The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Chrome rear bumper for AD truck, GMC, etc.

Folks I don't know where to put this so if it needs to be re-located, please feel free to do so. A week ago I purchased a chrome rear bumper on eBay from a seller whose ID is con-arm-autosafe1. This is just an fyi/heads up post as I have no connection to the seller whatever.

The price was $152 including tax and the shipping was free (the seller voluntarily offered a discount of $8). If you've been shopping you know that is less than most of them out there. It arrived today. Please note: It is lighter weight than the original bumper (the metal is maybe 3/64" thinner than original at a thickness of 5/64"). It looks just like a regular chrome bumper and seems otherwise okay. Fits fine.

Having mentioned the thickness, the front bumper I purchased through Rock Auto about 10 years ago is slightly thicker than this one but still thinner than the original stock bumper, so I suppose that might be common. My wife thinks the decreased weight may increase the gas mileage and maybe help with acceleration. Shave some time off my quarter mile runs. If I can help with any questions, please let me know.

I bought a rear bumper from one of the usual vendors and found it to be quite a bit less quality than originals. I suspect yours has the same issues. The thickness of mine was pretty close to the front bumpers I have, but the edges were sharp rather than radiused. It's also not made of spring steel, as it kinked slightly as I tried installing it with original used bumper brackets, which were advertised as correct for the rear. It did fit correctly with aftermarket bumper brackets, which BTW had the same issue as the bumper with sharp edges instead of nicely radiused.

Thanks, Kevin. None of the replacement bumpers I've seen have matched the originals correctly...and that is a total of 20 or so. None have had radiused edges, although some have been slightly better in that regard. This one is not as bad as some and nicer than the one I got from Rock Auto. I don't believe a single one has been made of the same spring steel. That would be a costly process requiring some special equipment. What I learned is I usually have to flex the brackets a bit to make even the stock bumpers fit and there is a sequence for attaching that makes it go a bit easier (especially if you're working alone). Just a bit of finessing, you know. I didn't have any problem installing this one, however.

One thing occurred to me after mounting the new one. If I wanted a really solid (but odd) bumper that would effectively be around 1/4" thick I could have just mounted the new one atop the old one and let it be sort of a veneer approach. It would be pretty weird and stupid looking because you would see a difference in the length, but the bumper screws I have are long enough to allow doing it.

Right or wrong I've decided any sort of rear or front end boo-boo you have is going to damage any replacement bumper so maybe the thing is not to overspend. I failed to mention the seller gave a 2 year warranty and none of the others I looked at gave more than 1 year so assuming he's still around I guess that could be a positive. He's been on eBay for about 2 years, so I suppose there's hope. Anyway as I said if you want to save about $100 or more, here's a way to do it.

I bought stainless steel front and rear bumpers for my 53 3100.

Where did you purchase your SS bumpers?

I'm not 100% sure but I probably got them from Jim Carter. I have always liked his stuff and the customer service is awesome. I also buy from Chevy of the 40's. https://oldchevytrucks.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=bumpers+stainless+steel

I can go look if threy are still in the box if you want.