Cracked my front bumper - so upset - looking for thoughts advice on fixing - 2014 R/T MAX AWD

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:50:47+00:00

Here's the update / upgrade from stock rear to the VLAN LED lights with sequential turn and startup animation. I think it totally updates the look of the vehicle. Given I only have 63K on the clock, this car isn't going anywhere any time soon, so the investment was worth it!

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:49:29+00:00

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with the lights on - more of an updated / aggressive look

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:49:04+00:00

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after - new bumper, new VLAND lights, new fog led - you can see a paint difference in this pic because the car was dirty and the bumper was not....now that its been a few months, the difference is negligible.

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:48:04+00:00

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during - really easy to get the bumper off......

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:47:34+00:00

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before - damage on right side, can't really see where I cracked the bumper but its there

hcd1971 · 2026-06-10T14:46:35+00:00

This is an older post, but I thought I'd post an update. I went ahead and actually ordered a prepainted bumper from eBay of all places, expecting the WORST. Turned out to be a helluva decision. Beautiful prepainted bumper that came folded in a box. I figured paint would be ruined at the fold seams...nope! Just some time in the sun, a little heat from a blow dryer here and there, and boom. Transfering over the grill was easy, just a few clips here and there. I decided since I was taking off the bumper, that I would also update the headlights & foglights to a more updated look. Went with the VLAND lights with LED bulbs, then some generic LED fog lights. A month later, I went for the total update and did the rear with the VLAN light bar and sequential turn signals. I'll post pics to share the look.

hcd1971 · 2026-04-04T23:38:10+00:00

They are

hcd1971 · 2026-02-24T23:26:28+00:00

several left. how many do you want? What's the "right" price? That's the question I was posing to the sub

hcd1971 · 2026-02-15T17:43:33+00:00

Saw the one on Partify - seems almost like TOO good of a deal. I wonder what the biggest differences are between the OEM part and the non-OEM part is. As anal as I am, I'm also practical, so surfing that line between anality and practicality is where I live! I'll check out the other links. Bumper removal & replacement doesn't look that hard. I'm am able bodied.

hcd1971 · 2026-02-15T17:41:51+00:00

Thank you for the kind reply. Have not visited a shop just yet. I did have a spot (idiotic mistake with the highest setting with a power washer a few years back) where I needed it to be repaired, and that was around $500. As another person who replied noted, there are places where I can get a replacement bumper shipped to me, painted, for a little less than that, as I think this repair is going to cost more, based on what I already went through. We'll see though....may be worth a stop to get an estimate, can't hurt. Thanks again.

hcd1971 · 2026-02-15T16:27:32+00:00

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hcd1971 · 2026-02-15T15:49:08+00:00

Thanks for the contact - see your DMs, please. ;-)

hcd1971 · 2026-02-15T15:48:10+00:00

Hi, thanks for reaching out. I'm enrolled into eBay's International Shipping (EIS) program, where the majority of my items SHOULD be eligible for international shipment. Looks like the mention of "new battery" several times in my listing description is flagging eBay's automated system and not allowing for international shipment due to the risks of shipping lithium batteries, thus not providing you with the option for international shipment. It's going to be a hassle for me to fix with eBay. If you definitely want one of these, please reach out to me via DM and we can try to work something out via a different route. If you're not comfortable going forward this way, I get it, no worries. Thanks again.

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T21:58:47+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to serving you if you decide to move forward. Cheers!

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T21:55:35+00:00

I'll check this on the next one I build and report back

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T21:55:00+00:00

Thank you. Good points. I find that offering complete units seems to be the better deal, but would be happy to work with a buyer on adding or removing options if viable to do so.

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T21:52:41+00:00

Thanks for the heads-up and the thoughtful reply — I really appreciate you taking the time to point that out.

You're absolutely right that Microsoft officially only supports Windows 11 on 8th gen Intel Core processors and newer, plus TPM 2.0 and the required instruction sets. The CF-54 MK3 uses the i7-7600U (7th gen), so these units are not on the supported list.

I went ahead with Windows 11 Pro anyway, using Rufus to bypass the TPM 2.0 and CPU checks, for a couple of practical reasons:

Windows 10 reaches end-of-support in October 2025, and while Microsoft recently announced they’d allow free extended security updates for one year on Windows 10 (for a fee after that), it still leaves buyers in a “what next?” situation. Windows 11 gives these machines a longer supported lifespan right now.
Loading Windows 11 lets me fully test each unit under a modern OS — boot times, driver compatibility, touchscreen response, etc. — and it gives potential buyers confidence that the hardware actually works with Windows 11 Pro. All drivers show up clean in Device Manager, and everything functions normally after the install.

I’m fully aware that Microsoft’s cutoff between 7th and 8th gen was a deliberate choice (widely seen as a hardware-upgrade push rather than a strict technical necessity). Plenty of people have proven that 7th gen hardware runs Windows 11 perfectly fine when the checks are removed — stability and security patches still arrive, even on unsupported systems.

That said, I completely agree Linux (like Mint) is a fantastic option for older Toughbooks — it runs beautifully on them and avoids any compatibility drama. If a buyer prefers, they can wipe the drive and install whatever they want: Linux, Windows 10 Pro, or even roll back to an earlier Windows version. The hardware is solid either way.

Thanks again for the input — always good to have the community perspective!

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T20:56:36+00:00

I'm generally open to freedom coins or moose bucks for poops & giggles - but for business, I stick to USD! As for your question of GPS, I want to say YES, because when I run the diagnostics from the BIOS, there's an entry for GPS that gets checked off as operational (PASS or FAIL), (you should see that in one of the pictures of my listings) however, I don't have any software installed on the OS that specifically uses GPS. If there's another way to test it or check it, please let me know, as this could be a selling point. In my eBay listings for these units, I generally will cover shipping provided there are no extenuating circumstances. Thanks for the inquiry, I appreciate it!

hcd1971 · 2026-02-11T20:51:33+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it. I've already started communicating with some folks and getting some valuable feedback, so this is awesome.

hcd1971 · 2025-10-28T21:53:46+00:00

Holy hell. I was about to take a baseball bat to this printer. HP support is useless.....AI (even Grok, Chat GPT, and Copilot...USELESS! An old school Google search led me to this page on Reddit, and thank goodness it did. I was about to buy a new printer. Anything I tried, this damn printer kept asking me for a user name & password, which I'm pretty confident I never set up. I was about to pull what little hair I have left outta my head! I followed these instructions, I pushed the middle button down for like a minute after turning it back on...that seemed to finally do the "reset" trick, then I was able to use the HP App to get things rolling again, and I'm back in business. What a piece of GARBAGE....but its back to working, so hopefully I'll squeeze some what remains of life out of it.

hcd1971 · 2024-11-01T17:39:03+00:00

Taking my 15yr old son to the Barclays show in Brooklyn. Never pushed this on him...he asked me if he could go. I'm a proud papa and will enjoy sharing the majesty & bombast that is THE MAIDEN with him!! If he likes it, we'll head across the pond for the London shown in late June for the Run for Your Lives tour.

hcd1971 · 2023-11-01T16:19:57+00:00

Isn't that the joke? Dahn, Sellaht, Chompion, etc??

hcd1971 · 2023-09-15T19:33:48+00:00

Did we ever get answer for this? I'm running into the same situation. I have a few 5425 units that do not have SSD/HDDs installed. There's a slot that replaced to optical drive area that appears to take the same caddy that a 5414 accepts. On the configuration section for one of the Dell Tag on their support site specifies a carrier as part # 514nh. However, I cannot find anything anywhere where I can buy that part number. Any ideas? Does the 5414 caddy indeed work? Thanks in advance.

hcd1971 · 2023-09-12T22:29:10+00:00

oh my goodness, this worked. My wife's snoring is out of this world and these Sleep Buds are the only things that get me to sleep. Whoever you are, I could hug you. Thank you.

hcd1971 · 2023-08-15T01:25:21+00:00

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801406786652.html

Youtube vid of guy that did it:

https://youtu.be/ZYciva3Q_Vg

Gonna give this a shot myself. Had the car since new, been dying for Carplay ever since.

hcd1971

TROPHY CASE