No no no. Im talking about a piece of aluminum or steel, maybe 1.5"-2" in width, and probably about 1' (foot) long, bevel or or grind the edges to about a 45 degree angle for aesthetics, sand it and smooth it, bondo it or do whatever you wanna do to it to prep it, paint it the same color as your truck, put a piece of double sided sticky tape to the back of it, and adhere it to the small skinny portion of the bumper directly above the trailer hitch. this way you have a piece that can be dented and nicked up, taken off and replaced and you can save that high risk spot on your bumper. kind of like the same idea as a door molding dent gaurd. or spears. whatever you want to call it.

 

Meh, sounds like a lot of work for little gain - make sure to take some pictures if you actually go through the trouble. If you hit a plate that is sitting against your bumper hard enough to dent it, then the steel behind is going to be dented too. Also not sure how you are going to bondo and paint chrome.

 

??? bondo and paint Chrome? what i had in mind was getting a piece of aluminum from lowes approx. 1.5 - 2" wide X about 12" long. sand it down smooth, take some bondo or body filler to get a nice smooth surface, like they do when they are restoring a classic car, paint it and stick it in that spot. i would of course bevel and or round the edges to make it look like it belongs. im not just gonna slap a square piece of metal to my bumper. but if you think about it, backing up to a trailer isnt going to be a high speed accident. Its going to be inching your way towards the trailer and if you happen to go too far and tap the bumper, you wont damage a 500 color matched bumper. I have the sport so my bumpers are color matched.

 

do you understand a little better about what im aiming at here? its not going to protect against a fender bender but i will help protect your expensive painted bumper from dings from a trailer tongue. and its not going to be a crappy rough piece of metal just glued to the space there on the bumper. it will be sanded and grinded to give a nice flush fit to the surface of the bumper and give it a nice subtle look to it as well. and if it happens to get scratched and nicked from touching the tongue of the trailer, it can be taken off and repaired or replaced. its a throw away piece that will aid and beefing up that part of the bumper.

 

I understand what you are talking about, to be honest I forgot that they actually sell trucks with painted bumpers. It might protect you from scratches, but if you dent the plate it's also going to dent the bumper underneath the plate. Still seems like a lot of work for little gain, but if you go through the trouble then post some pictures.

It would be a lot easier to use the type of guide that I posted. It will keep you from smacking the bumper and it just pulls off when you are not hooking up the trailer.

http://couplematetrailerparts.com/in...tml?607.html&1

 

its not like i hit my bumper every day with a darn trailer. im pretty fluent at hooking up. but there will be 1 or 2 times when i go slightly past the ball, and touch the bumper. im not going 100 MPH. im more or less designing this protector plate to cover up what my wife has already done, and them prevent any more damage. the bumper itself is pretty thin. BUT when coupled with a 1/4" thick piece of metal butted up to it with some double sided tape in between them, it will strengthen that section of the bumper protecting the bumper from direct pinpoint contact with the tongue. YOU ARE RIGHT that it wont protect against everything, and you know what if i get rear ended, i think ill have a little more to worry about then a small blemish on the bumper of my truck. i tell ya what. im going to go ahead and start on this project. im going to post up pictures of before and after, and during my creation. in the end, it will be an OEM quality add on piece to aid in protection of that specific part of the bumper. it will be almost un noticeable to the eye unless you know what to look for. the edges will be cut at a 45 degree angle and it will curve slightly to follow the shape of the bumper.

 

heres a picture of the bumper now. this piece will more or less coume from underneath the bumper, wrap upward and stop just short of the plastic trim on top of the bumper. it will follow the length of the skinny piece of the bumper and them angle down at a 45 degree angle to meet the surface of the bumper flush. it will be color matched and double sided taped to the bumper.

 

You going to pound that dent out before you cover it up?

 

i honestly didnt know if i should or not. i figured i would just leave it, and cover it up with the protector. that way, i cover up what my wife has already done, protect it from future dings, and sve myself 500$ buying a new bumper. no metal is showing so it will be ok rust wise. and the rounded edges of the bumper havent been changed at all so i think i can cover it totally without problems.

 

i guess i failed to pitch that my idea was for people that ALREADY have a ding and dont want to buy another bumper. this solves both problems. it covers up the dent and prevents future dents. and it could be a cheap add on mod for anyone looking to keep that section of bumper from minor damages.