Rusty Front Bumper After Only 3 Months?

425EXPEDITION · February 15, 2011

Its called thin cheap metal coated with the thinnest cheapest chrome you can get. gm has had bumper rust problems back to 2001 that I know of. I had an 01 with rust on the back bumper but they wouldnt replace it as it wasnt rusted thru. aparently the backs of the bumper are still bare metal not coated with anything. what your seeing in the newer trucks is the top of the bumper where it is hidden by the cap has little to no chrome coating causing the rust to bleed down. I wonder just how bad some of these bumpers look like on the inside ? I have an 09 now and while I dont have rust, but from plowing and light snow bank hits(backing up) the rear bumper have bent in almost hitting the rear quarter panels,The 01 didnt have this problem. Its pretty bad when you can grab the bumper with your hands and bend it. Im not happy with the quality of the 09 compared to my 01 Everything is so cheaply built, I wish I kept my 01 till it was dead and not wasted 10K more than what the 01 cost to buy this truck. Next truck im going to rebuild myself an older 73-87 when trucks were still made to be a truck and not buy an oversized cheaply built car like the trucks built now, its really sad.

p/s Ive owned gm all my life and im old.

2009 GMC SIERRA 2500HD SLE C/C

8' FISHER M/M II

February 15, 2011

It's the governments fault, not GM ..

Trucks need to be lighter to get the 20 MPG mandated by one of our government programs.. by 2020 it will need to be 30 .... say goodbuy to the good ol days !

Its called thin cheap metal coated with the thinnest cheapest chrome you can get. gm has had bumper rust problems back to 2001 that I know of. I had an 01 with rust on the back bumper but they wouldnt replace it as it wasnt rusted thru. aparently the backs of the bumper are still bare metal not coated with anything. what your seeing in the newer trucks is the top of the bumper where it is hidden by the cap has little to no chrome coating causing the rust to bleed down. I wonder just how bad some of these bumpers look like on the inside ? I have an 09 now and while I dont have rust, but from plowing and light snow bank hits(backing up) the rear bumper have bent in almost hitting the rear quarter panels,The 01 didnt have this problem. Its pretty bad when you can grab the bumper with your hands and bend it. Im not happy with the quality of the 09 compared to my 01 Everything is so cheaply built, I wish I kept my 01 till it was dead and not wasted 10K more than what the 01 cost to buy this truck. Next truck im going to rebuild myself an older 73-87 when trucks were still made to be a truck and not buy an oversized cheaply built car like the trucks built now, its really sad.
p/s Ive owned gm all my life and im old.

2009 GMC SIERRA 2500HD SLE C/C

8' FISHER M/M II

jrrod2004 · February 15, 2011

i have a 2010 that i bought last August. I have the same amount of rust as you in the same place under the bumper cap. But it is not original because i hit a deer in october and it had to be replaced. Who should i talk to about the rust? the body shop first?

yep. talk with body shop and see what they say. if insurance covered it, call them as well

pm26 · February 15, 2011

It's the governments fault, not GM ..

Trucks need to be lighter to get the 20 MPG mandated by one of our government programs.. by 2020 it will need to be 30 .... say goodbuy to the good ol days !

Just how is this government's fault? Does the government tell them how to chrome their bumpers and enforce it? If instead of stupid 20 inch wheels, which for a set of 4 are about 50 lbs heavier than 17 inch ones, they used thicker, better sheet metal and better chrome, customers would be a lot more pleased. As it is, stupid fads and gadgets sell, not quality. Even with sticker prices driven to absurd levels.

camaroluver · February 17, 2011

mne was at the dealer today they polished it for me and removed all of the rust for now the dealer told me that it will be covered for the rest of my lifetime sounds good to me

Your lifetime?

as long as i own it it will be covered

Hunter_745 · February 18, 2011

I've had my 2011 Sierra since dec 31. I noticed the rust today on the front bumper. I took it strait to the dealer. Service guy insta orders me a new bumper for the front, and may do the rear and side steps as well as there are issues with them on other trucks, this way i'll not have to come back later when issues arise with them. Great customer service.

snarkee · February 18, 2011

my rear bumper was covered in what i thought was rust....lots of little rust coloured dots......they wiped off with a little polish....they are all over my paint again.....every winter its the same crap

Stevens03 · February 18, 2011

Winters a bitch on cars...

In Pa they put this magnesium on the roads that terrible for chrome.

snarkee · February 18, 2011

Winters a bitch on cars...

In Pa they put this magnesium on the roads that terrible for chrome.

my step bars are covered in a milky glue substance.....must be similar

pm26 · February 18, 2011

I've had my 2011 Sierra since dec 31. I noticed the rust today on the front bumper. I took it strait to the dealer. Service guy insta orders me a new bumper for the front, and may do the rear and side steps as well as there are issues with them on other trucks, this way i'll not have to come back later when issues arise with them. Great customer service.

Yes, and they will bolt on the same crappy parts, which will be rusty in a few months too. Great solution to the problem.

glnisbet · February 18, 2011

I too noticed rust on my front bumper after a year. Had truck at dealership for another issue and had them look at it. They cleaned and coated it with something said if it came back they would replace it. This is a known problem but need to have it documented for future issues. While you’re at it check your spare tire hoist assembly, this is another known problem area that you will not find until you need it.

tricrew · February 18, 2011

Mines rusty after a month and a half. Bodyshop guy looks at it and thinks it's a 2010 truck. Right next to it is one of their 2011 rentals and it's just as bad. It appears that the chrome has scratches in it and then the rust bleeds. We're going to wait before putting a new one on until the stock of the shitty ones is gone.

pm26 · February 19, 2011

The chrome bumpers on my 1967 Ford Thunderbird are not rusty yet. Of course, I only have had the car for about 16 years, but they did not get any worse during that time. A lot better record than three weeks in any case.

Does GM actually think that they will get away with this? What purpose does being cheap like this serve? They will have to replace thousands of bumpers, spend millions of dollars on warranty work and all that was needed was a semi-decent quality part to begin with.

Nobody will chrome bumpers like they did in the 50's, 60's and 70's. We can forget that. But there is still some minimum quality standard to be adhered to. Or is there?

Shatterz · February 19, 2011

For guys you that have rust issues, it would be interesting if you would post up and compare what plant you truck was built at. Perhaps this issue is happening to parts from one plant and not another ?