Stainless Steel Bumpers on TR's

[ike551]

A consideration for those of you who have or have not considered Stainless Steel bumpers

 

I am in the unfortunate position of having to replace the rear bumper on my TR4 , I only need the blade as it was flattened by my car rolling down my drive across the road mounting the pavement and stopping embedded into the wall opposite

After the first time this happened ( this being the second ) I replaced my complete set of bumpers and overiders with Stainless Steel items bought from e bay because it seemed cost effective to do so and the product looked good

However after trying to get a rear bumper blade only I am told that the cost is 65% of the total set , a mear £430 inc shipping inc overiders , after suggesting I only need the blade and not the overiders I was told I could have a £20 reduction , £410 for the blade only

After my stinking reply by e mail the sales Manager has now intervened in my quest and has offered 55% of the total cost inc overiders as they need to be fitted individually to ensure they fit which comes to £365

( better ) but still an amount

In kicking myself and beating myself up because of my demise I noticed in the cold light of day that the Stainless Steel Bumper that was fitted to my Tr4 at the time of impact with the wall is flattened exactly with the wall width between the overiders and all that saved the complete car was the spare wheel

NB - Please do not answer that nothing will stand in the way of an impact with a brick wall

My question to you guys is this - what strength do these Stainless Steel bumpers have in protection terms, compared to the Standard Triumph OE items , The car is due back today from the repairers and I will post the Stainless Steel bumper if I can retrieve it but I can tell you the point of impact is like a flat piece of sheet steel almost like it had never been in the shape of a bumper blade

 

I include my name for all the micky taking coming my way , all jokes on a £50 note please , I will now make a super new extra to stop this happening again, a huge sign saying

 

"Leave car parked in gear " Stuck to my dashboard

 

Regards

 

Howard Pryor

[Deggers]

After the first time this happened ( this being the second ) I replaced my bumpers ... because it seemed cost effective

 

Might be more "cost effective" to fix the handbrake.

 

Cheers, Deggers

[KOB]

If the stainless was the same thickness as the OEM the stainless would be stronger, but it probably is fag paper thick so is not so

[dpb]

you are not alone, I managed to reverse mine into my xk8 (although I was trying to stop it). No damage to the tr4, plenty to the Jaguar.

[Tom Boyd]

Give TR Shop a call, they have stainless ones on the shelf.

 

Have a set here and they are very good!!

 

No connection with them btw

 

Tom

[TR 2100]

I suspect the initial discount offered reflects the basic cost of

manufacture.

 

I think it would be more cost effective to buy a complete set

then sell off the overriders.

Plenty of people ding their overriders, leaving the main blade

undamaged.

The usual request - Dont ask me how I know!

 

AlanR

[Alec Pringle]

The stainless bumpers I've seen are of a reasonable enough thickness, certainly not in the fag paper category. Decent product.

 

Uncle Stan Part's finest TR bumpers weren't exactly up to that much in the first place, they bent easily enough under duress, let alone impact. Ask me how I know. At least they can be straightened with shaped hardwood, a big vice and a 2lb hammer.

 

Hardly Coventry's finest, at least not compared to the REME Armoured constructions either end of my Super Snipe . . . . 20 years ago a newish BMW 5 series wrote itself off against the back of the Snipe, total loss. I did have to straighten out the bumper mounts a tad, but didn't lose any light lenses. That's what you call a bumper, and over riders with attitude.

 

Cheers

 

Alec

[Don H.]

Alec -- I agree -- stainless bumpers can be a pretty decent product.

 

I have Harrington stainless steel bumpers on my TR3B. Made by a Mister Geppetto in Vietnam to a pretty good standard for handwork. The profile of the front bumper ends is a little different. The overriders front and rear are more "square" ended than the originals. Truly, not something one notices from six feet away, and even closer ya gotta look.

 

They fit up perfectly. Literally could not have been better. Metal thickness is approx 1.8 mm, about the same as my original bumpers. The folks at Harrington gave this info prior to my purchase: "The native thickness of the stainless steel we use is 2mm, the thickest gauge possible for enabling the pressing and forming of the bumpers in very high grade stainless steel. After pressing, the bumper is around 1.5 - 1.8mm thick."

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2014 by Don H.

[Lebro]

I have stainless all round on my 3 bought from the TR shop.

They seem very well made, & strong.

Would highly recommend

Edited April 3, 2014 by Lebro

[ike551]

I would agree with all you guys that the Stainless Steel Bumpers that are available SEEM to be a good product - visually , I challenge the Strength factor as mine seemed to fold up with a knock, and as they are Stainless they cannot be put back into shape , so once they are damaged , they are damaged and need to be replaced

All of you seem also to have missed the point of replacement unless you think it reasonable that a replacement rear bumper blade can cost £430 ,it will be the same cost if you want just one overider that is why I am saying - think on

 

I am feeling very stupid at the moment - but not stupid enough not to have not rebuilt the handbrake as my first job , having said that 'fly off' handbrakes disappeared many years ago , probably for the reason they fly off when you don't want them to , not many people in garages will know how to use them and I always say " its a fly off handbrake " as the returning stare says I can drive any car mate and then see them struggle and ask how to do it . But of course the damage is done more strain on the teeth maybe a chipped or rounded dog which you will not find out till something like this happens . I cannot change the handbrake every week , maybe I should change it every season though

 

more time fixing , less time driving - Ce la Vie

[Nigel Triumph]

I have Harrington stainless bumpers on my 6. They are well made, decent thickness as mentioned above and look great. One point worth considering... When seen beside chrome, the polished stainless surface has a very slightly yellow hue whereas by contrast the original chrome has a slightly blue appearance.

 

This is not noticeable when stainless is seen on its own but personally, I wouldn't mix a stainless bumper with chrome overriders as the difference in hue will be visible. My suggestion would be to bite the bullet and change the whole lot.

 

 

Nigel

[Lebro]

I share the concern about fly off handbrakes.

Mine did so by it's self once back in the 70's, but I got away with it thanks to the very quick reactions

of myself, & my friend (also a TR owner) who, on hearing the "CLONK" recognised the sound, & ran towards the car,

which was heading backwards towards a drop of around 20 ft. We got to it in time, and managed to stop it. Whew !

 

When re-building last year I made sure all the ratchet parts were in good condition, & it seems sound,

but I am still uneasy about leaving it on a slope incline. I have never been in the habit of leaving a car in gear,

in case I forget to check before starting, but I do have a cunning plan:

 

1) Get myself used to leaving the car in reverse gear when parking up.

2) As my T2K gearbox has a switch for reversing lights fitted to it, I could use that switch (via a relay) to isolate the starter circuit if in gear.

 

Haven't done it yet, but, watch this space.

 

Bob.

[Alec Pringle]

Hi Howard,

 

if it's any consolation, the original TR mild steel bumpers were of pretty modest protection value at best . . . . . I say that having had the rear of a 5 and a 6 flattened by impact at different times long ago.

 

The 5 rear bumper was flattened by a London taxi as if it were made of cardboard - taxi bumper was hardly damaged in comparison. No contest.

 

The TR6 bumper fared a little better against a rogering by a Brighton double decker bus, but its performance still wasn't impressive. Not compared to the 122S Volvo I also had at the time, now that did have proper bumpers.

 

TR bumpers are helpful in the event of a gentle parking nudge. They won't withstand impact. Crushable structure . . . .

 

As for the cost element - cost of shipping halfway round the world won't be cheap, given the length, so it's probably little more to ship two bumpers than one - maybe 20% more ?

 

If you've finished up with an offer of 55% of the cost of a pair for the rear bumper and over riders, then you've done jolly well the way I see it.

 

Handmade products like this, any real damage is always going to require replacement of the whole assembly, not one component thereof . . . . . unless it's possible to return the whole assembly to the maker for a skilled man to make a matching component. Even then, if for example over riders are made second to fit the bumper blade which was made first, it may not be so easy to reverse normal procedure and make a blade to fit over riders. Possible of course, but potentially more costly.

 

You forgot to put the car in gear as well as applying the handbrake . . . . well haven't we all done something equally daft on at least three occasions ? Let him who is without sin etc etc . . . . I'll get to the back of the queue, I can think of too many daft errors !!!

 

Cheers

 

Alec

[Davidw]

The leave in gear thing is perhaps an older generation thing.. My father insisted on it - presumably having grown up with hand brake mechanisms made of mazak tied to cables with the strength of cotton. I still do it and if I use my son in law's van I get roundly cursed for doing so.

 

But it's only since I had a TR that I don't depress the clutch before starting - with predictably hilarious consequences on occasion.

[Ian Vincent]

Many years ago I made a habit of depressing the clutch when starting to reduce drag on the starter motor. This was in the days when starting the car in the morning was an act of faith. The habit has stuck with me ever since.

 

Rgds Ian

[Davidw]

Interesting, Ian. I was ticked off by a specialist for doing that in a TR6 because of the pressure on the thrust washers.