I am wondering, is it possible to swap on the straight style bumper from the 98 model to a 99? I see they have different mounting brackets, is it just a matter of swapping the brackets along with the bumper? Or did the frame / frame mounting points change?

 

Most people want the 99 up, but yes the mounting points are the same. You will have to get new brackets, bumper and a new surround. The 97-98 surround is straight across on the bottom to follow the bumper lines. I've got a few parts left from when I swapped to the newer style frt end. I'm sure you don't want to pay shipping on the bumper but PM me if you want the brackets.

 

Yeah I am curious why you would want the straight style bumper instead of the new design? Also If you do end up swapping, pm me if you might want to sell your swapped off bumper!

 

I see now there is more involved than what I thought. I was just thinking bumper, lower valence and mounts. But I see now the grill shell is different and the top plastic piece too. Dont think I'll mess with the swap its not that big to me. I do like the look of the straight bumpers better though, I always thought mine like plain and dinky. I dug around on the pictorials here and pulled a few pics up.

This is the bumper I like:
I like how thick the thing looks compared to the later model bumper, and I like how it follows the lines of the grill and those black fog light covers would really match my black headlight covers.

This truck is a front view similar like the above pic but its the '99 bumper that I have:
The little bit of curve they added to it just doesnt seem to do it for me. And they tried to add some style to the lower valence but they could have done alot better IMO.

My lower valence is damaged and removed, you can really see how small the bumper is and that it doesnt even cover the exposed frame rails:

I was thinking maybe by switching to the bumper that I like anyways, it would solve my exposed frame look, atleast I think the larger 98 bumper covers the frame rails but I dont know for fact. But I am instead working on making a skid plate to go from the bumper to the front part of the frame.

 

That 1st pic is the 4wd/Expy style. Looks 'beefier' than both the 99-up and the 97-98 2wd.

 

Ty, I do like the look of your truck though... its pretty awsome. I seen the harley valences on ebay and I thought about getting one of those, but they are about $200 when you figure in shipping, and if I am not mistaken they need to be painted. If they were the matte grey like my factory valence it would be more appealing to me but a painted valance wouldnt last a season with me as I take it through brush and throrn bushes etc. And I like the extra space with the valence off, just dont like the exposed frame railes. I like being able to see more of the tire from the front view, but want to cover up the center area with some kind of skid plate.

 

Thanks! The valance was about $165 shipped, came painted black. A friend of mine painted the valance, bumper, bumper pad and surround for $100.
There's a guy on another Ford truck site that runs a 97-98 4wd bumper w/ the 99 up surround. He cut/hand sanded the center of the bumper pad to fit the surround. Looks good but very labor intensive.
Another possibility would be a custom bull or push bar that could also cover the frame rails.

 

You should look for a after maret supplier close to you. I can get that upper pad (that Smaug reffered to the guy cutting)locally here for about $33. The lower valance (4x4 model) is about $65. The one I got wasn't ment to be painted ( was a dark gold color) but I sprayed it with a few coats of high build primer. The 99-03 4x4 valance covers the frame nicly.

 

Mat-helm, nice looking rig man! But I think what Smaug meant by cutting the valence is for using the 99 & up grille shell on a 98 and down bumper/valence. Your truck is all 99 and up like mine is. I do admit the valence you have with the fog lights and everything looks better than mine did - I think my model was very plain. I did go to a local supplier 'Midwest Fender' and I cant remember the price but I thought it was a little more than I wanted to spend and liked the idea of making a custom bull bar / skid plate. I have a welder and some diamond tread but the bumper is so curvy its hard to get everything to match. I have a few drawings of my ideas, maybe I'll post em and see what everyone thinks. But keep in mind the reason I dont get a fancy aftermarket valence is that anything painted wouldnt hold up and anything that drops to low probably would last long...think off-road...

 

I have a picture of what I drew, I am going to start a new thread on it since this one is big with lots of pics already. Check it out if you like.