Hello all, my first post. I have a 1973 F-350 Super Camper Special. I believe it's all original except for some common upgrades, like electronic ignition and a few new bits and pieces like vacuum cannister and brake rotors and pads. One thing I'm wondering about is the front bumper guards on the truck. They look to be correct style for the truck but they have "holes" in the tops that look like they may have had a light bar or something else installed across the top. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Could we possibly get a picture of exactly what you're talking about? It's possible someone did at one point but I wouldn't think those would be factory holes. Look around at local junkyards or the marketplace in your area if you're looking for a grill guard or another bumper.
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Welcome to FTE!
The factory bumper guards were an option and didn't come with holes drilled in them. My guess (and that's all that it is) is sometime in the past someone maybe mounted fog or driving lights on them.
There was also another option, the grill guard. This did come with factory fog lights but didn't include bumper guards. If you run across one of these, especially one that's complete, grab it. They are scarce and very desirable.

 

I'm posting a couple pictures of the bumper guards showing the holes.

 

Man that sure does look factory...

 

Must be factory, not so sure that even I could do that so neatly

Rod holders maybe, or they maybe held a rack for holding rods?

For fishermen campers.

To high for good fog lights.

 

I have no idea but as a huge fisherman I am determined to find some of these now lol. Sadly I couldn't tell ya Mjd8. I could almost guarantee those are factory but what for exactly I have no idea.

 

Wow those do like nice. Any chance you can find a part number on them?

 

From everything I've seen online they don't appear to be factory. I didn't dig very deep but everything that came up looked exactly like that but without that hole in it. I'd almost bet that's an aftermarket deal but where they come from I don't know. I wouldn't think it's be for a grill guard because of the way they mount but I could be wrong. Very neat little deal to see. Definitely look for a part number somewhere.

 

Flag holders? Like a parade/pace truck or a head of state vehicle.
Never seen anything like it factory. Someone with knowledge spent some effort so maybe a sponsored special use item.

 

Those are really interesting. In the 70's aftermarket products were made as good as or better then OEM. So I say aftermarket.
I"m thinking the same or maybe something like an over height pilot truck pole holder.

 

Not factory, and yes maybe aftermarket? Or someone worked VERY hard to make it look nice. They machine cut the 1/2 moon and then added the pipe. How is the pipe attached to the back side of the guard? Did they remove the black rubber and use nuts and bolts thru the pipe?

https://www.cjponyparts.com/bumper-g...IaAsF1EALw_wcB

Not the best pic, but normally just flat across the top.

 

First, thanks for the replies. To try to answer some of the questions, I'm attaching a couple more photos. One shows the pipe looking down from the top of the guard. One of the pipes is slightly loose so it's obviously not part of the guard body itself but is through bolted to the bumper with a single bolt independent of the guard mounting. The head of the bolt is in the cavity backside of the guard and does not penetrate the guard, so the rubber pad did not come into play


. The other photo is looking up at the bottom of one of the guards. The pipe runs all the way to the bottom of the guard on the back side but is not attached to the guard by any hardware, it just rests on the inside bottom of the guard. I hope that makes sense.

 

It initially looked like the pipe was "one with" the guard. But now ... I could do this and not have to re-chrome anything. Then I could build a bench with two long stubs that set in the pipe and have a bumper bench to set on at the local dirt track at Saturday night races with the warmth from the radiator behind us. Could add two folding legs to support the front from the ground too. I have ideas ... like but not limited to ... a portable Campaign Grand Stand, Elixer Sales Stage, decorative horizontal tube / grill guard drop in, CB radio antenna base mount for "working skip off a high point" party (it was fun), posts to hang a line between to dry clothing out after a truck wash at the ford up on Giles Creek.

Could be flag holders, but I wouldn't drive it even in a parade with kids, etc running around ... except maybe if the flags were really little, like those we used to use on the rack on our GoldWing?

I think someone, maybe a "Mom & Pop" shop, modified factory ones for some kit ... and I still think a "detachable rod holder" is a possibility?

Something else I thought of ... we likely have all seen oversized loads being moved ... and if the oversized load is near or over 13'6" tall, a lead escort vehicle has a long narrow pole or two mounted in front that extend the same height as the oversize load behind on a TT pulling a low boy ... so that if the pole hits something, the escort driver can easily see why it hit what is too low and warn the driver pulling the big load.

 

Yeah with closer pics it definitely doesn't appear to be factory although, that's a pretty slick idea. Whoever did that made it look pretty damn clean.