Is A Car Bumper Easy To Replace?

You've managed to ding up your bumper pretty badly, and from the looks of it, it would be best to pull off the old bumper and replace it with a new one. You can easily find parts for most vehicles online these days, so it makes it also easy to assume that replacing common autobody parts should be simple. Yet, replacing something like a bumper can actually be a little more complicated than what it may first appear and it is a very important task. It tends to be better to trust this kind of job to an auto body repair service. Here is a look at why that is the case.

The bumper is one of the most important safety features of a vehicle. 

If your vehicle collides with something from either the front or rear end, it is the bumper that takes the force first. Therefore, this one vehicular component is actually one of the most important safety features it has. If the bumper that you install is not built with safety standards in mind or is not installed correctly, it can bring about a lot of damages and dangers that would not otherwise be an issue with a proper install. 

The bumper usually has to be painted to match the vehicle. 

It is not common to find new bumpers for sale that are already the same color as the vehicle. Most of these stock parts will come to you with no finish at all, which means the bumper will have to be painted before it is installed. If you are fine with riding around in a vehicle with a flat grey bumper that hasn't been painted, then installing your own bumper may be no big deal. However, to retain the value of your vehicle and keep it looking good, you are far better off seeking auto body repair services to paint the bumper to match your vehicle. 

The bumper can require special tools and experience to install correctly. 

Bumpers can be fastened in place with an array of different fasteners and brackets, and having the proper tools to do the fastening is a must. If you use too much torque to attach a bumper, you run the risk of damaging it. If you do not tighten the bumper precisely right, you can have unsightly gaps between the bumper and the rest of the car's body. Most average consumers do not have the tools and experience to do this job correctly.