Light scratches from garage door scuffing rear bumper

[MaverickDragon]

I came across this website for black plastic bumper scratch repair.

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[Tbone91]

Thanks for the info. Do you have any suggestions? I know it's minor, but with all the Maverick owners that enjoy their truck I thought someone has experience this and perhaps have come up with a solution.

Do you think a body shop would be able to buff it out?

I use a Polymeric Shield called Vitreo for an easy on easy off application on my vehicles. Works on painted and plastic surfaces to fill in minor scuffs and give it a nice sheen. Doesn't turn plastic white but use it on a cool surface in the shade and rub off relatively quickly. Might be hard to find, it's been difficult to track down lately. However I would assume that any Polymeric shield would do the trick providing it's a an easy on/off application that doesn't turn plastic white. Try a small spot under the bumper first.

 

[Falcon Bill]

I think we have the wrong source for the scratch...I don't see any way the garage door did that. The tiny, almost unnoticeable scratch is above the receiver. The receiver sticks out about an inch beyond the bumper. If the garage door did the damage to the bumper, the receiver would have been hit, too.

I think any attempt to fill, polish or repair the tiny scratch will only make it more obvious.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Sorry, should have added picture. Thanks

Now that Christmas is put away.
I can get my Maverick in the garage and get a picture of how I figured it lined up.
Yep, I can see where that could happen. I have a standard four panel garage door.
Here's a picture of that hinge and my bumper.

 

[Joe Strummer]

Before entering my garage I put the truck into Reverse. This activates the rear view camera so I can see if I'll clear the garage door.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Before entering my garage I put the truck into Reverse. This activates the rear view camera so I can see if I'll clear the garage door.

Yep

 

[commadorebob]

Alternative proposal: leave it. It's a truck and has character now.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Alternative proposal: leave it. It's a truck and has character now.

I agree. One will never match the rest of the bumper's finish trying to "fix it" which will make it stick out even worse.

 

[gjallen3]

OK, if you are willing to risk it and be very patient, you can try what I did. I had light scratches centered in one area on the plastic trim top on the bed rails. I dunno, birds, squirrels, kids screwing around. Who knows. Putting anything like Armor all or VRP on the light scratches improved it some but would eventually wear off and the scratches became visible again. So I was feeling adventurous and throwing caution to the wind and pulled out my little heat gun. I know I could have probably made it worse but It turned out pretty good. Not perfect, there is a bit of a trade off, but I really like the results better than the scratches, which are not visible at all now. I carefully heated the damaged area constantly moving the heat gun Back and forth. never keeping it one place. Then before cooling, I rubbed the area with a microfiber cloth until the scratches were gone. The trade off is you are literally melting the plastic and since this plastic has a sandy like texture to it, melting that texture will level it some and it will create an area that is free of scratches, but now a little more shine than the rest of the trim. The trick is to not melt too much and try not to level the grain. I'm OK with the shine because it looks better to me, and if you look straight at the damaged area I don't see anything at all. But depending on the lighting, and looking at it horizontally, you can see an area that now looks kind of wet. But scratch free. Lower your expectations. Nothing short of replacing the bumper with a new one will make it look perfect again, and what I did is not perfect but good enough for government work. Be very careful. Don't try to melt everything out and stop before you've gone too far. I have a tendency to think if I just keep going on things I can make it perfect until I screw it up. This time I controlled myself and stopped at the right time. One last thing. If you do go ahead and try this, it's on you. Save your cussing for something else and not at me if it doesn't meet with your approval. It's already damaged. That sucks as it is, but this could make it a little better.

 

[gjallen3]

OK, if you are willing to risk it and be very patient, you can try what I did. I had light scratches centered in one area on the plastic trim top on the bed rails. I dunno, birds, squirrels, kids screwing around. Who knows. Putting anything like Armor all or VRP on the light scratches improved it some but would eventually wear off and the scratches became visible again. So I was feeling adventurous and throwing caution to the wind and pulled out my little heat gun. I know I could have probably made it worse but It turned out pretty good. Not perfect, there is a bit of a trade off, but I really like the results better than the scratches, which are not visible at all now. I carefully heated the damaged area constantly moving the heat gun Back and forth. never keeping it one place. Then before cooling, I rubbed the area with a microfiber cloth until the scratches were gone. The trade off is you are literally melting the plastic and since this plastic has a sandy like texture to it, melting that texture will level it some and it will create an area that is free of scratches, but now a little more shine than the rest of the trim. The trick is to not melt too much and try not to level the grain. I'm OK with the shine because it looks better to me, and if you look straight at the damaged area I don't see anything at all. But depending on the lighting, and looking at it horizontally, you can see an area that now looks kind of wet. But scratch free. Lower your expectations. Nothing short of replacing the bumper with a new one will make it look perfect again, and what I did is not perfect but good enough for government work. Be very careful. Don't try to melt everything out and stop before you've gone too far. I have a tendency to think if I just keep going on things I can make it perfect until I screw it up. This time I controlled myself and stopped at the right time. One last thing. If you do go ahead and try this, it's on you. Save your cussing for something else and not at me if it doesn't meet with your approval. It's already damaged. That sucks as it is, but this could make it a little better.

Pictures added

 

[notfast]

I just remembered that Maxzina makes a bumper step cover. Maybe just cover the damage and be out-of-sight, out-of-mind?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDFZPCMG/?th=1

 

[Wmaverick]

Thank you so much. You came up with the best solution. Getting one now.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I just remembered that Maxzina makes a bumper step cover. Maybe just cover the damage and be out-of-sight, out-of-mind?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FDFZPCMG/?th=1

That's the best solution I've seen.
Thank you for posting.

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