Bumpers, as the name might suggest, lead a difficult life. They're the first thing to get hit in most collisions, and they're designed to flex upon impact. This flexing is good when it comes to absorbing impact, but not so much when you're talking about repairs and cracks in the paint. Replacing the bumper on a Stratus is a fairly straightforward procedure, and there's no reason you can't do it in your driveway. Painting the new bumper, however, is a task that you'll likely want to have done by a professional before installing it.
Instructions
- 1
Remove the headlight assembly to access the bumper bolts behind it. Start by popping up the four plastic pins in the top of the bumper cover, under the hood. This will allow the bumper cover to flex a bit so you can get the headlights out. Remove the two, vertical bolts over the headlight housing, and pull slightly outward on the housing. Reach behind the housing, and pull the pin behind it; pull outward on the housing, and unplug the wiring harnesses from the lights in the housing.
2Remove the bumper cover bolts behind the headlight housing, and the screws in the wheel-wells that secure the bumper cover to the quarter panels. Carefully pull the front bumper off the car. If it seems stuck, look around the bottom of the bumper; some models, equipped with the black "lip" under the bumper, may have extra screws securing the bumper to the chassis.
3Install the new bumper in the reverse order of removal. Slide the new bumper on, and install the lower screws, if any. Install the fender screws in the wheel-wells and behind the headlights, and then connect the wiring harnesses to the headlight assemblies. Push the headlight assemblies in place, and install the vertical headlight bolts. Push the vertical pins down into the top-center of the bumper, just behind the grille.
