The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Will a '62 bumper fit a '65?

I am wondering if a rear step bumper from a '62 stepside will fit a '65 stepside. LMC lumps bumpers together for '60-'66. I would guess that it would depend on the overall length and the distance between the brackets. I would appreciate any advice on this. Thank you.

I will politely disagree. I think that it will fit. I might have to eat some crow on this, but a fellow Stovebolt member measured the bolt holes on his 66 Stepside rear bumper. The inner holes were 31" apart (center to center) and the outer bolt holes were 15 inches outside the inner bolt holes.

I drug a 62 Stepside bumper home from the salvage yard and the bolt holes on my 62 bumper are the same as on his 66. (OK, well I got 31.25 " instead of 31").

I think using the proper bumper brackets will make it fit. The brackets ARE different because the frames have different widths.

Thanks guys for the info. So what it seems like is that a '60-'66 bumper is OK as long as you use the correct brackets for your truck ('60-'62 or '63-'66)? Is this right?

I BELIEVE so, but have to prove it to myself. I have not taken the time to remove the 62 brackets from the bumper and bolt on the 65 brackets I have because I need to weld some stress cracks in the brackets first.

The rear bumper brackets, consist of four pieces...two inner & two outer. The inner rear bumper brackets lay flat against the center web of the rear frame, to the inside and protrude straight out on the '63-'66 stepside rear sport bumper and they are offset on the '60-'62 trucks, in order to make up for the difference in the frame rail width. The stepside rear sport bumpers are interchangeable between the '60-'66, but the fleetside rear sport bumpers are not interchangeable.

Thanks. What is a sport bumper? Is that as opposed to a step bumper?

I knew Tony would have the most accurate and complete answer. Thanks Tony!

After reading his answer, I must conclude that I have a Stepside Sport Bumper. You can see what it looks like on my BLOG - just click the link at the bottom of this post and then click the BODYWORK PAGE at the top of my web page for some photos.

Thanks for showing me what a sport bumper is. I sure wish I had salvage yards on Cape Cod like you have. They would think I was crazy if I asked for parts for my '65.

Probably easier to get spare parts here in SC, that part's true. But the flip side of that is that the value of a 65 Stepside in your area of the country is probably triple what you could get for one in SC for the same reason.

I guess that's a good way to look at it. Thanks. I think I got to the bottom of my bumper question. The issue seems to be what type of bumper one is talking about. On sport bumpers like you showed pics of the brackets are bolted on so the bumper is interchangeable. On step bumpers the brackets are welded on so the bumper would not be interchangeable. At least this is my thinking on the subject.