Front Bumper Panel Gap

[pwkno]

I took delivery of my Maverick a few weeks ago. The dealership had to remove the front bumper cover to replace the lower black fascia that they damaged by drilling holes for the license plate bracket in the wrong location. I noticed that the gap between the bumper cover and fender on the passenger side of the vehicle is uneven and not flush with the fender where it meets the headlight. I am looking to see if this is normal or could be a result of the bumper cover being reinstalled incorrectly. I did not notice whether it was like this from the factory or not before the bumper cover was removed. I checked the bolts inside the wheel well that hold the bumper cover on to the fender and they are tight. From looking at the way the bumper cover attaches, I do not see any way to adjust it. Definitely something I can live with if it's within spec, but I'm just concerned that something could have been installed incorrectly by the dealership.

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[MLowe05]

Definitely not re-installed correctly - and I am not surprised. Shoddy work by dealerships should be the expectation.

You should be able to correct this with basic tools.

 

[Aherpa]

Definitely not re-installed correctly - and I am not surprised. Shoddy work by dealerships should be the expectation.

You should be able to correct this with basic tools.

I took delivery of my Maverick a few weeks ago. The dealership had to remove the front bumper cover to replace the lower black fascia that they damaged by drilling holes for the license plate bracket in the wrong location. I noticed that the gap between the bumper cover and fender on the passenger side of the vehicle is uneven and not flush with the fender where it meets the headlight. I am looking to see if this is normal or could be a result of the bumper cover being reinstalled incorrectly. I did not notice whether it was like this from the factory or not before the bumper cover was removed. I checked the bolts inside the wheel well that hold the bumper cover on to the fender and they are tight. From looking at the way the bumper cover attaches, I do not see any way to adjust it. Definitely something I can live with if it's within spec, but I'm just concerned that something could have been installed incorrectly by the dealership.

It looks like your dealer should be fixing this because it is definitely not right. . . it sticks out!

Good luck.

 

[Dad]

It looks like your dealer should be fixing this because it is definitely not right. . . it sticks out!

Good luck.

Agree. Shoddy workmanship.

 

[pwkno]

Definitely not re-installed correctly - and I am not surprised. Shoddy work by dealerships should be the expectation.

You should be able to correct this with basic tools.

Any idea how I can adjust it? Here is a picture of the bracket inside the wheel well. The bumper cover is held on by 3 bolts, not by clips like many cars, and there are 3 alignment pins that align the bumper cover bracket and the fender. I could take the whole assembly off and try to reinstall it, but I hate to do that more times than necessary, and I do not trust the dealer to not make it worse.

 

[MLowe05]

You will probably want to remove it completely and reinstall it. Done correctly this should not cause an issue.

 

[Aherpa]

Any idea how I can adjust it? Here is a picture of the bracket inside the wheel well. The bumper cover is held on by 3 bolts, not by clips like many cars, and there are 3 alignment pins that align the bumper cover bracket and the fender. I could take the whole assembly off and try to reinstall it, but I hate to do that more times than necessary, and I do not trust the dealer to not make it worse.

You might just take it back to the dealership and ask them to fix it right. That way, they may treat you a little better in the future. Otherwise, you may just get more of the same. They know how to fix it.

Question;
In the upper left hand quadrant of the picture, is that a weld going around that downward facing tab, or is it glue?

 

[pwkno]

You might just take it back to the dealership and ask them to fix it right. That way, they may treat you a little better in the future. Otherwise, you may just get more of the same. They know how to fix it.

Question;
In the upper left hand quadrant of the picture, is that a weld going around that downward facing tab, or is it glue?

If I’m looking at what I think you’re asking about, it is a weld. Definitely not glue.

 

[Milous]

You will probably want to remove it completely and reinstall it. Done correctly this should not cause an issue.

^^^ Agreed, that's what I would do.

 

[pwkno]

I ended up removing the bumper cover and reinstalling it using the instructions in the service manual. I was careful to make sure all the clips engaged and torqued the bolts to spec, and it looks exactly the same as before I removed the cover. I think that's just how mine is and was probably like that from the factory and I just didn't notice. I think it's not unusual for vehicles in this price range, especially in the first model year, to have some uneven gaps. I'm guessing my passenger side fender is very slightly out of spec, or the molding of the bumper cover is very slightly off. I'm going to stop worrying about it. Certainly not noticeable enough for me to want anyone to try to adjust the fender or replace the bumper cover.

 

[pwkno]

I had some time to examine how the vehicle is put together, and after looking carefully, I am fairly confident that the gap I am seeing is due to slight alignment differences between the driver side and passenger side fenders. Visually, there are some obvious differences in the gaps between different areas where the fender meets another panel on each side of the vehicle.

Driver side bottom of fender:

Passenger side bottom of fender:

Driver side top of fender:

Passenger side top of fender:

Driver side gap between headlight and fender:

Passenger side gap between headlight and fender:

All of these things lead me to believe that the gap I am seeing between the bumper cover and passenger side fender is due to the passenger side fender being installed in such a way that the front edge of the fender where the headlight sits is angled up towards the sky very slightly, resulting in a difference in angle where the bumper cover edge meets the fender edge. It is not clear if this is because of the way the fender was installed at the factory or if it is because the stamping of the sheet metal is slightly off.

Could this be adjusted? From looking at how the fender attaches to the vehicle, it's possible that loosening the bolts would allow for some adjustment, but it is not something I want to do, and not something I want the dealership or a body shop to mess around with since I feel there's a likelihood that that could lead to more issues. In any case, I hope this is helpful if anyone else experiences the same issue.

 

[Hoagus]

Uh oh… not I gotta go look at mine.

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