Aluminum bumper absorbers safe on street?
- Thread starter nickrov
- Start date
SFI Cutlass
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2010
If you've ever considered buying a custom built frame for example from Schwartz performance you would not have bumper absorbers either. So why would that matter on a stock frame I would just do it.
VERY good point.
think of it as less or more in terms of protection.common sense should be used here, steel or aluminum. steel has more protection period.dont care where you use the car as one could need the protection on the track or street.
Bumper aborbers did not even come out unitl the 70's and they were designed to keep the damage under a certain dollar amount in a 5mph impact that was mandated by the government. A bumper on a Buick with aluminum supports has more impact protection than any of my pre 73 muscle cars. The bumper and support on a 70 Chevelle is thin and bolts directly to the frame with thin supports. The idea of the 5 mph impact mandates of the 70's was not safety it was to save consumers money in minor parking lot type of incidents.
captndave737
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2006
Years ago I was sitting at a stoplight when I heard tires squeal and I was the 3rd car in a 4 car wreck. All the other cars were towed even though it was a relatively low speed crash. The car in front and in back of me were towed. I had cracked paint on my bumper fillers and that was it. It would be worse now since my rear filler is Spoolfools.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2001
That's not really a true statement. It all depends on how it's designed to fail. The material isn't really relevant on its own.
Modern cars solved the 5mph bumper issue by using plastic fender covers and styrofoam bumper supports. The whole idea, as was mentioned earlier, is to minimize damage from low speed collisions. A 5mph crash should not activate the crumple zones in the unibody or frame. Sure, you wipe out the bumper cover in a small hit, but the important stuff doesn't get bent.
That's what we should strive for.
So what we really actually need is a different kind of lightweight bumper support. The aluminum ones on the market right now are solid tube. Even being aluminum, they'll transmit an impact directly to the mount horns on the frame. What we need is those aluminum supports to have the tubes crimped or sectioned (think a lattice pattern) so they fail in an impact. Sure, the bumper will still hit the fillers, blah blah, but the support should crumple and not transmit the impact to the frame.
If you do hit something at a low speed, sure you're out a bumper, fillers, and new supports. But you don't mess up the mount locations or bend something hard to replace.
They could also be made from plastic, carbon fiber, or fiberglass (I'm looking at you, @SPOOLFOOL2 ) You're welcome for the idea. No ongoing royalties required. Just send me a set and I'll consider it my licensing fee.
This is a decision for you to make because its a game of "what-ifs" (not like you can come back and say anything that would make a difference in case something were to happen anyways...lol)
I decided to keep my absorbers because LITERALLY after I got the car some old lady rear ended me at a red light. The impact was somewhere between 5-10 mph, destroyed the driver side filler and indented the passenger one, and the bumper support cracked the filler neck at the tank, the jolt ripped the front seat brackets off the bolts and got a cut from the door lock know under my arm....lucky for me I was about 2 car lengths from the car in front of me as it took me a second to get my feet back on the pedal. There was no other damage to the car and I feel that if I would of had solid supports it may have tweaked the frame and made the impact a lot worse (shifting the body on the frame or something along those lines...)
To this day I am still contemplating swapping them because they are A LOT lighter and in my Chevelle didn't have any and I survived just fine but I was never rear ended on that car so...yeah...I know it doesn't help much because its one those What-if situations...
I decided to keep my absorbers because LITERALLY after I got the car some old lady rear ended me at a red light. The impact was somewhere between 5-10 mph, destroyed the driver side filler and indented the passenger one, and the bumper support cracked the filler neck at the tank, the jolt ripped the front seat brackets off the bolts and got a cut from the door lock know under my arm....lucky for me I was about 2 car lengths from the car in front of me as it took me a second to get my feet back on the pedal. There was no other damage to the car and I feel that if I would of had solid supports it may have tweaked the frame and made the impact a lot worse (shifting the body on the frame or something along those lines...)
To this day I am still contemplating swapping them because they are A LOT lighter and in my Chevelle didn't have any and I survived just fine but I was never rear ended on that car so...yeah...I know it doesn't help much because its one those What-if situations...
- Joined
- May 28, 2001
It is on a turbo buick.the steel is stronger than the aluminum
I would like to see something lighter and safer on these cars.
SFI Cutlass
Active Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2010
Wonder if would be a good idea to drill holes in the aluminum tubing? So if you are ever in a wreck, it’ll crush and absorb the impact and not transfer it further back in the vehicle.
I believe the aluminum may fatigue and shear faster, the bumper particularly with the steel inner support is REALLY heavy.
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2001
Simply drilling holes probably won't be adequate. A tube with holes in it is almost as strong as a tube without holes if the holes are round. They need to be shaped so that when force is applied it deforms in a deliberate and intentional direction. Notching or crimping would be more likely to work than drilling.
