Hi everyone,
I’m new to the OBS world and just bought a 1997 F250 HD XLT truck. I want to buy a new front bumper but I’m running into “this part doesn’t fit” messages when I select the bumper I think I need on various websites. Is there any reason that a 1996 bumper won’t fit my 1997 HD? Any recommendations on who to buy from?
Thanks, Kevin

 

I may be wrong here but I think the 97 HD bumpers had extra cooling holes in them. So a 96 will bolt up, but it is not correct and IDK how that would adversely affect cooling.

 

1996-1997 F-250 Heavy Duty are the same truck. There were variations in the bumpers but they'll interchange. The big problem with 1997 was the introduction of the Light Duty F-250 which was the new body style, really confused the parts listings for that year.

-Steve

 

Thanks jas88

 

Thanks Steve

 

Any OBS bumper will fit, find one with the cooling cut outs if you can. Depending on what you use it for, you may not need the ‘cooling’ cut outs. I believe they started the cut outs in ‘94 with the PS. But I’ve seen no rhyme or reason for them, and have seen them on all trucks, gas or diesel. My 96 has one. They might have been part of one of the packages, HD cooling package or something. Not all had them.

Junkyard or eBay to find an oem. Look up car-part.com