The chrome contour bumper that is. Looking at ordering one for Bruce, my '77, when Uncle Sam pays back the money I loaned him this year. I see LMC, JBG and I believe Dennis Carpenter has them as well. Is one just as good as the other? I was planning to modify bronco brackets to fit

 

I tore the crap out of a replacement bumper with a 2000 lb trailer. The bumper was on the truck when I bought it and it wasn't chromed, hell it wasn't even made for my truck as the brackets were 39.5" wide. Make sure it's not china made, kind off dq's LMC.

 

Well, ya can't tow with the contour bumper anyway. Just don't want a thin, wavy piece of crap that has chrome flaking off in a few years. Truck is just a sunny day driver

 

Whomever bumper you do decide to buy, rustproof the back side with a finish. Even nth degree show cars have crummy chroming on the back side because no one sees it.

I used Rust Encapsulator, scuffed, and laid on a gloss coat of black rustoleum... plus it's easier to hose off dirt and grit from a glossy surface than a rough surface.

 

X2 on HIO advice. And you get what you pay for, meaning spend the coin and get quality parts. So I vote for DC, not LMC.

The contour mount brackets are the hard part to find. I mean real hard, since they are not reproduced by any vendor. But there is a FTE member in the beginning stages of reproducing them.

You can get a bolt on receiver hitch to work with the contour bumper.

 

Just wanted to add... I picked up some parts from NPD and they were from DC. Not sure about their bumpers.

 

I had a DC contour on my '75 4WD, and it was a really nice piece. Chrome was excellent. There is a forum member that makes the brackets; he is into the Indy trucks I believe.

 

You mean this guy. Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - View Profile: Dean Bitner

 

Thanks for the advice Hio, will do. Local junkyard has a bronco with the bumper and brackets so I should be good there. Yes I know I'll have to lengthen them but I figure they will be a good start.

Price isn't really an issue because lmc, dc, bronco graveyard are all in the same price range.

 

I have a set of Dean's sport bumper brackets, and they are beautifully made. He modified them to provide more adjustment than the factory originals, you can really snug the bumper right under the tailgate so that there isn't such a gap.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-brackets.html

David

 

Bronco rear bumper brackets are different (longer) than F100/350 due to rear splash shield (17808 in pic).

There are TWO DIFFERENT types of contour rear bumpers ('sport bumper' is an LMC "invention.")

One is used with 33 1/2" frame rails (1964/72 F100/350; 1973/77 F250 4WD & 1973/79 F350), t'other with 37 1/2" frame rails (everything else inc. 1978/79 Bronco).

Upper pic:

 

Bet those are nice, but I should be able to snag those bronco brackets for cheap. Sounds like they'll probably just need shortened and/or holes drilled and filled

 

The factory literature refers to the bumper as a "contour bumper". And personally, I have never seen a Bronco with a bumper extended as illustrated above.

Below are the common Bronco brackets.... the left is modified and the right one is stock. They, including the outboard brackets, will need to be extended and then drilled to space the bumper from the trailing edge of the fenders. Use 2-inch wide, 3/16th-inch plate.

 

Every 1978/79 Bronco comes with the [17808] rear splash pan (stone deflector), but when it's installed, you only see a little bit of it between the bumper and the body.

 

Okay.. then NONE of the Broncos I have encountered have had it.