Have you recently bumped a curb with your vehicle while parallel parking and now notice there’s a bit of a gap between your bumper and your hood?

Or maybe you just got your vehicle back from being detailed and spot a bit of a gap between the bumper and the body panels or the trunk.

Maybe you’re putting on a new body kit to change the way your vehicle looks but you can’t close the bumper gap the way quite the same way as the OEM fit and finish.

At the end of the day, there could be an almost unlimited amount of reasons you’re dealing with a bumper gap in the first place. The trick is figuring out the root cause of this troublesome issue and then resolving it ASAP.

What is Bumper Gap?

First of all, every single vehicle that’s ever rolled off of an assembly line with a bumper has a small gap between the bumper and other body panels on the vehicle.

These bumpers are separate components, and while they are tightly fit and snuggly assembled up against the rest of your body panels there’s always going to be a slight line and a clear delineation between each component.

That’s not what we are talking about, though.

It’s almost impossible to fix those gaps without going to extreme measures.

And, truth be told, it’s not even worth closing those gaps as they exist for a reason (something you’ll find out firsthand if you’re ever in a collision).

No, when we are talking about fixing a bumper gap issue we are talking about a gap that’s far wider than the width of a coin.

We are talking about gaps that are obvious, gaps that are annoying, and gaps that are usually signs and symptoms of something wrong beneath that bumper.

What Causes Bumper Gapping?

Broken Clips

One of the most common reasons a bumper is starting to gap up is because of broken clips under the bumper, clips that hold the bumper in place to the other body panels or to the frame itself.

These clips are usually pretty robust and almost always overengineered, but they are also made (most of the time) out of high density polymers or plastics.

Like anything else plastic they are subject to wear and tear, extreme temperature swings, and sometimes they just manufactured with the same kind of tolerances that more precision materials demand.

If the clips under your bumper have started to pop the chances are pretty good you’re going to see some gapping up occur.

Broken Tabs

Of course, maybe you’re not dealing with clips that have become compromised at all and instead are dealing with broken tabs that those clips are supposed to connect with!

These tabs are usually plastic parts that have been welded directly onto the bumper, tabs that protrude out just enough to catch the body of your vehicle – or the clips on the body of your vehicle, anyway.

If these tabs start to degrade, breakdown, or pop off the clips aren’t going to have anything to grab hold of. That’s going to cause your bumper to sag (pretty noticeably), even if only one or two of these tabs start to come apart.

Broken Bolts

Every now and again bolts are used to lock your bumper into place, and if these become compromised (it generally happens in areas with a lot of salt on the roads in the winter) your bumper isn’t just going to gap up – it’s probably going to fall off pretty soon.

After all, bumper bolts are used when the bumper material is too heavy or too unwieldy for traditional clips and tabs alone to keep it locked in place.

When these bolts start to come loose (or are ripped out of position upon impact with another vehicle, a curb, a rock or pothole, etc.) you’re going to need to replace them right away.

Is a Bumper Gap Problematic?

The chances are pretty good that you’ve noticed your bumper gapping up because something looked a little “off” with your vehicle – but is this just a cosmetic problem that can be ignored or is it something that should be taken care of as soon as possible?

Well, that sort of depends on what kind of bumper you have and what kind of issue is causing the problem to begin with.

If you have an aftermarket “bumper” that’s really more like a fiberglass body kit attached you’re really dealing with a cosmetic problem more than anything outs. You want to fix things pretty quickly (since aftermarket kits are expensive), but this isn’t quite the safety problem it could have been otherwise.

If, though, you’re dealing with an OEM bumper gap problem and you think that your bumper runs the risk of falling off you need to address the issue right now.

Your bumper, after all, is one of your first lines of defense in the event of a collision. Bumpers are designed to absorb contact, move it away from passengers, and protect you – even if it doesn’t look like it could be that important at first glance.

The last thing you want to do is ignore a bumper gap issue just because you believe it to be a purely cosmetic problem, only to discover after a collision just how wrong you were.

How to Fix Bumper Gap

Most of the time, bumper gap issues can be resolved just by snapping the clips back into their tabs, adjusting bolts back into place, replacing clips, tabs, and bolts as necessary.

Sometimes, though, the reason your bumper gap exists in the first place is because your bumper is becoming compromised.

In those situations you’re going to need to order a new one (ideally one that’s already color matched to the paint of your vehicle) and then remove and replace the old one.

This kind of project is generally pretty simple and straightforward and can be tackled without a lot of headache. The bumper itself is going to be a little pricey (regardless of whether you go OEM or aftermarket), but the actual work in getting your bumper off in the new one on isn’t all that challenging.