The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 1948 Chevy 3800 rear bumper and brackets

In my experience (see pictures below), LMC is right -- 3600 brackets will *not* work on a 3800 truck. Maybe someone with the parts catalog can run the numbers to confirm they're different between the 3100, 3600 and the 3800. But you can plainly see in the pictures that they *are* different. I had to go through several sets of brackets before I found the right ones for the 3800. As I recall, I came up with three unique sets. The 3600 set did not align to the 3800 bumper holes. If you use a 3100 or 3600 bumper, it will align to the matching brackets, but it won't fit to the 3800 frame rails. I finally came up with a set that were obviously 3800 brackets as they aligned nicely with both the frame rails and the correct 3800 rear bumper without the use of prybars.

For this to work properly (fitment, primarily ...) you need BOTH the correct 1-ton bumper AND the 1-ton bracketsMake sure you have the correct bumper for the 1-ton brackets -- the 3800 bumpers are much thicker and heavier than the 3/4 and 1/2-ton bumpers and the holes are spaced differently. If you mismatch bumpers and brackets, you will not get things to fit properly. It may *appear* that you can use the other bumpers and brackets, and they will be close ... but not close enough. They simply do not work. I've tried.

AD 1-ton bumpers are pretty easy to spot in a collection of bumpers -- They appear to be identical to the other ones (until you try to mount one on a halfton) but they are very noticeably thicker. Brackets are a different story as the differences are not readily apparent. I did a fair amount of trial and error before I finally found the correct set.

Here are some pictures that might help.

Bottom line -- To fit a rear bumper to the 3800, you must use the 3800 brackets and bumper. It just won't work otherwise. Don't try to make the smaller truck parts work, thinking that things might have shifted out of alignment after 70 years, thus rationalizing the use of a prybar here or accepting an empty bolt hole there (because it just would not align to anything). If you have the correct bumper and brackets, everything aligns very nicely. If you need to use prybars or comealongs, you do not have the correct parts.