15
Swapping from Bondo to a full urethane system for plastic bumper repairs
I used to just slather filler on cracked bumpers and hope it held for a few months. About two years ago after a nasty come-back on a Subaru in Portland, I switched to a 3M urethane repair kit with the mesh backing. Now my bumper jobs take an extra 20 minutes but I haven't had a single failure. Anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference in long-term durability?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
elizabethmason1mo ago
Yeah I gotta disagree with you a little here. I tried that same 3M kit with the mesh on a Honda Odyssey rear bumper last year and it ended up cracking right at the mesh edge within six months. In my experience the bond between the mesh and the bumper plastic is only as good as your prep work, and if there's any contamination or flex in that spot it'll fail anyway. I still use a regular flexible filler on most jobs because it sands faster and I can reshape the whole thing without worrying about the mesh telegraphing through. Your mileage may vary but for me the extra time didn't pay off on a lot of those Subaru bumpers because they just flex too much for any system to hold forever.
5
west.richard1mo ago
Wait, the mesh cracked right at the edge after six months? That's wild, I never heard of that happening before.
2