Bumper madness, he's mad I tell you, mad!

[Mike W.]

Got the QX4 a couple of years ago now. After close inspection it was apparent it had been in at least a minor front end accident before and I saw it had no bumper! Yes, a bumper cover, but nothing underneath. I figured it was ignored by a body shop taking short cuts. Finally got time, found one in the DIY yard so I set out to harvest it. Donor looked pretty clean in front. After much ado tearing things apart, I found it had nothing under there either! No wonder all I could find on the parts breakdown was a support whose role appeared to be to hold up the plastic bumper cover. Almost thigh high, a little high for a bumper, plus it is just heavy gauge sheet metal, 16 or 18 gauge I'd guess.

So, with what I had on hand I set out to make something. Not a full 5MPH bumper, but something to do a little bit of good, I mean I could push the bumper cover in 4-6" just with a firm push of my foot. And I'm not a big guy nor talking about kicking it. So a 2x4 and some scrap metal later I have a bumper. In retrospect I really should have used a 2x6, but maybe next year.

First pic, what is the purpose of the brackets circled in red. Nice HD brackets, but they attach to nothing! Originally I figured they were what the bumper attached to. After reflection and inspection I would declare them just artwork. Now I've seen worse art, but they weren't doing me any good, just using up .0000001 MPG with added weight.



Next a sample of my handywork. Yes, it could be better, but it only took an afternoon and will be many times stronger than nothing. Well engineered if I may say so, all of the force should go into the round brackets which mount where the useless ones were.



Yes, all this I'm sure is heresy, along with my auxiliary electric fan and BMW door brakes that now keep the doors open on a grade. Oh well.

[Niti QX4]

creative!

[Hawairish]

The circled thing we've just been calling a "crush can". Nothing mounts to it. It's designed to spread apart when struck as far as I can tell.
As for the bumper, the QX4 version is slimmer than the R50 one, but both are relatively flimsy.

[Mike W.]

The circled thing we've just been calling a "crush can". Nothing mounts to it. It's designed to spread apart when struck as far as I can tell.
As for the bumper, the QX4 version is slimmer than the R50 one, but both are relatively flimsy.

Interesting, I had no idea it had even an informal name. One of mine was bend up from a shunt before I bought the car but I couldn't see where it would have done any good.

[PNW CALI]

I’m currently doing this project. Had an animal strike and repairing the passenger side. I was able to find an off road style bumper that you have to weld together, but fits to all the current mounting points. Look up coastal off-road and select the pathfinder high clearance bumper. I’ll post something when I’m finished.

[Mike W.]

Interesting, I hadn't even thought about something like that. A little more than I want to spend on the vacationmobile, but not really unreasonable. And 3/16" steel plate? Might be overkill, but that thing is going to be strong. I might keep an eye out in the yards just in case something similar pops up.

I'm still dumbfounded at a bumper cover with no bumper under it, just a support way up almost to hip level, not bumper level.

[PNW CALI]

Here’s an update on the bumper. Got all the parts, welded them together. Lots of welding sanding and then found great shop to do powder coating. Got a 9K winch b/c why not when harbor freight is making deals. Plus the point of the rig is to handle all terrain for outdoor excursions. All I have left to do is finish some turn signals and flood lights.

Downsides to doing this overhaul, the fog lights and turn signals on the qx4 are wired together and I will need to do some splicing to get those front turn signals going again.

Enjoy!

[Mike W.]

I like it. And that's a good lookin' truck. Appears to be a bit higher than mine, or is it just perspective?

[PNW CALI]

It’s a some lift and a bit of deception.

Lift is by Old Man Emu. Fits all pathy and qx4 models of this gen. I got the stuff springs up front to deal with bumper and the winch. That suspension upgrade is said to give about 1/2” lift, maybe a smidge more.

But... I also took the runner boards off and kept them off which def makes it look much taller.

[AZhitman]

Proper!