So I bought my Monte a couple weeks ago and just realized that It has 2 very bad rust spots (one is a 3 inch hole) on the back underside of the car. (I think it's called the impact bar?) Is this a significant load bearing part? If it's not too important i'd rather not have to pay to get it fixed, but then again, If it prevents my car from leaving the bumper behind on the highway, then maybe I should. Look at the pics. Thoughts?

 

I've always called it the "impact bar". It's a bolt on part. So if you do need to replace it, buy a new one, rattle can paint it and bolt it on.


In Ohio, after a couple of years the entire bottom of those bars rot and look way worse then that. The bumper has lots of areas it's attached, odds are even if that rotted all away, the bumper is going to be fine (the bottom might just hang).