Well, I hate to disagree with everybody. Really, I do. As a trucker by trade, though, I have long held some pretty firm opinions about a truck's equipment.
That stuff - although it looks strong and functional - does not look right on the truck. The bumper is recessed too far under the tailgate to protect it in case a texting idiot rams your truck from behind. It fails, therefore, in one essential function of a rear bumper. The line of the headache rack does not match that of the cab, and its gussets look more decorative than strong: A solid hit on that rack would pull the side rails of the box. These are mostly aesthetic opinions, as such events are unlikely to happen. But, if they did ...
I took this
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk293/hotshoe36/Our%20trucks/DSC00862.jpg awful farmer-built bumper off my truck at my earliest opportunity. I replaced it with something my brother and I made up by modifying and adapting a bumper I got from a local auto-wrecker. We added a hitch reciever, and made very strong mounting gussets. Cameron's welding talent and my (supervised) fabricating has made us an immensely strong, versatile bumper. It occurs to me now that I don't even have a decent pic of it yet. This is a problem, as my brother has since passed and will not be helping me with the next evolution of this bumper, which will be the final one.
I'll be along with a pic of our work later today, I hope. Here's a pic of some temporary bedsides I cobbled up, though, with an integral headboard.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/...%20steer%20Olson%20house_zps85qinyjw.jpgThere were two tons of timbers in the box for that pic, which explains why she's squatting a bit. But maybe you can see how the line of the headboard was made to match the line of the cab.
Mike, remember, you asked.
