I got some questions for the ranger geniuses here

Anyways on my 2000 ranger the previous owner had backed into something on the drivers side just below the taillights. This left some slight damage on the truck which was otherwise in perfect condition.

The biggest issue I have is the plastic cover on top the chrome bumper itself has lifting up slightly on the drivers side and oddly has gotten worse over the years since. I'm planing on ordering a Recon tailgate"line of fire" light bar so i need to straighten the plastic otherwise it wouldn't look right.

Here is a pict(not the greatest):


Just looking at it quickly tonight in the dark I ran my hands up under the back bumper and i couldn't feel any screws that the plastic piece would attach too. Anyone got any ideas how i can level it out? I plan to look at it in more detail tomorrow in the daylight.



Then lastly one question about my fiberglass tonneau cover as it has a few circular cracks in what appears to only be in the surface of the cover. Could i simply grab some scratch remover touch up paint to repair it or might it crack again?

Any advice or comments are welcome..
cheers :)

 

push down on the bumper pad....it's just held onto the bumper using a crap load of push pin things. You do have a chrome bumper...and chrome ranger rear bumpers always get a funky twist in them...that might be your issue....

 

hrm well after i looked at it yesterday and trying to bend it back into shape by pushing down on the plastic piece I noticed that its actualy the bumper itself thats bent. Its the metal that the plastic sits on top of. There is also a small spot right behind the license plate area thats starting to warp upward too.

I'm wondering how hard it would be to remove the bumper off my truck and take the plastic off the top. Then I might start beating on the metal that's bending upward below the plastic close to the tailgate area in hopes of evening it out some. Of course it would make for a good workout :D unfortunately i don't have any real tools to fix it properly or the money to take it to a body shop.

 

I just took my rear bumper off on my 99 Ranger. I had to lower the spare tire, and the bolts thread into these weird tab things. I used an 18mm socket to get two of them off. The other two had the little tab break, which means the bolt just spins and spins. I had to cut the bolts with a grinder with a cutting wheel. The tabs are really a poor design and snap very easy. I live an area where they salt the roads so this may have contributed to this. Don't forget to also undo the license plate lights.

 

Colin...there's 4 bolts facing upward. there's nuts on top of the frame with tabs that hit the frame to act as a 'stop' so the nut won't spin...so just buzz off the bolts. the bumper is off.

I'd suggest this....take the tailgate off. And take your 4lb hammer and start beating it! beat that bulge out! That's just me though. lol.

 

^^^ i have done that... works good! remove the pad before hitting lol...

 

removal of the pad? shoot....little piece of 1/4" plywood on top of the pad, then go at it!

 

i messed up my pad doing that... its called whats softer plastic>wood

 

hrm you know I vaguely thought about it. I just haven't ever removed the tailgate before on my ranger. I've done it many times on older F-150s before though so hopefully it should be of a similar process.

I got a recon "line of fire" LED bar coming Tuesday so I'd like to get the bumper flattened down before the install to make it look perfect on my truck


Yeah definitely want to remove the plastic pad first. Hopefully i can do that would busting any of the tabs too.