280z rear bumper

[MH77280Z]

I was hoping the rear will go in as easy as the front one, but no.

If you see the right bracket on the rear bumper shock is a bit inside vs the left one which is pushed out (may be due to the shock?). What it does is I am not able to align the left bumper rubber guard with the left body bolt. The right one aligns fine.

Is there an easy way to push the left rear bumper shock in a bit? also need to make sure it does not pop out as it will rip the side rubber boot.

Any advise guys?

I know there is not a lot of love for the rear bumper in the Z community but I am keep the stock look.

[Captain Obvious]

I'm not sure I understand the problem... You're saying that the left rear bumper shock is sticking out too far? Significantly farther than the right rear?

[MH77280Z]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

I'm not sure I understand the problem... You're saying that the left rear bumper shock is sticking out too far? Significantly farther than the right rear?

Yes, the body bolt on the side which attaches the rubber boat is about 1in away.

I can compress the shock with my hand but then it bounces back.

Edited March 10 by MH77280Z

[Captain Obvious]

10 hours ago, MH77280Z said:

Yes, the body bolt on the side which attaches the rubber boat is about 1in away.

I can compress the shock with my hand but then it bounces back.

Well that's weird. There should be no way for that thing to change length. There is no adjustment. And I'm surprised that you are able to push it in by hand. The gas shock inside should be stiffer than that.

What is the measurement of the amount sticking out of both of your shocks? I'll compare them to my car. From the outer tube to the bumper mounting flange?

[MH77280Z]

They are pretty close to 3 1/4in both. I think the left one is probably 1/8in more.

The right one I had tried unscrewing the front Philips screw and seems like some air came out. After that it was easy to compress it in. I have not done the same on the left and it is still stiff and cannot be pushed in by hand. But left side aligns fine.

Edited March 10 by MH77280Z

[MH77280Z]

Second issue is the height. The right side has a bigger gap between bumper and bumper filler bar etc. as you see the height difference.

I actually like the idea of getting the original bumper closer to the body.

Cannot figure out what the issue is with left spacing and right side being a bit far out. The right might be due to old shocks but left spring I cannot find an explanation.

[Captain Obvious]

Well that mounting hole misalignment is much more than the 1/8 inch difference between the two shocks, so it's not the shocks.

Maybe the plastic bumper ends shrunk at different rates? Is there a way you can compare the two to see if they are approx the same length?

As for the height, IIRC, the mounting holes are all sloppy like with the purpose of being able to wiggle stuff around before tightening? Have you tried pushing one side all the way down and other side all the way up? Also, you can rotate the bumper shock where the mounting bracket is. Maybe that will help?

And about that little screw in the middle... It's a gas charged monotube shock. And you just let the gas out.

[MH77280Z]

Ok thanks for the tip @Captain Obvious problem solved. I rotated the right shock bracket to be different way than the left one and it came up.

After I did that the left one seems to also align with the body bolt. Strange but it worked.

Edited March 11 by MH77280Z

[MH77280Z]

[MH77280Z]

Love the original look of the front with bumper, rear not too bad either especially with the new mirror chrome!!! 

[Captain Obvious]

I agree. Many people (most everyone?) maligns the 280 bumpers. I think they make a 280 look like a 280.

Glad it was a simple fix for the rear bumper mounting. I don't remember if the mounting flanges on the bumper shocks are symmetric or not, but if moving them around took car of the problem, glad it was something simple.