82 bumper question

[Russell]

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about buying an 81 / 82 bumper for my truck, but replace the signal lights in them with a set of driving / fog lights. My truck is great for seeing straight ahead, but leaves much to be desired as far as seeing into the ditch is concerned, and being in the middle of a forest, there are a lot of bambi, so its important to be able to see in there. Has anyone ever converted one of these bumpers for this purpose? Also, what would it take to install it on an older style frame? I heard you had to notch the rails at the front or something.

[DBLSPRT68]

Russell, I have an 83, but the frame is an 82. Long story short, I had the same thought as you. I bought an 82 bumper at pull-a-part for $40.00, and put a set of combo Fog/driving lights in it. I had to trim the outer bumper brackets some, to mount the lights. I'll have to e-mail you some pics, I haven't posted a pic on here in years . Anyway, since yours is the older body style I don't know if it can even be done . LMC sells a nice looking bumper (73-80?) with lights in it, have you seen that one? I'll e-mail you the pics and will you post them here? I remember someone else wanting to see something like that. David

[Russell]

Yeah, sure email them to me and I can post pictures. Russell@ZieglerDigital.ca

How well do they light up the ditches? Is it worth the effort?

[DBLSPRT68]

Russell, I don't need to light up my ditches like you want too, but you can aim your lights down where you need them. I just wanted more night time light for the road, because I work and drive home late nights. I'll get those pics to ya soon. Check out that bumper LMC has, it looks good! David

[smokinn]

That bumper in LMC with the lights built in them work great and give off tons of light. A buddy of mine put them on his front and rear of his 82.

[1FaastC10]

Russell, CaptKaos used to have a pic of how you would need to trim a 73-80 frame to fit an 81-87 bumper, ,shoot him a PM, i'd bet he's still got it. i was contemplaying doing the same as i have 3 81-87 bumpers, and a 73-80 frame. too bad you werent closer, i'd make you a hell of a deal on an 81-82 bumper, i've got 2, and am planning on just running a 73-80 bumper with my 86 front sheetmetal.

[Russell]

Alright, here are the pictures that DBLSPRT68 promised, great looking truck man! The bumper looks good too, I'd go with a full white light myself, and likely make some sort of a small shroud for the lights

[kevinr1970]

I'm not sure what I'm looking at in the second picture, but I would like to know what lights those are. They almost look like exactly the right size.

[DBLSPRT68]

Russell, many thanks for posting those pics for me . Kevin, I got those lights off Ebay, I wanted that size, and figured having both fog and driving lights would be cool. Here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...949775518&rd=1 . In the second pic, I tried to show how they are mounted, but didn't come out too well. I had to trim the outer bumper brackets enough to get the light in the old turn signal hole. Then to mount them, I had to make a "Z" bracket. The one end mounts to the upper screws of the signal light cutout, then it goes over the bumper bracket up to the stud on top of the light assembly. If someone really wants to see this, I can pull the light out and take some pics. Let me know what ya'll think? David

[gchemist]

Hey way cool pictures. Now I know what my truck will look like with a 81 bumper I just bought. I won't be using the holes for lights though. It's a secret that I'll be using them for something stealth.

[1FaastC10]

hmmm, like a ram air setup... Russell, be aware that an 81+ bumper WILL NOT bolt directly to your frame as his did, they changed the design of the frame in '80.