This clears up a bit of a mystery for me. When visiting Texas from the 70's forward I would notice custom fabricated rear end pick up truck bumpers carrying the dealers name on the left and the towns name and TX. on the right side of the rear bumper. They had the look of hand fabrication and were painted white with red letters or plain Rustolium aluminum silver with no contrast color in the letters. I thought I remembered that they had raised welded letters but the photos at the link above seem stamped in. Now I realize I had seen both.
from the discussion above truck rear bumpers and spare tires were optional items. Dealers would attach their own heavy steel bumpers with their name emblazoned for advertising. It's unclear wether the dealers charged extra for them or not. I think the federal laws changed and manufacturers couldn't ship the trucks without bumpers and it seems the welder guys and their specialty fabrication shops disappeared sometime in the 80's.
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from the discussion above truck rear bumpers and spare tires were optional items. Dealers would attach their own heavy steel bumpers with their name emblazoned for advertising. It's unclear wether the dealers charged extra for them or not. I think the federal laws changed and manufacturers couldn't ship the trucks without bumpers and it seems the welder guys and their specialty fabrication shops disappeared sometime in the 80's.
- bill 4-10-2013 9:49 pm