3D Printed Bumper Risers | Purchasing Thread

[Kai Hefner]

Hey all,

I've been making 3D printed products for myself for a few months now, and I figured I would offer some of them to the DSM community!

For people who delete their front crash bar, we lose the styrofoam that is supporting the bumper. Personally, I had to delete the front crash bar to make room for an FMIC. This leads to the bumper sagging under the headlights. Before I created the 3D printed bumper riser, I could fit an entire finger inbetween the bottom of my headlight, and my bumper. Now the gap is ~1-2mm.
Before:

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After:

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I created a part that slides into the frame rail, and holds up the bumper. This part is secured by one M10x1.5 bolt that threads into the back of the part from under the frame rail. However, my Talon has an aftermarket bumper. So i tried the solution on my eclipse. I forgot to get a before picture, but here is the part mounted, and the outcome on the 2gb bumper (quick note: there are no bolts holding in the bumper in the picture. the bumper flaring out has nothing to do with the riser itself).

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The benefits of this solution:
1. This piece is designed to be flexible. It is designed to have tension upwards towards the headlight, in order to pull the bumper gap closer. It may take from getting used to, getting the bumper on and off. I have to slightly push/pull the risers down when putting on my bumper.
2. No corrosion. The part is made from PLA (plastic, tougher than you might think).
3. Adaptability. This part is created using 100% infill, which means you can grind it, drill into it, do whatever you need to fit your particular setup.
4. Slight adjust-ability. This part is mounted ontop of a bolt-slider hole, which means it can move slighty forwards or backwards.
5. Weight. To be honest I'm not sure how much this part weighs compared to it's metal counterpart, however, both risers and hardware weigh less than 1 lb. I will hopefully be doing measurements in grams soon.
6. Color options. I will be offering 3 color options for the bumper riser. If you want a particular vibrant color, let me know and I'll see if I can make it happen.

Speaking of colors:

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They will be offered in black/grey/white.

The price for a pair of the bumper risers + hardware will be $60 USD shipped in NA. That is, the pair of risers, the two 3D printed washers, and the two M10x1.5 bolts. Let me know if you're interested and for what color.

 

[bettfootball]

Damn.. These are badass. I would snag them if I didn't use my crash bar to mount my FMIC. Awesome product!

 

[AgntorangeDSM]

i'm in for a Black set please

 

[Jerzm3]

Im in for a black and a gray set

 

[rabenne]

PLA will get soft when it gets warm, and it will sag. You might have a chance with ABS or Nylon, but a hot day is still likely to cause those to sag.

These shouldn't be exposed to 120degF working temperature, or they will deform under their own weight.

As long as you are from a location where it doesn't get up to 80-100F, you might be okay (assuming no radiant heat from engine bay).

 

[rabenne]

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Shot this on a 95deg day - almanac said it reached 102.9deg F that day.

 

[Kai Hefner]

PLA will get soft when it gets warm, and it will sag. You might have a chance with ABS or Nylon, but a hot day is still likely to cause those to sag.

These shouldn't be exposed to 120degF working temperature, or they will deform under their own weight.

As long as you are from a location where it doesn't get up to 80-100F, you might be okay (assuming no radiant heat from engine bay).

I don’t agree. I have printers that push this stuff out at 215degC and still can’t even get it to melt enough. Also, the extruding heat difference between ABS and PLA is like 15degC. Here are some things I’ve seen:
1. I have PLA brackets in my engine bay holding up my catch can and brake fluid reservoir. I’ve had no issues with these deforming, and engine bay temps get a lot hotter than 80degF.
2. Deformation like sagging can be designed around, I.e. large chamfered angles connecting structural pieces.

Edit: Also, these pieces are SOLIDIFIED on a bed that is constantly at 60degC. It can handle the heat, I wouldn't recommend you put them in an oven though.

 

[rabenne]

Extruding temp is not the temperature you should be worried about. I am sorry to rain on the parade, but you are plain wrong about this.

Downloading some of the technical data sheets from various filaments will give you for PLA:
"Not suitable for long term outdoor usage or applications where the printed part is exposed to temperatures higher than 50 °C (122 °F)."

But if you want to promise your potential customers that these wont sag, that is between you and them!

 

[rabenne]

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[95REGF150]

I gotta say I agree with @rabenne I started using some 3D printed parts in some products we sell at work that see sunlight. Went with PLA at first because I could get a better print quality out of the printer. Fast forward a few years. Parts that had no load on them were fine. However on parts that had any load on them and exposure to heat they would start to droop or sway in the direction of load.

Switched to ABS filament instead and it solved the issue.

 

[Kai Hefner]

I'll check on exactly what PLA we are using, and get the technical data sheet for it. I might even throw a pair of these guys in our oven (if they fit) and see if they sag. I haven't had any issues with making PLA brackets in my engine bay (we all know how hot it gets in there), given that these are mounted further out I see no issue either. I have a strong doubt that in any NA climate that the temperature of the entire bracket will reach 60degC and begin to sag, however I'm willing to test it.

I'm also utilizing my own product. I made these for myself, will be using them, and just want to offer them to people who also would like to use them. It's not like I'm trying to sell something that doesn't work.

I'll look into using ABS instead if PLA is not cutting it.

 

[rabenne]

Good deal. It sounds like it is certainly a viable idea! I would love to have some, and considered making mine from aluminum.

I know you dont think it gets hot enough to matter, but it often does reach well over those temps under the hood and even on the painted exterior of the car. I have photos showing 154degs on a truck fender with an IR thermometer.

If you are able to come up with proof they work, and wont sag in normal operating temperatures, you can put me down for a set. I think using a CF impregnated PETG might work... I had good results from cf petg on a computer enclosure that lives inside my dash, although the bottom surface of the "box" sagged a bit.

 

[Kai Hefner]

So I threw one of the risers in our vacuum drying oven. I just didn't turn the vacuum part on. The good thing about this oven is that the temperature climbs really slow, which means the heat is given time to soak into/throughout the part. We can be decently certain that if the oven is reading 50degC, that the part is heat-soaked at 50degC. That timer-looking-thing on the left is the temperature in Celsius inside of the oven. Yes, I had to open the door for pictures, the temperature just drops a bit and has to climb up again for the next step. I set the temp. for each step to be 1 deg higher, i.e. for 50 deg I set it to 51 and then when the door opens the temp goes down a bit.

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Next step was 60degC:

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Next step was 70degC:

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70degC is where we started to see slight deformation of the part. The "wings" were bending upwards, not sagging downwards. The main body itself did not deform.
The important thing to note is that these parts were heat soaked. It is okay for the surface of the part to hit 50-60degC. Yes PLA doesn't have the highest resistance to heat, but the bracket assisting in holding up your front bumper will never completely reach even 50degC. It makes sense that the surface of a black bumper might reach that temperature but it will not be enough to soak through the bumper, and through the entire bumper riser for it to deform in a way that will make it less effective.

 

[rabenne]

Good to see you are doing some testing. Now do the same thing with a little bit of weight on the "wings" - simulating the job of holding the bumper up. Do that and put it at 50C for a few hours. I think your result will change.

That curling up is due to internal stresses in the part. You could try annealing these parts for additional strength (if you use Pro PLA)

I am not trying to flame you, or tell you your idea is bad. I just have enough practical knowledge working with FDMs in a professional setting to confidently tell you PLA is not up to the task.

Please consider at minimum going to ABS. PLA is corn based and degrades in ambient air. ABS is petroleum based and will hold up a little better. PETG would be better, but I have already seen CF PETG sag under its own weight under my dash. I have been messing with 3d printers for 7 years. I have built my own machines. I am not just trolling you, buddy.

 

[Kai Hefner]

I'm considering going to ABS. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with PLA, but for people's peace of mind I will see what I can do.
I did a test on the riser to see if it would hold some weight (just used some full-metal molds we had laying around). I had to put weight on the bolt hole because it would tip over without it. Unfortunately, the test got cut short from the oven shorting out (an issue we've had for a while). For the 15 or so minutes that it was at 50degC, it had no issues. Even with the temperature slightly surging to 55degC and back down.

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Give me a few days to see what I can do about making them out of ABS. It's not the biggest difference in the world, but the 20-30degC heat resistance might put people like Rabenne at ease. If you want these risers immediately, and out of PLA, let me know.

 

[rabenne]

I think that's a good idea! Pla can also have issues with water... not that they are in a particularly wet spot, but it is another reason abs may be a better choice.

Can you try petg also? Just curious.

I do want that hideous gap closed, and would rather pay someone for a product than take time dicking with it myself, but the steel ones looked unnecessarily heavy. So, If you end up with something that everyone is happy with, I will probably buy them.

Best of luck with the development efforts in alternative materials!

 

[motomattx]

Interested in black after further testing.

 

[pksystems]

PLA is great for things like masks. I wouldn't use it for anything on, or in a car tho.

Polycarbonate is what I plan on using when I print some parts for my cars.

 

[kteare]

I'm considering going to ABS. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with PLA, but for people's peace of mind I will see what I can do.
I did a test on the riser to see if it would hold some weight (just used some full-metal molds we had laying around). I had to put weight on the bolt hole because it would tip over without it. Unfortunately, the test got cut short from the oven shorting out (an issue we've had for a while). For the 15 or so minutes that it was at 50degC, it had no issues. Even with the temperature slightly surging to 55degC and back down.

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Give me a few days to see what I can do about making them out of ABS. It's not the biggest difference in the world, but the 20-30degC heat resistance might put people like Rabenne at ease. If you want these risers immediately, and out of PLA, let me know.

Nice looking product. Keep us posted on the ABS initiative. I'm in if you can ABS it.

 

[Kai Hefner]

Due to popular demand, I have switched to ABS. Excuse the wait but it takes time to order the stuff, run some print tests, etc. Although I wasn't too happy about having to make a complete change after printing out a small stock of PLA ones, the ABS does feel a lot better. I'm using z-ABS if anyone wants to do their own research about it, and make an informed decision (I tried this polylite (or something along those lines) ABS stuff and it printed like crap).

So here's the deal:
- Only printing in black from now on. Every interest has been for a black set with the exception of one. To make it simple and for me to print and order in bulk, I'm going to limit just to black.
- I've changed the infill. It seems like a lot of people are particularly interested in weight reduction with these parts. I will likely be running a 50% infill or maybe a bit more on these parts. This means you can't just willy-nilly drill into them if you want. The difference between 100% and 50% infill structurally is not too much, however the weight savings are around 30-40%.

The first riser that was printed in ABS, even though I know it has much better resistance to heat, I decided to throw it in our oven (I was baking some epoxy so I used the epoxy+metal as a weight on it, and used some block of metal I found on the bolt-side to keep it from tipping over). I don't want to drown out this text with the pictures so if you're interested, they are attached. I could only use the oven for about an hour because someone else had to throw something in.
Conclusion: literally no signs of warping at all. It held the weight (which is (conservatively) 3-5lbs). If I had it in there for longer, or even with a heavier weight, I'm 100% sure it would have held up.

The first batch will be done on Monday next week. For those who have already paid for their order, they will go out on Tuesday. That is, if I like the quality of the risers, and they function on my car. If I think they need some settings changed (i.e. more infill, or anything like that) they will go out on Friday. Now that I already have the effort into making these things perfect, might as well go all-the-way.

edit: Also, keeping the price the same.

 

[rabenne]

Very nice!

 

[kteare]

The first batch will be done on Monday next week. For those who have already paid for their order, they will go out on Tuesday. That is, if I like the quality of the risers, and they function on my car. If I think they need some settings changed (i.e. more infill, or anything like that) they will go out on Friday. Now that I already have the effort into making these things perfect, might as well go all-the-way.

edit: Also, keeping the price the same.

Where are the order details (do you take PayPal, etc.)?

 

[Kai Hefner]

Where are the order details (do you take PayPal, etc.)?

Yep! PayPal, etransfer, whatever works for you!

 

[Jk's97DSM]

I need some for the 1G.

 

[Kai Hefner]

I need some for the 1G.

Didn’t know 1gs had this problem too. Problem is, I don’t have a 1g so I can’t really test the parts.