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So I bumped my garage with the front corner of my '74 with the shock absorbing bumpers and the bumper went in and stayed in on that one side. So does anyone know how I can pull it back out? Do I need a new shock? I thought these things are suppossed to bounce back out. Well, at least the car is still under warranty...

Hey, maybe its just wedged at a angle in the shock? I think Ray had some posts about the shock system on the bumper! I dont know if they had some kinda tap that would get bent or if the shock would get locked back? Have you tried pulling on it at all? Sorry I'll have to look more tomorrow at mine and see how it looks! Bill

This is common. They are made as dampers to keep the bumper from bending on a 5 mph or less impact. They are not made to survive the impact...though some do and some don't. But....you should be able to drill a hole in teh shock and at least inject either oil or air to re-extend it. Ray

Like Ray said, some survive - it may pull back out. To avoid any chance of damage to the car the best way is to remove it and chain it up between a post and a car with a trailer hitch and tug gently. It could come completely apart and recoil back into the car, so this is best done with a beater rather than your neighbor's new SUV.
I have some for Type I around but nothing for a IV, and I don't think there's any interchangeability, but it couldn't hurt to see what the part number is (it should be stenciled on it).

hi, he have under the shock a hook for to keep your shock in place look if one side the hook is in place and on the other side if is there , this hook is only keep in place by the shock pressure , wen you have impact the hook go on the ground,,???

Ray is right quite a few years back I posted same question about a super beetle bumper on another site. Reply said he didn't know the correct way but in his shop they would tap in a zerk and pump in grease till it came out.

i have the opposite problem... one side is 'sprung'... is there a way to get it to reset back in? i thought about removing the bumper itself and pushing the car into a concrete barrier until the strut moved back in...

vwfye wrote:i have the opposite problem... one side is 'sprung'... is there a way to get it to reset back in? i thought about removing the bumper itself and pushing the car into a concrete barrier until the strut moved back in...

Are you certain? The gap between the bumper and body is supposed to be quite large, it may be that you also have the same one-side-pushed-in problem. I'll try to measure the gap on one of my cars tonight and post up.

the gap is HUGE! i sure hope that it isn't correct. if it is, i am going to push it in anyway as the side that is in still seems out a ways.

Good luck, I smacked a solid object with my 74 super beetle. It blew a metal cap off the back of the shock, and lost all of the oil while getting stuck. I chained the bumper to a pole and tried to pull it out. All I managed to do is to spin the tires.

'74: ~3.5" gap front, 4" gap rear...

well then, mine is 'sprung' on the driver's side... almost 8 inches!!!

Check one of my posts also bitching about protruding 74 bumpers and possibly modifying the shock system. One of the gang here provided a BMW groups idea of eleminating/modifying these shocks. I'll dig it out when I have a chance.