[dataway]

The pic below shows the studs that are manufactured INTO the Endura bumper core. They are on the end and support what I think are called the bucket stools.

Stud on the right is broken off, stud in the middle is spinning, stud on the left is OK for now. After investigating it appears they are all attached to something like a speed nut strip that is molded into the bumper at the time of manufacture. I can scrap down to metal between the studs so I think it's one strip that holds all three studs.

I'm assuming I'm not the only guy that has run into this problem. Anyone know of a known fix before I start digging in? I could fabricate a new strip and studs and probably get it attached well enough ... but it would be nice to know ahead of time what it's like to remove what is here. I'm not sure if it's welded or attached to the metal core, or just molded in the rubber.

Normally I might try just tacking the middle stud in place and call it good ... but I think the strip backing it up is too thin/rusted to do that. I think it's just a thin gauge strip with flat head studs thread in from the back and tacked. I noticed that the "stool mount" bracket that attaches to these doesn't seem to be available, mine are decent but I'm surprised they are not reproduced.

All ideas welcome ... and ... man is that Endura stuff tough.

[rohrt]

I wonder if you you could center punch/drill the stub out. Can you tell how thick the flat piece is?

I was thinking you might be able to tach weld a new stud in place without having to go crazy on it.

[dataway]

I could probably come up with a solution for the broken stud in some way. Lots of fabrication equipment here ... but I have no clue how thick the flat piece is ... not thick for sure ... think speed nut gauge ... like maybe .060"

[Scott Thelander]

nice to see no one has sanded on your bumper edge yet too hard .......

I have drilled em .. with a smaller drill size than the bolt and put a small self tapping screw/bolt
in ... just dont get it too hot while drilling ...go slow and use a super sharp bit,,,

there is not alot of torque or weight out there for that bracket to hold up...

I have taken bumpers apart that were originally using nuts on the top and bottom and
the middle was left off ....

the W brackets are available thru "ames" 28.00 a pair

left n rights are the same ..... I may have a spare single if you just need one,,,,

hammer the 2 bolt holes flat that the hideaway assembly bolts to .... to shrink the hole size to accept the
aggressive threads of the mounting screws ... as the holes tend to blow out a bit and easily strip on reassembly
from over torquing ..... a drop of blue loctite works good ...

[dataway]

Thanks for the tips Scott.

W brackets seem good ... and I noticed just what you mentioned .. the holes were a bit enlarged and dished ... some quality anvil time should fix them up.

Think a person could drill the bolt out and then use a large diameter pop-rivet to hold on the W bracket?

[dataway]

Got the bumper sand blasted. All the metal anyway.

What exactly does bare Endura material look like? I have gotten down to some medium gray colored, pretty smooth stuff in a few places .... but most of it is still black'ish. (the bumper was painted black). Is that black stuff the paint? If so ... man is it hard to get off. I was worrying about hurting the Endura but it seems almost indestructible. Blasting with black beauty at 100-110 psi does nothing to it.

I took some of the nooks and crannies down to the gray stuff ... going to try sanding the rest, would take another couple hours sand blasting to get the paint off ... don't mind the time ... but it's messy outside work.

[68gtoMN]

Try PaulatFast - he's an endura guru.