OK I understand that most of our trucks will have whats called a step bumper and probably came with it from the factory or was replaced at some point. I have a 79 F250 2wd SuperCab shortbed. It too has a factory stem and a 2" hitch below that and it is welded on. I am going to chop that completely off and replace with a new show chrome stock(no step) bumper and install a hitch that tucks in high and tight. I would love you to post pictures of only truck no matter f-100-150-250 as long as it's a dent side with a stock bumper and if it has a hitch all the better so I can see what mine might look like. I really want a tight fitting hitch and want it to be barely visible. Any suggestions for this combo would be appreciated, my frame rail width is 34". I saw the other hitch thread, but none of the truck had a stock bumper and the hitches still hung too low for me. If need be I will make my own hitch, I did one last year for my 74 Bronco mostly hidden behind a stock chrome bumper/ under-structure like in the picture below. This one had a little more drop because I did not want to have to use a drop hitch. The height allows me a straight hitch not a drop, to get my trailer level Pictures came out of order so let me make sense of them. Go by this order
0,1,6,3,2,4,5,. Description as follows:
Pic#
0. My 79 F-250 Ranger lariet Supercab shortbed Trailer Special(yes it
has had a repaint and yes I have all the badging in a box the PO
gave me.
1. POS hitch that was on when bought the 74 in Salinas. Hookey at
best.
6. Donor hitch, I wanted it super strong but compact, the wall
thickness is like .35", I wanted the crossbar to go through the
frame rail inserts an is weld on 3 sides(overkill I know). It was new
but really dirty meant for the small GMC Jimmy.
3. Here it is ready to be welded, it was a pain to cut , notch the tubing
so it fit inside the frame rails and 13" in. Nuts are welded inside and
the entire thing is welded closed to prevent rust. By far the
strongest hitch an EB has ever had made(really no boast) The frame
will break before the hitch does.
2. The has BB poly bushing as the ones meant for the EB are puny and
squish out over time even the polys. I only wanted a 3.5" overall lift
body/ bushing combo height to clear my intake/cleaner combo so I
had custom solid aluminum pucks turned for it, they are really
2 3/6" tall and the bushings are taller than the stock so it came out
perfect. All this explanation for this: With the body lift you get an
ugly gap for the stock located bumpers. So when I built the hitch I
made a substructure to mount the chrome bumper( which is now
early only a cover for what's underneath) the structure was super
beefed up as it sits on a notching so it does not stick out too far out
from the body. Not seen but it is gusseted heavily in final form.
4.What it looks like without the chrome bumper. Since i like the front
bumperettes(over rider(flipped upside down to clear the tailgate, I
made it so the attachment bolt fit inside some relief holes so the
cover would lay flat against the sub-structure.
5. Done doesn't hang down much more than the hitch itself and you
have to really look hard to see the Bumper is just a pretty cover.
Mounting bolts for the cover are Stainless Steel Dome bolts and that thread into the tapped bumper below for a clean look. Early Bronco frame horns are very weak and I know people install all sorts of bumpers, I am not comfortable, after seeing them break and collapse with some high dollar bumpers installed. In the end if a suitable hitch is not found for the F-250 I may have to go this route again, but am not looking forward to that ( too much fab work and much grinding with only hand tools). So please give me some good news that such a beast is out there.. thanks...Mo

 

Are you putting a "contour" style bumper on it, like this? The truck brackets are hard if not impossible to find, so I hear? But I also have read that Bronco ones can be made to work with a little grinding.

Here is the contour bumper on a my old red F250 they had a cobbled up drop plate type hitch and off it came as soon as I bought it.

The #88 Bronco has a 3" body lift and a Reese hitch, at least you get the idea, ugly.
The red Bronco pic is to have a clean idea on the contour bumper look, nice on that rig IMO.
Another bronco with a contour bumper and a hitch all I have is a pic but it looks a little better.

Pretty much I would say get ready to make or modify your own to get a clean look.

Might look for a "hide-a hitch" or one that works with or for a roll pan set up, and has a flip plate down license plate to access the receiver tube?

Thanks for the picture on how to mount my HD bumpers on my EB frame. I was sort of thinking that same thing (slide inside the frame tubes or brackets), the pic helped me get a visual on it. Did you get it from a S-10 S15 Jimmy, I think I see that written on the top of the bumper?

 

Not a paying member so can't post pictures. I have a stock 79 f250 that came with no rear bumper and no brackets. I bought the contour bumper from bronco graveyard chrome. Everybody says you can fab brackets but I bought actual brackets from blue oval truck parts. $99 for 8lbs of steel. Everyone might say that was stupid but the brackets and bumper went on in ten minutes. I have a hidden hitch class 4 receiver. You can barely see it with the bumper. If I could post pics I would. Pm maybe that would work.

 

Alex thanks for the heads up on BOTP for the brackets, any idea who made your hitch (brand name?) and try photobucket or this way to post pics...

Here's How to Post Pictures:
1. Login to FTE.
2.Click User CP (In the Top Left Hand Corner)
3.(On the Left, There will be a list, The 5th Option Down, will say "Pictures & Albums) Click That.
4.Then, Click Add Album, Enter a title, and description, if ya want to.
5. Click Upload Pictures, Then click Browse, Locate the Files of your truck. (You can add 3 files at a time)
5. Click Upload.
6. Add a description to the individual pictures, then click save.
7. Add more files if ya want.
8. Click The Picture you want to post, it will give you two codes at the bottom, Right Click The Second one (It say's BB Code, Then Say's [IMG]http:blahblahblah...[/IMG])
Then, Once that is highlighted, Right Click, Then Copy, Then Paste it into your post.
You can add up to 30 Images in one FTE Post.

 

Hidden hitch is the actual brand. Its just like a Reese frame hitch. Just went premium. Give me a minute on the picture. I'll try to get it up.

 

Welcome to the club, stay on them about your t shirt thay sometimes need a reminder email.

 

here you go

 

Nice set bumper/hitch set up. Are the flaps mandatory for MI? And what's up with no full side shot pic of that truck? It looks sharp, show it off.

And at least another shot from the side of the bumper/hitch so we can see how far it hangs down and sticks out ect...it does look very clean to me.

 

Thanks. Nah, the flaps aren't mandatory. I'm the second owner. The original owner set it up for towing a travel trailer. I probably wouldn't have put them on but I don't mind them. 68,200 actual miles. Drove it to work today. It is very clean compared to what I have seen. Tough to get a value on it. I have done only relatively minor work to it. 79 F250 camper special / 460. The picture in the barn is the only one with how far it sticks out.

 

Alexz that thing is a beaut. Thanks for sharing.

 

I will say you got one hell of a sharp truck there, and the thin dent chrome, you don't see that very often.

Post up some interior truck **** shots, that is a request for an interior truck pic, not nothing else. lol

I bet the eng compartment is just as nice?

 

Thanks guys. Well didn't mean to hijack the thread but oh well here we are. Engine bay is ok. Exactly what you would expect for 35 years old. It's never been restored. I might paint the bay black but honestly I've seen guys do that and it never looks any better than before unless you do a complete restoration. You can tell I painted the cleaner cover "ford blue" and it just isn't quites right. Probably all the pictures that I can get away with at work. All that I did to the interior was replace the vinyl with a molded black from bronco graveyard. They use the original ford tooling so I don't feel bad that it's black instead of the correct red. I keep a piece of the old red vinyl in the glove box. And I'm not the only one on here with a sweet rig. You guys got some nice ones too.

 

Don't have to pay to post. Go to postimage.com it is free you load your pic there. when you post here go up to the yellow mountain scene icon press. don't leave open other window go to the pics, click images then get codes, copy the direct link. Come back to FTE post paste in the picture window that should still be open and you got a pic!

 

Dang sharp inter too, thanks for the pics. And yes you ruined the eng compartment with the new blue....lol JK, but you are right, it does look out of place.

HJ over back to rear bumpers....

 

to quick I didn't see it was answered. Loos good thx for the info still showing to much for my taste, but that's me. Will do the store bought brackets and probably make the hitch then. No problem on the pics on the EB mounting, I figured someone could use the idea here, others have on ClassicBroncos.com I did the same but a bit different to mount my 8274M up front>