSHardeman]

I was thinking about this thread on the way into work this morning (I know, I'm obsessed) and was wondering if anyone had tried the aftermarket bumper yet. Mine is starting to rust through and I'm about to do my timing belt so I figured that while I had the bumper cover off I would replace the bumper itself. I'm all for going OEM, but $300+ for a bent piece of tubing seems a little steep to me.

If no one has given it a shot I may be the guinea pig.

[JAMAS]

If 13 people contribute $10 to me, I will purchase and install with photos, etc.

[Otto]

I will be getting the after market bumper, but I am waiting for the snow to melt so I can install it. It's a bit cold around here to start taking my front end apart, But when I do I will let you know how it turns out.