1948-53 PH Rear Bumpers......

[48Dodger]

I have several 1/2 ton parts trucks, all of which have unique rear bumpers. They are, I believe, Factory made, Farmer made, or Dealer/After Market made. I'm interested in seeing everyone's set-up, since the creativity of some are pretty cool. Doesn't matter if its a plain jane or a chromed custom bumper, I'm just curious. post a picture of both front and back bumper if you like, just leave a description of what you know or think to be true of its orgin. Give the year of your truck too!

 

48D   

[pflaming]

I do not know any details on this bumper. It was given to me by a forum member from Santa Cruz area. I put a vertical piece of metal on one of the frame cross members torched a hole in the bumper, ran a square tube to that metal piece and welded it in to make a 'housing for my hitch. The front bumper is stock.

 

Side note: I have an '89 S 10 bumper that fits perfectly. So there is a choice if one wants to be a bit 'out of the box'. 

 

 

[ggdad1951]

here's a pic of my rear bumper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Desotodav]

The only one of my trucks with a rear bumper is the 58 Dodge Suburban...

[Scruffy49]

Rear...

 

Source unkown, rolled c-channel with welded hitch plate, the whole mess direct welded to the truck frame. Needs to be cut off, narrowed, and plated in towards the rear fenders with some extra bracing added for strength.

 

 

Front...

 

Stock bumper and guards. The engine sitting in the rails does have the hand crank friendly crankshaft pulley nut installed. And I do have the hand crank set for the truck. Which was slated for a 318/727 conversion, but my wife is still in love with our rotting away 69 D100 that was going to donate its running gear... So making one L6 out of 2 cores is apparently back on the table.

 

Oh, the big white cable is multistrand 6g. Have enough left to make 1, maybe 2, more if you are running a stock 6v set up.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Scruffy49

[Merle Coggins]

here's a pic of my rear bumper.

 

 

And here's the type of bumper he wishes he could get his hands on.

[ggdad1951]

And here's the type of bumper he wishes he could get his hands on.

 

those disease ridden flea bags...nope!  I'm sure there are some M&G ones that would be ok tho!

[Jeff Balazs]

those disease ridden flea bags...nope!  I'm sure there are some M&G ones that would be ok tho!

Hmmmm........ ??????

You guy's really carry your regional differences to an extreme.

 

Jeff

Edited November 5, 2013 by Jeff Balazs

[Don Coatney]

Looks like bumperettes to me

[Merle Coggins]

Hmmmm........ ??????

You guy's really carry your regional differences to an extreme.

 

Jeff

 

Just friendly border rivalry, Jeff. Who wouldn't like Sconnie Girls? (besides Mark  )

[Jeff Balazs]

Just friendly border rivalry, Jeff. Who wouldn't like Sconnie Girls? (besides Mark  )

Exactly..........what a weirdo!

[Scruffy49]

Platinum blonde has cellulite... think I'll pass on her.

[JBNeal]

there's an outfit in Waco called The Perry Company that has been making aftermarket bumpers for decades.  I remember that back in the day, dealers would install their silver painted Ruffneck bumpers with the dealer's name & city/state stamped on them, but those started vanishing when the price of steel shot up about 10 yrs ago.  I've been on the lookout for one of their early checkerboard tread plate bumpers, but have only seen one so far and it was too wide, of the 60s vintage I reckon.  The predecessor of the Ruffneck was the Smash Hit bumper...I reckon they got away from that name cuz it didn't exactly inspire 'toughness'

[JBNeal]

When it comes to rear bumpers, I have found that there were many different variations of designs that eventually evolved into the modern step bumper.  The area between the rear of the bed and the rear of the fenders was wide open, and most truck users needed something there to step onto just to gain access to the rear of the bed, from adding or removing materials from the bed to loading or unloading livestock into a bed with sideboards.  And then the truck owners would invariably need to hook up to a tongue pulled trailer, so a hitch needed to be fabricated.

 

Here are a couple of examples on some parts trucks.  The white bumper is made from one long stick of angle steel, with a notch cut to allow the angle to be formed & welded.  It is welded to the frame, but is flimsy since there are no attachments at the ends, and not very useful as the angle is right up against the bed frame, so only the toes can grip that surface...and if it's got a li'l moisture on it, fuhgeddaboutit.  The black bumper is one long steel channel that was formed at the corners and the hitch area.  It bolts to the frame and fenders, but it appears to have had a reinforcement that was bolted to the channel and probably to the bed sides near the top of the stake pocket.  This bumper appears to be made at a factory considering the quality of the metal forming.

 

 

This bumper appears to be a modified aftermarket bumper that has been tweaked on one side.  The bumper is welded to the frame, and a hitch has been welded to the bumper.  One misstep near the back of this truck and them bumper corners will slice ya right open.

 

 

This bumper belongs to a neighbor up the road, and it appeared home-made.  The bumper is flush with the rear of the bed, so the only steps are on the sides behind the fenders.  The frame of the bed was notched for the hitch clearance and not really reinforced very well.  Needless to say, the tailgate & bed frame are purty beat up from trying to hook a trailer onto that ball hitch.

 

 

This bumper belongs to the '48, and may have been a modified aftermarket bumper.  It is made of a heavy diamond treadplate steel channel that was notched, formed & welded at the corners.  Diamond treadplate flat steel was used to extend the bumper to the fenders for use as a step.  The bumper & hitch are welded to the frame.  The bumper is just close enough to the bed frame that I can barely get my boots in there when I climb in the back, so it's a li'l tricky to navigate when it's wet.  It has flat bar connecting the stake pockets to the bumper corners, presumably to stiffen up the rear of the box so the tailgate can be opened & closed if the truck is on uneven ground.

 

 

This bumper belongs to the '49 1-ton, and was definitely home-made.  Heavy angle steel with a hole torch cut for hitching, with pipe flattened on each end and formed, attached with some gorilla welds.  There's a 1/2" hole cut through the pipe & bed; I'm guessing the farmer who had this in OK used a bar to string barbed wire out of the back of the truck.  Simple, heavy, cheap & effective...I might keep it after cleaning if up a bit.

 

 

This bumper belongs to the '51 1-ton, and was definitely home-made.  Heavy angle steel was welded to the frame, and what appears to be some sort of farm shredder blade was used as a hitch of sorts.  It's tucked under the flatbed, so it's kinda awkward to access the floor with this step.

 

 

This original factory bumper belongs to the '53 Spring Special.  If you're not careful, one wrong step and ya could break yer leg, or at least land on some mighty important real estate in an awkward and uncomfortable fashion

 

 

[JBNeal]

I found this bumper at CTC in Denton, and whoever built this has some impressive skills.  It is definitely home-made judging from the quality of the cuts and the metal forming as the assembly was not exactly symmetrical.  But the concept is something that I had sketched up awhile back before I found this example.  My inspiration was the rear of an old cattle trailer that had the step behind the fenders with a reinforcement that went up the sides with integrated lights and a step at the rear to protect the endgate when backing into a ramp.

 

 

 

[Jeff Balazs]

Here is my modified period step bumper.

It was a fair bit wider to begin with and had some cobbled up extensions which ran forward toward the back of the rear fender.

 

Jeff

[HanksB3B]

I never realized they were a rarity till someone here pointed that out to me.  I always thought that the PO must have bought it as Navy Surplus because according to the Bunn book, the Navy purchased the low bed truck equiped with a bumper.  

 

 

hank   

Edited November 6, 2013 by HanksB3B

[Dave72dt]

A truck I bought new in '88 didn't come with a bumper as standard equipment either.    Factory had several different styles to choose from as well as aftermarket depending on how and what you needed the bumper and truck for.

[RodFru2u]

Not sure if both bumpers came stock on the truck, but this is what she had when we painted her. After looking how it was installed I would trust it to pull another car on all four wheels, No way I would trust it to carry any major weight on without some serious welding to better tie into the frame some how.

[The Oil Soup]

Here's mine. Trying again to post photo      Well if that didn't work I'll have to get one of my kids to help me.

Edited December 5, 2013 by The Oil Soup

[Young Ed]

FYI dodge central of michigan is now or about to start selling reproductions of the factory bumpers.

[rkldesign]

They are for sale on sale right now for 299.00 regularly, 350.00.  They come in bare steel or painted.

 

RK

[pflaming]

A reproduction bumper on a classic truck is sacrilegious. It just seems disrespectful. 

[B1B Keven]

Barden rear bumper on both the '49 and the '71.

Try and find a straight optional rear bumper and you'll pay more than $299.00.

[Don Coatney]

A reproduction bumper on a classic truck is sacrilegious. It just seems disrespectful. 

If  that is the case then what about disc brakes, addition of aftermarket seat belts, replacement arm rests, replacement mirrors, etc?