Rick's Free Auto Repair Advice

GMC Bumper Material and Bumper Repair

GMC Bumper Material and Bumper Repair

Polyurethane (PUR), Reaction Injection Molding (RIM), Reinforced reaction injection molding (RRIM), Thermoset polyurethane — Most common on domestic vehicles. Yellow or grey in color. Bubbles and smokes when you attempt to melt. Thermo-set PUR sands powdery and can be smoothed with a grinder as long as you don’t use high pressure or high speed that causes the plastic to liquefy.

PUR and most thermo-set plastics are repaired by heat fusing and grinding a “V” groove and filling with urethane filler material and structural support (stainless steel screen) to the backside of the cracked material.

Thermoplastic Olefin (TPO), Thermo-Elastic Olefin (TEO)— TPO and TEO are a combination of polypropylene, an elastomer or rubber, and a mineral filler such as calcium carbonate or talc.

TPO bumper material sands in chunks melts like butter with high-speed grinders, feels like wax and gets stringy when hot, so keep this in mind when trying sand or grind a TPO bumper cover.

TPO bumper covers are the most difficult to repair because they contain 3% to 5% wax-based mold release within the material. The embedded wax makes it difficult for filler, adhesive, primer and paint to stick. Body shops prefer to discard a TPO bumper because the repair is so difficult

However, TPO IS repairable as long as you know how to prepare it. You must use a cleaner and adhesion promoter prior to adding any filler material.

Thermoplastic Poly Propylene— PP is semi-flexible, melts & smears when grinding, waxy or greasy feel. Repaired by heat fusing and grinding a “V” groove and filling with polypropylene filler material and structural support (stainless steel screen) to the backside of the cracked material.

Acadia Lower cover ext. (2007-2012) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Acadia w/o Parking Aid Sensors (2007-2012) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Acadia w/Parking Aid Sensors (2007-2012) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Acadia (2007-2012) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Envoy w/denali model (2005-2009) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Envoy Envoy (2002-2009) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Envoy Envoy XUV (2004-2005) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Envoy Envoy; except XUV (2002-2009) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Envoy Envoy; Denali model (2002-2009) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Envoy envoy (1998-2005) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Jimmy Jimmy; SLE/SLT; 2WD (1998-2005) Front Bumper TPE
Jimmy Jimmy; SL/SLS; 2WD (1998-2005) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Safari CL/LT models (1995-2005) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Safari (1995-2005) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Sierra 1500 SLE; w/o fog lamps (2003-2006) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 SLT; w/o fog lamps; textured black (2003-2006) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Sierra 1500 SLE; w/fog lamps (2003-2006) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 C3/Denali (2001-2006) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 HYBRID; w/impact strip; SLT/SLE models (2009-2013) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Sierra 1500 w/impact strip; SLT/SLE models (2007-2013) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Sierra 1500 Classic C3/Denali (2007) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 Classic SLE; w/o fog lamps (2007) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 Classic SLE; w/fog lamps (2007) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sierra 1500 Classic SLT; w/o fog lamps; textured black (2007) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Sonoma 2WD; SL/SLS (1998-2004) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Sonoma 2WD; SLE (1998-2005) Front Bumper TPE
Terrain (2010-2015) Front Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Terrain w/o Object Sensor (2010-2015) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Terrain w/o Dual Exh; w/o Chrome Pkg (2010-2015) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Yukon HYBRID (2009-2011) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon (2007-2014) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon Denali (2000-2006) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon Denali (1999-2000) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon HYBRID; DENALI (2009-2013) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Yukon DENALI (2007-2014) Rear Bumper PP (Polypropylene)
Yukon Denali (2001-2005) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon Denali (1999-2000) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon XL 1500 (2007-2014) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon XL 1500 Denali (2000-2006) Front Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon XL 1500 w/Object Sensor (2007-2014) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)
Yukon XL 1500 w/o object sensor (2007-2014) Rear Bumper TPO or TEO (Thermo Plastic Olefin)

Posted on by Rick Muscoplat



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