I have a mild steel frame, beam front end chassis. I had Prowlers swap out the standard beam clamps for a new, fabricated bumper (by Prowlers) with the clamps built in. Does that make sense?

The built in clamps on the new bumper don't line up "perfectly". The shop guy who put it on left some small gaps where the two clamps come together. Thus the bolts holding it aren't theaded all the way through the ny-lock nuts. I think that since these clamps hold the beam in position, basically the ENTIRE front end of the car, that they need to have spot-on alignment. No? Plus he didn't use any washers and I think one bolt is cross threaded. So I need to address that one too.

Can I expect to heat the clamps of the bumper, say with a torch, and then pound them into a better position? Will heat weaken the material or the welds? It's only one clamp that is off about a 3/16" to 1/4", another is off about 1/8". It seems like poor fabrication on the bumper itself.

I could take the entire car back to Prowlers and have them deal with it...but that might prove to be more of a pain in the rear than just taking care of it myself. I have to borrow a trailer, come home, load up, go down there, etc. etc.

Any input appreciated. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.

Anytime you reheat welded material you decrease it's strength by quite a bit. You should weld the beam onto the brackets, or weld tabs on the beam, on either side of the front end brackets to hold it there.

I would suggest calling prowlers, asking them what they want to do, since it's garbage fab work, and have them fix it, making you a new piece. Tell the shop manager he should get some guys who take some pride in their work.

do you mean they dont line up side to side (left to right)?

No...they don't line up FACE TO FACE. They don't fully come together.

I stole this pic from another thread...notice the clamps that hold the beam in place, mine was just like that until I added the bumper which replaces the outer clamps.

Here's another stolen pic, it shows a bumper similar to the one I got...

It's that mating surface where the beam gets sandwiched that I have the gap. Make sense?

Take it back. If you start changing it and anything goes wrong, you're on the hook. You paid for the work to be done, make them do it to your satisfaction, period.

I've been thinking about it, and you're right. It may be a hassle, but it's the best way to get it taken care of.

Yeah I get what you're saying, however I've been told you want a small gap so its under tension. That's how my front end is anyway. If the two clamps can touch each other than how do you know it's tight?

If you are not completely satisfied with the work they did take it back. Like PWR MAD said "If you start changing it and anything goes wrong, you're on the hook." Sure it might be a hassle but the piece of mind will be worth it.

That's a good point as well...I better call Darin at Prowlers and ask before I go through the trouble of taking it back. I'm just bent because they've had it for weeks, I just got it back, and I'm leaving for Pismo in a couple days. The last thing I need is a problem with the front end this weekend. I got enough problems just having a Volkswagen MOTOR!

Maybe you could just drill the holes a LITTLE bigger so they line up...use larger bolts w/washers....and you are done......

They did say that a little gap is what you want, to keep a good clamp on the beam. I had a pretty big gap on one side. Turns out the guy who put it on at the shop completely tightened one side first then the other, so the line-up was off enough to prevent even tightening.

I took it off and re-did it correctly, sequentially tightening the bolts, plus I used grade-8 bolts instead of the grade-3 junk they put on. All is well now.

I'm glad you got it all straightened out. Have fun out there.