General Tyre rubbing against plastic back of the bumper

[golemsmate]

My poor cinquecento was in a small crash ages ago and I've only just got round to thinking about fixing the issue. At full lock the nearside front wheel rubs against the black plastic covering (please see the photos)

The black plastic has a groove that fits to the front bumper but it just pops back out if you do it by hand. What would be the best way to try to move it back into the normal position? Ideally I would prefer not to replace the bumper as getting hold of the same colour would be difficult and probably expensive!

Photos attached! I have tried my best to explain it but can provide further information or photos if I haven't

 

[andys cinq]

You need to get underneath and see whats got bent and my money is on the lower arm or tie rod

 

[golemsmate]

Would these be expensive? I'll have to speak nicely to my brother and ask him to take it into the garage. Hopefully it can just be hammered back into position

 

[andys cinq]

ERRR NO as it will never drive properly and just plain dangerous just have to buy new parts tie rod about £20 and lower arm about £35-50 in london depends where u go and afterwards you will need wheel alignment doing otherwise you will be paying out for tyres every few months

 

[simo101]

jack wheel up... take wheel off... get hammer and smash the arch outwards... could have bent the bracket the arch is on.. thats what happened to mine in the smallest crash ever haha

 

[Fiatseicento2002]

Someone once said on here that the front end on a cento is like toffee lol

you just need to bend the front leg forwards they always bend first in accidents

 

[golemsmate]

jack wheel up... take wheel off... get hammer and smash the arch outwards... could have bent the bracket the arch is on.. thats what happened to mine in the smallest crash ever haha

The lady before me had the smallest crash ever, on the other pictures you can't even tell! It's reassuring that it could be pushed back. The fan was rubbing against the radiator but that was simply fixed by bending it back a few cms!

In this crash all the people claimed whiplash too! Would you still need to jack it up to bend the front leg? Would be easier to do if not

 

[Freebo]

youre best jacking it up and giving it a once over. Maybe even take the wheel off and take the lining out (wheel doesnt have to come off but makes it easier) you might see what is bent or what has moved to cause this.

It deffo needs looking at and not forgotten about.

 

[rallycinq]

Can I go back to the begining again, please

With the car on a flat surface, get a piece of chalk and a short length of string with a weight on the end (a nut will do)

Hold your piece of string in the middle of each wheel( that would be the end without the nut)
The nut should be just above the ground.

Once your nut stops swinging, mark its position on the ground.

then measure both the sides and ends of the box you have marked out, and the diagonals.

If everything works out the same, both sides and both diagonals, ignore looking at suspension.

The bumper mounts onto the front panel and there is a metal rod bolted to the inner wing that keeps the bumper at the right distance from the inner wing.

Take the wheel off and take the inner arch liner out.

Its then a matter of checking the bracket and possibly moving it so that the bumper moves out enough to get the plastic inner lined up properly.

If need be, two small holes on the inner lip of the bumper and liner and a small tie wrap to hold it in place.

Cheers

D

 

[golemsmate]

Can I go back to the begining again, please

With the car on a flat surface, get a piece of chalk and a short length of string with a weight on the end (a nut will do)

Hold your piece of string in the middle of each wheel( that would be the end without the nut)
The nut should be just above the ground.

Once your nut stops swinging, mark its position on the ground.

then measure both the sides and ends of the box you have marked out, and the diagonals.

If everything works out the same, both sides and both diagonals, ignore looking at suspension.

The bumper mounts onto the front panel and there is a metal rod bolted to the inner wing that keeps the bumper at the right distance from the inner wing.

Take the wheel off and take the inner arch liner out.

Its then a matter of checking the bracket and possibly moving it so that the bumper moves out enough to get the plastic inner lined up properly.

If need be, two small holes on the inner lip of the bumper and liner and a small tie wrap to hold it in place.

Cheers

D

Many thanks for yours (and everybody else's) useful comments! I will report back when i have a chance to have a look at it!

 

[blu73]

have you looked at this yet? interested in the result..

If the suspension is all square i'd just drop the front bumper off and have a look at the slam panel behind and check there for damage. For the car to still work with only these small issues i would have though this was a slow crash and its just bent slam panel a little and/or the vertical piece of metal the bottom of the bumper is attached to. The small vertical piece is well flimsy, you should be able to just pull that back by hand if thats all thats bent. If the slam panel is bent in a little then you can just tie a piece of strong rope to where its bent and tie t'other end to something solid (like another cars towing eye) and CAREFULLY reverse away and bend it back. This is very Heath Robinson fix but i have used it in the past to realign my headlights after a bump.

Bumper can be taken off without jacking it up or taking wheels off etc but it is far easier if you jack up the front and drop the wheels and inner arches out first. 2 bolts inbetween headlights, 2 bolts each side holding bumper upto the wing, and then there will be a few along the bottom edge of the bumper underneath (always some missing and a different number on every cento i ever taken bumper off tbh but usually at least one under each corner near the wheel arch)

 

[golemsmate]

Hi,

Haven't had a chance yet, I've asked my brother to have a look but he's got another car which needs the whole front replacing, so he hasn't had a chance to look.

I am going on holiday next week so hopefully as it will be sitting on the drive for a week he can have a look . While I've been working 9-8 the car hasn't been sitting still long enough to be looked at