Factory Step Bumper License Plate Lights

[1987_R10]

It's fairly surprising to me how much variation there appears to be across the years - and even within the same year. Another member sent me some photos of an '87 Silverado that he is selling and it has the cover and housing both on the front of the bumper, but instead of clips, there are nuts behind the bumper -- with the mounting hardware being of the machine screw type. I'm posting the photos below to help anyone in the future who runs across this thread:

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It looks like mine resembles what 78C10Big10 posted --- cover and housing on the front, with a sheet metal-type screw and clip behind for the mounting hardware. Now I'm in search of the clips...

Thanks to all!

 

[idahovette]

When I was at the Chevy store (1968-1980) rear bumpers were an option. Almost all of the pickups that came into our dealership had no rear bumpers. We installed mostly step bumpers because we made more money on them than the ones you could order from the factory and we are a rural area so guys needed to pull stuff. Seems like most of ours were REY brand? Don't remember for sure ,been awhile.

 

[75gmck25]

My Dad was a car salesman from about '65-'85, and from what I recall for Fords, the rear bumper was an option and they very seldom ordered a factory bumper. Farmers, ranchers, camper conversions, and and other businesses had different needs, so it was better to source a bumper locally.

For example, they used a locally fabricated rear bumper that allowed the tailgate to hang down at almost 90 degrees before hitting the bumper, since that got it completely out of the way when standing on the ground and reaching for a load of feed in the truck bed. The tailgate would have hit a standard step bumper long before gettting close to 90 degrees.

The rear bumper on my '75 GMC truck was fabricated out of oil rig drilling pipe by "Fat Lee" of Lee's Hiway Service. It is built like a tank.

Bruce

 

[TropicalSilverado]

It's fairly surprising to me how much variation there appears to be across the years - and even within the same year. Another member sent me some photos of an '87 Silverado that he is selling and it has the cover and housing both on the front of the bumper, but instead of clips, there are nuts behind the bumper -- with the mounting hardware being of the machine screw type. I'm posting the photos below to help anyone in the future who runs across this thread:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

It looks like mine resembles what 78C10Big10 posted --- cover and housing on the front, with a sheet metal-type screw and clip behind for the mounting hardware. Now I'm in search of the clips...

Thanks to all!

I'm replacing my original license lights that are like these shown here with slotted machine screws. Glad I found this thread. Thanks!

 

[mtbadbob]

Clips or speed nuts