Guys,
Thanks for all of your replies--much appreciated. Here's an update and what I have discovered. A week or so ago, I decided to mount my new, aftermarket front bumper; in the process, I discovered (yet again) that often aftermarket parts are NOT identical to the originals. It was obvious that to mount it on my front brackets would take a considerable amount of "persuasion." I had my old, original front bumper, which was nicked up and painted, but not really bent up (unlike my original rear bumper, which was entirely trashed). When holding the original against the new aftermarket, it was clear that the new bumper was not as sharply curved on the ends as was the original. I then pulled out my rear bumper brackets (which I assumed were bent up because the new bumper would not conform to them) and discovered that they would, in fact, accommodate the original bumper. I then decided to try to clean up the old front bumper. I wire-brushed off the paint then buffed it with 3 degrees of buffing compound and it came back to life--not quite as bright as the new aftermarket bumper, but quite shiny and bright (albeit with a few scratches). I then mounted the old polished bumper to the rear brackets and then to the truck--it looks great and the mounting was pretty simple.
I then tackled the front--the new aftermarket bumper, as indicated, was shorter and less curved at the ends than the original, and as a result, it took some persuasion to get all the holes to line up, etc. After much time and frustration, I was able to get it mounted to the front brackets. So, I now have a Suburban with two bumpers, one aftermarket on the front, one original (brought back to life) on the rear. This is the third or fourth time that I have encountered rather serious discrepancies between a new aftermarket part and an original. I know this comes as no surprise, either to me or to other Stovebolters, but I thought that something as simple and straightforward as an AD bumper would not be this far off the original specs. This inaccuracy led me to assume mistakenly that my rear brackets were the things at fault and not the new bumper--I've now learned the lesson to doubt the aftermarket part FIRST, rather than the original.
Thanks again,
Jim
Funny how guys will try to fit new parts onto an old truck that has 70 years of bumps, dings, wear and tear, then blame the new parts when they don't fit.
