Over the years, my flaps have all been yanked on, or trapped against something. Now I remove them when it gets serious. But the left rear has been pulled off a couple times and the last time it broke the little fiberglass ear that the rearmost uppermost screw goes into right next to the rear bumper chrome trim. Turns out this one gets a lot of stress.
I fixed it years ago by epoxying the ear back on, but this winter She Whom Is To Be Obeyed backed into an icy snowbank and tore it off again - losing the ear and screw in the process. So today I repaired it with some fiberglass.
Get a fiberglas repair kit from any auto parts store. Or all you need is about a foot square of fiberglas cloth and the resin. Remove the flap. Pull the forward tip of the bumper away from the body enough to clear the little bracket it rests on, then push the bumper downwards so that bracket now holds the bumper down and out of your way. Mask it off as you'll be dripping on it.
Lightly sand the surrounding area - I only went a half inch from the work area - front and back which totals about a square inch of actual sanding. Cut little squares of the cloth to size (about an inch and a quarter square, dip them in the resin and just make several layers hanging down from the spot where the ear was so when it hardens you just drill through the fiberglass ear/tab you've made and put the screw back in it. With fiberglass, it's best to simply keep laying layers wet vs drying each layer. You get the strongest bond. I put on 3 layers in about 3 minutes. Wear gloves. Keep air out of it by saturating the cloth.
90 minutes later, sand the irregularities, brush some paint on it (if desired - I didn't as it's hidden) and drill a new hole. Slap the flap back on with the proper decorative black screw from Cdan you ordered in advance.
It took me 15 minutes of work besides the 90 minute cure time and the flap's back on tightly. No pictures :-( but it's so simple if you need them then this is above your ability. I rate it 2 bananas because you have to drill a hole.
DougM
I fixed it years ago by epoxying the ear back on, but this winter She Whom Is To Be Obeyed backed into an icy snowbank and tore it off again - losing the ear and screw in the process. So today I repaired it with some fiberglass.
Get a fiberglas repair kit from any auto parts store. Or all you need is about a foot square of fiberglas cloth and the resin. Remove the flap. Pull the forward tip of the bumper away from the body enough to clear the little bracket it rests on, then push the bumper downwards so that bracket now holds the bumper down and out of your way. Mask it off as you'll be dripping on it.
Lightly sand the surrounding area - I only went a half inch from the work area - front and back which totals about a square inch of actual sanding. Cut little squares of the cloth to size (about an inch and a quarter square, dip them in the resin and just make several layers hanging down from the spot where the ear was so when it hardens you just drill through the fiberglass ear/tab you've made and put the screw back in it. With fiberglass, it's best to simply keep laying layers wet vs drying each layer. You get the strongest bond. I put on 3 layers in about 3 minutes. Wear gloves. Keep air out of it by saturating the cloth.
90 minutes later, sand the irregularities, brush some paint on it (if desired - I didn't as it's hidden) and drill a new hole. Slap the flap back on with the proper decorative black screw from Cdan you ordered in advance.
It took me 15 minutes of work besides the 90 minute cure time and the flap's back on tightly. No pictures :-( but it's so simple if you need them then this is above your ability. I rate it 2 bananas because you have to drill a hole.
DougM
