The Nissan Path

Well, I went a little too far today on a dirt road and went down hard into a hole I didn't expect. The left-rear bumper hit dirt and it's now dislodged off the frame/mounts. The damage looks minimal and the bumper possibly re-mountable. The top front "loop" that a bolt goes thru is busted open. But I'm thinking some strategically placed washers may support it. Then almost right below the lights there is a black twist kind of mount. The hole that the black twist thing goes thru is busted, I don't know what to do with that. But the 3 or so clip mounts between those 2 are in good condition. The only other "mount" damage I can see so far is there's an angled metal rail from the frame going down and forward towards where the mud flap mounts. It's slightly bent which I think I can re-bend. Other than that, all other damage so far looks cosmetic - scratches and some broken plastic on the bottom.

So I'm wondering for those that have done this or have knowledge...any hidden issues with dis-mounting/re-mounting the bumper I should know about?

Or any other things that I may not see so far I should look for?

My insurance deductible is too high to bother. So if this re-mount fails I may just go with some other bumper - metal kind. If I go that route, any suggestions? I don't want the super heavy duty kind - my PF is all stock. Or if someone has a bumper to sell...

Thanks all...

There are a couple of clips directly below each tail lamp. The easiest way to access them is to remove the tail lamps. All the other attachment points should be pretty obvious.

Good to know, going to attempt the re-attach today. And I didn't think about removing the tail light - now I know! Thanks!!

I had a similar thing happen a while back. It was also on the left side. I was showing my wife how to navigate over some burms while being off camber. I did not see the deep hole on the other side of the last burm and my left rear tire fell into it. The back end hit really hard. When we got out to check, we noticed the left side had come loose. I thought my wife was going to sh*t. I managed to pop the tabs back in, but with some of the pieces broken, it would not hold it in all the way. I had to get some moulding adhesive to tack it back into place. It's held for about 5 months and still doing well.

Glad to hear it's working so far! Do you remember what kind (name, type, etc) of adhesive you used?

It was made by 3M. The stuff was like a sticky black tar on a roll and about 3/4" wide. I picked it up from a local paint and body supply.

Awesome, thanks for the info! Off to attempt it now.

Well, I think I got pretty lucky. I bent back the parts that looked bent and attempted a re-mount. The rear "twist" clip made a decent hold. The top screw hole though...still a bit of an issue. I think the bottom bracket that was bent is still too far tweaked to get the best alignment to properly line up the bumper and all mounts. It's called a "Stay - Rear Bumper Side LH", part # 85271-R51001, at Courtesy Nissan for all of $5.99.
http://www.courtesyparts.com/pathfinder ... _6982.html
So I will still need to get the desired washers to get the top screw to hold the bumper cover better and might as well get a new Stay and some touch up paint... But overall, I feel pretty lucky that it wasn't worse.