Plastic rear bumper falling off 2008 Sightseer 29R

[7997redtail]

So my wife noticed that the right rear bumper/plastic cover was detached. It was never in danger in falling off as there are screws on the left inner portion and two hangers at the top. Its probably been like this for many many years. In any case I decided to fix it


I've done some research on this and noticed a couple basic techniques were being used. Fiberglass repair, JB weld and VHB double sided tape. I’ve used the 3M VHB tape to attach my solar panels to the roof and decided this would be a great application for it. BTW, be careful where you buy this tape from. I've heard there are a lot of copy/fake versions on the market. Buy it from a reputable source.

After unbolting the Center section of the bumper (4 nuts) and shifting it to the side I had access to the 5 or 6 Phillips head inner screws. Once they were removed I could shift it and lift up to remove it off the hangers. Have some wire cutters ready as the side marker light needs to be cut. The tail lights just rotate CCW and come out. Then I removed the 4 torx screws holding he bracket to the vehicle.

After removing the metal part I put it onto the bench to make it straight, ground the rust off the metal side and cleaned it well with rubbing alcohol so the tape would have a good surface to bond too.

As for the plastic side i used a heat gun (i kept testing the area with my finger to make sure I didn't get the plastic too hot. It doesn't take much heat to get the glue off and to ruin the plastic bumper.) to soften the old tape and slowly scraped it of with a putty knife and a little 80 grit sandpaper to get the last bits of glue off. A good cleaning with some rubbing alcohol and it was ready to put together. One of the pictures shows the part against my fridge with weights and clamps on it. The VHB needs to have pressure for 24 hours, or something like that.

The next day I screwed it back on, adjusted the back bumper Center piece and it was done. Total work time probably around 3 hours. A lot of that was just figuring out how it went together and how I was going to get it apart.