CANNOT get the bumper cover to release from tab bracket!!!!
03-18-2019, 05:33 PM
#21
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Whelp - there it is. You made my decision for me on bulb replacement, Z06 grill, brake ducts. 1-shot, 3-kills. I watched the videos and I completely understand your frustration. Don't want to pull too hard think they'll break.
Curious, your replaced the OEMs with what?
03-18-2019, 05:36 PM
#22
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
OP... what ended up getting it free? I tried all the tricks and the how-tos on there said just pull hard, you'll feel like it's going to break, but it will release. Nope... snapped the tab right off mine. Admittedly my garage was 45-50 degrees. I was able to fix the bumper and weld the tab back on and you'd never know. I have worked on many cars and had 4 C5s before the C7. I have build race cars and show cars. I'm not a novice to working on these cars, but I HATE the front bumper design. Some peoples' just pop loose, On mine, the bumper tabs had developed a hard edge which effectively locked onto the metal bracket that bolts to the fender.
I now own the service manuals and it states to use a nylon wedge to "create space" in the joint... but doing that just makes the metal bracket grip tighter. Then use a "suitable flatblade" to release the tab. The video of the yellow car often shows just pulling on it is not the OEM-recommended way.
I now own the service manuals and it states to use a nylon wedge to "create space" in the joint... but doing that just makes the metal bracket grip tighter. Then use a "suitable flatblade" to release the tab. The video of the yellow car often shows just pulling on it is not the OEM-recommended way.
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ImpliedConsent (03-18-2019)
03-18-2019, 05:38 PM
#23
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
03-18-2019, 05:42 PM
#24
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
In conclusion, I've noticed all of the YouTube videos I could find online for instruction made it seem like it was no big deal. This is not true. It's a big job and took me five hours to do it right. I will say, the one thing that will save you a lot of time and stress is to go on ahead and just loosen up the headlight bracket bolts. That way you don't put any stress on the bumper cover tabs and risk breaking them or breaking paint like so many have experienced. Just loosen the brackets with a swivel and the bumper cover comes right off. Then when you go to reinstall, leave the brackets loose, put the bumper cover back down into the tab position, push the bumper cover up 45° and then you can get your swivel socket in to retighten the bracket bolts. Trust me. Don't Yank on the bumper cover at the tabs like people are telling you to do! The bracket has to be loose.
03-18-2019, 05:47 PM
#25
Melting Slicks
What a terrible engineering design by GM for bulb replacement.
03-19-2019, 09:44 AM
#27
I loosened the brackets after I broke the tab on one side... the other side still fought me to no end... like I said, somehow I got a fascia with tabs that had very hard/sharp edges on the holes the bracket tangs go it. It would not release.
As for GM engineering... the entire C7 is engineered to to be assembled as quickly/efficiently as possible on the assembly line the first time. Less parts, less tools, less steps. The bumpers and trim just snap on. Great for assembly, horrible for working on the car. I'm a broken record, but I've had 4 C5s and those cars were all held together with 10mm nuts on stud plates and torx screws. Very easy to take the bumpers on/off hundreds of times and easy to get them perfectly aligned then tighten things down.
On the C7 you have to get the outer front bumper brackets tight, before you install the bumper. Then if that outer seam is off (and it's off on many C7s) you have to then yank the bumper loose again wearing out the holes and plastic brackets a little more.
If you remove the plastic trim under the hood that covers the headlight adjusters, you can see the back side of one of the bolts that holds the stud plates to the fender. It would have been simple for GM to make that bracket attach to the bumper and then to the fender with nuts/bolts. But.... during assembly that would be one more bin of nuts, one more step for an assembly line worker.
Now that mine is my trackday car I'm re-doing the front bumper brackets to make them bolt on... it will be simple to position bumper then secure with nuts from the back-side accessed under hood. Outer part will still be "pull apart" but those are plastic brackets and less likely to damage the fascia.
As for GM engineering... the entire C7 is engineered to to be assembled as quickly/efficiently as possible on the assembly line the first time. Less parts, less tools, less steps. The bumpers and trim just snap on. Great for assembly, horrible for working on the car. I'm a broken record, but I've had 4 C5s and those cars were all held together with 10mm nuts on stud plates and torx screws. Very easy to take the bumpers on/off hundreds of times and easy to get them perfectly aligned then tighten things down.
On the C7 you have to get the outer front bumper brackets tight, before you install the bumper. Then if that outer seam is off (and it's off on many C7s) you have to then yank the bumper loose again wearing out the holes and plastic brackets a little more.
If you remove the plastic trim under the hood that covers the headlight adjusters, you can see the back side of one of the bolts that holds the stud plates to the fender. It would have been simple for GM to make that bracket attach to the bumper and then to the fender with nuts/bolts. But.... during assembly that would be one more bin of nuts, one more step for an assembly line worker.
Now that mine is my trackday car I'm re-doing the front bumper brackets to make them bolt on... it will be simple to position bumper then secure with nuts from the back-side accessed under hood. Outer part will still be "pull apart" but those are plastic brackets and less likely to damage the fascia.
03-19-2019, 11:12 AM
#29
They aren't... and it's a shame given how easy the C5/6 are to work on. There's no reason they couldn't have designed some kind of bulb access panel in the wheel well.
03-19-2019, 11:52 AM
#31
Melting Slicks
We all know the service dept. is the bread & butter of any dealership, so that's who GM (& others) is naturally going to cater to when they design their vehicles.