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Just curious what you guys thoughts are on the 79 bumper vs the older more curvy bumpers from 73 on up and if they are not sacrilege, which ones will fit? I am terrible at searching the forum so thought I'd reach out direct. Happy thanksgiving.
A 73-mid 77 "curvy" will fit a 78/79, but the front inner part of the corners will be real close to the grill shell. 73-76 curvy on the left and 78/79 (license plate slit) on the right. Sorry no pic of just how close, but I remember WAY close. One bump on the curvy outer end and the grill shell will be done for.
I like them both pretty equally, but either one is way better with bumperettes on them. I'd just do whichever is the correct one for the truck, I don't know that either one is hard to find.
I installed a bumper from a '73 or 74 F250 2wd years ago on a '79 F150 4x4. I had been t-boned by someone with no insurance and didn't have much money myself. Found a 73 or 74 parts truck that I grabbed the entire front clip. Removed everything from the firewall forward on my '79 and everything from the '73ish truck bolted right on, with the exception of the driver's inner fender. I had to trim some of the sheet metal to clear the steering box on the '79 4x4 which was bolted on further forward on the frame compared to the 2wd. The front bumper fit just fine.
Most bumpers from 73-79 should work but if the donor truck is a 73-77.5 F250 highboy 4x4, those have a more narrow frame compared to the 77.5-79 4x4 and 2wd chassis. You could probably make a highboy bumper work, but you would have some extra holes when it was all said and done.
I am pretty sure a High Boy truck front bumper mounts with brackets.
I like a 78/79 slit bumper on a 79.
And now it has black spoke rims and 37's. I am not 100% on the wiping out the shell statement. I just remember on my 73 2wd I barely bumped an object and it folded the bumper tip right into my grill shell. I think the straighter face 78/79 might be a little bit more solid.
A serious pet peeve of mine is when you look down the top of your bumper and see a little horn sticking up because it love tapped something one day. Breaks up the eye too much for me.
I had that happen on my 73 Highboy the first time I let my little brother borrow it. I pulled it off and tried to straighten it but I was never able to shrink that steel back up and it drove me nuts lol. Do you guys think there is any way to reinforce the stock bumpers with maybe like a channeled gusset back tying into the frame?
Last edited by Raging_dawn; Nov 28, 2024 at 10:38 PM.
