You can clearly see it in the first pic of Mike's car posted above. So, yeah, you will have the same issue. Especially in the Florida sun. Mine on the 350Z did it during sun exposure but only during the summer time when the temps were really high out. At night it would go back to normal...that is...until...it stayed that way. Out of the blue, one day, the bubble never went back down. I sold it right away.


Yup, that's it. Unmistakable if you know what you are looking for. Hate to see this on a new product, but it's seemingly a byproduct of the material that it is made from. One thing I can't figure though - why does this only happen to Stillen bumpers? Never had the problem with any other urethane bumpers, even OEM.

Hm never noticed that before...hopefully stillen can chime in on why that happens and maybe correct it.

Exactly what I was talking about! Let me know if you need S4 part numbers and I'll look em up...

WHEEL HOUSE LINE PLASTIC PASSENGERS SIDE
Part No.: 8D0-821-172-G
Clair Price: $ 46.38

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHEEL HOUSE LINER PLASTIC DRIVERS SIDE
Part No.: 8D0-821-171-G
Clair Price: $ 46.38


So I guess we really derailed this thread....sorry Stillen.

wow I just noticed this...bummer. Hopefully this is just a fluke on Mikes bumper. Looks kinda deformed under the headlight, can't imagine Stillen wouldn't notice this.

Would the wheel liner vents be malleable enough to mold to the Z's liner?

I like the idea though.

Probably...I wonder if Stillen has any plans on making something for us.

How about simply cutting vents directly onto the stock liner? Might not be the most elegant looking, though.

I wonder why Stillen hasn't commented on this yet. I'm sure they've seen our discussion over the past two days. :dunno:

EDIT - Meh. Nevermind. Quick Google search shows this has been a problem for years...even in the Supra community. I didn't bother to read any of the other threads about the same issue.

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...94&postcount=4

im very disappointed that they
1) dont say anything about it
2) quality on this product seems to be below what i believed it would have been

The bumper should probably be annealed after molding. That should help rid the part of excessive residual stresses that are causing heat induced movement.

This is unfortunate, but that's what forum feedback is for...

I was dead set on this fascia until Stormcrow pointed out the defect in Mike's bumper. This also isn't the first time I have heard of body components from Stillen having issues.

A-nnealing and a-bobbing? That usually helps me maintain rigidity. :D


Hey, don't blame it on me, man! Josh and Kyle probably already have a hit out on me. Don't make it worse. ;)

hahaha

You were right though, it's plain obvious that there is a deflection under that headlight.

Its issues like this that makes a more expensive kit, say Amuse, a lot more appealing. The initial cost is high, but at least you know the residual work to make it fit right is next to none, thus saving you a lot of money (and stress).

Exactly my thought...really wish there was a reasonably priced good looking kit with good quality...hopefully someone can come out with one.

dude Im 100% with you! I was dead set on this bumper until discovering this defect. I googled around and there is plenty of complaints about this from Stillen urethane parts. Guess its the type of urethane they use? Anyways, back to the drawing board. Too bad, bumper looks great sans warping.

I got one, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

good thing you are keeping this on topic RCZ

Are my thread titles jacked up? LOL. Maybe you guys could just continue this in the bumper thread?

Yup. Shumby is right. Shumby I hope you know it makes me laugh now whenever you post something about me or what I'm doing. Let's see...You literally write to me or about me more than anyone else on here and its always an attempt at being mean. You don't have a crush on me do you?? I mean man, I know you don't get any girls out there, but damn.

^^^ you found me out. I have a man crush on you.


http://img175.imageshack.us/i/mancrushmeterda0.jpg

:nutswinger:does this turn you on?

Anyway, you're completely right. This thread has been derailed enough.

:shakes head:

lol RCZ is flirting with me

Those throttle bodies still freak me out.

Hey Guys,

There are actually a couple of things coming into play here.

#1) Mike received a very early fascia (actually Mike's fascia shipped before we even finished ours) because his car was in the body shop and he needed one ASAP. Unfortunately, we found the same thing on our car that we will be changing after we already shipped Mike's fascia out. The main cause of the bubble is actually the mounting points. We developed our fascia using a factory fascia, which also means that we use the factory fascia mounting points. We saw on our car that the mounting flange underneath the headlight does not extend all the way to the end of the headlight. So we end the flange right at the end of the factory flange. We are in the process of fixing the mold right now to add an extra support flange in that area to prevent the part from flexing in that area. Basically there was not enough support in that particular section of the part.

#2) We are also going to analyze our urethane and verify its rigidity. We are concerned that our latest batch of urethane from a relatively new vendor may be too "soft" and is having issues with holding its original shape. We are going to have it sent out for testing and will know soon. Either way, we have notified our suppliers and we will be working to correct this immediately.

In the mean time, no 370Z fascias will ship until this issue has been resolved. The 370Z fascia is the only that we have seen this happen with so we are halting production on these fascias until we can resolve these imperfections.

Major manufacturer's like Nissan, Toyota, and everyone else who utilize "urethane" body components use a material that is substantially harder than our urethane. For example, if you were to drop a factory fascia and our fascia from the same height, chances are that the factory fascia would crack whereas the STILLEN fascia would bend. With that being said, there is a fine line between too soft and too hard.

The bubble or warp in the material is in no way a result of outside temperature. Keep in mind that when the poly-urethane material is injected into the mold it is around 120 degrees. The chemical reaction between the two chemicals skyrockets that temperature to well over 200 degrees. When these parts cure, they are curing at over 200 degrees! It would take a lot more than outside air temperatures to have a significant effect on the material.

I will notify everyone when the molds have been finished and of course will follow up with our results after testing.

On to the supercharger kit:

Everything is going extremely well although we are still waiting for people to send in their ROM's!!! The sooner we get these ROM's in the sooner we can ship kits people!!!

Remember- If you have not sent us your ROM we will not ship you your kit! We need to make sure that we have your tune on file and ready to install in your car before we ship you the kit!!!

P.S.- Sorry Josh and I haven't been on the forum much over the past few days. I've been working on a few projects including 370Z brake cooling, and many others, as well as trying to write the owner's manual for the supercharger. Josh has been buried in a lot of other projects as well including organizing some exciting magazine tests and working on updating some online stuff.

Are they going to be shipped out as one solid bumper, or are they still going to have to glue a piece on the bumper to complete it?

damnit...

We are going to continue shipping them with the corners as seperate pieces. I am trying to work on a program though for people who want us to do the blending process for them.

Do you think that could be whats causing the bends in the bumper?

hope you are replacing Mike's bumper if it is indeed a manufacturer defect.

2

No definitely not. The bends are absolutely caused by the mounting location and the lack of a flange in the original design. Once that is incorporated it will solve the issue. The corner pieces are far enough away that there is no way they would have any relation to this bend.

Thanks Kyle!!! That's what I wanted to hear.

Thanks for the response. But, I have to call shenanigans to the emboldened above. My 350Z Stillen front bumper did the VERY SAME thing as what is pictured in the snapshots of Mike's car. And it seems that Supra guys had the same issue with Stillen bumpers as far back as 2003. Are you saying that the individuals who documented their experience in the past, as well as myself, noting that the issue ABSOLUTELY happened when the Stillen front bumpers were in contact with direct sunlight and warmer temperatures, are all lying? Or was it just that we all had the luxury of having improper mounting points and possible bad urethane from a new vendor but not the luxury of improvement?

It seems you guys deny history and customer experience to save face. Why not just say "Hey, we used an inferior urethane and we are going to make it right" instead of trying to misdirect the community?

I dont want a replacement. That would mean a lot more expense on my part replacing and repainting, and its good enough for the track use I intend for the car. It looks pretty and shiny now, but thats just because its fresh from the body shop. Up close you can see all the chips from the track on the one rear fender that wasn't repainted, and everything else will be that way soon too.

One day when I am ready to sell the car and repaint the front end, I may go back to a Nissan bumper, but although there is a flaw in it and I prefer there wasn't, its really not that bad.

This topic can turn pretty ugly if my friend & I told about our stillen urethane Horror storys! :stirthepot:

Now Show your Friends at Work!

At least that's what I was told before I got fired:tiphat:

This thread is off topic, but damn is it interesting.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/towens.jpg