The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Looking for ideas for a diamond-plate rear bumper

My original rear bumper is pretty mangled and I’d like to replace it with a simple steel diamond-plate bumper that I will weld up myself. Perhaps something only as wide as the rear cross sill and is mounted almost rough with the sill᠁.

I don’t want a modern version with a license plate pocket, just something simple that you might have seen back in 1950.

Has Anyone made their own rear bumper for an AD truck?

Here's a pic of the home-built bumper that was on my truck when I bought it. It was bent up pretty bad and I don't like the way it was bolted to the rear fenders, so it was thrown in the scrap heap.

Thanks Kevin. I have seen one other truck with that same bumper- I agree that bolting onto the rear fenders is not a great idea. Aside from that, the bumper looks pretty cool. Attaching to the fenders is a deal killer for me.

We had this homemade bumper on our truck when we got it.

Gord, thanks for sharing that one- I’m going to make a guess here, that when they replaced the factory rear bumper back in the day, that it was purely for utility needs, and had nothing to do with making these trucks even more handsome than they are᠁.

Norcal Dave Once used a wooden 4x6 covered with staibless,looked good,used 4 inch heavy pipe with a tuff hitch,some aftermarket ones were diamond plate but they had hitch pocket,could make a cardboard one till you get the right look then make it out of steel,is best to make it so it can't bend and pull the frame rails together cause it will damage the frame. Once had one made of drill pipe with cones out of a rotary drill bit welded in it was really tuff on a 4x Apache. On that first stainless one we cut holes and put in stainless flush mount lights,looked good !!

Norcal Dave Also had one with what looked like dual exhaust pipes but it was so you could stab 1 1/2 inch pipe in there and set heaavy stuff on it...that was on my winch truck used it to haul home big chunks of firewood,OK to haul propane tanks on or slip a pallet on there.

Fixite7, I might end up going with something industrial like that᠁.. thanks for the ideas.

I found one of the ones that attaches to the fenders for my '64. It was twisted up pretty bad but it was a really heavy duty bumper. After getting it straightened out I trimmed the sides back about 6" and used it without attaching to the fenders. It was one of my favorite parts of the truck.

Are you thinking of something like a Barden bumper? http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?p=6421102

I don't know if the bumper on my '57 is a Barden... could be home made but not by me. It's mounted to the end of the frame rails. Wraps around the fenders but doesn't actually touch them. Kind of a nice design to keep your fenders from taking damage.