66 Fleetside Rear Bumper/Bracket Problem

[Cougar]

I am just finishing the restoration of my '66 C10 Fleetside and went to install the rear bumper and brackets which are both new since the truck did not have either when I bought it. The brackets were bought from Classic Truck and the bumper from LMC. The problem is that the license plate area of the bumper is not perpendicular to the truck when the bumper is installed on the brackets. Instead, the license area has about a 15 degree back lean which keeps the license plate bracket from installing correctly. Because both the bumper and the brackets are new, I am not sure which one is the problem. I did some simple angle measurements and found that the part of the bumper where it bolts to the brackets is at about a 35 degree back angle when the license area is perpendicular to the truck. The brackets on the other hand have the bumper mounting flanges at about a 20 degree backangle. Obviously they don't match though they should. My problem though is which one is not correct? Is the bumper angle back too far or are the brackets not angled back enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to repurchase something and find it wasn't the problem.

[aerotruk63]

If you flip the brackets? Pictures would be handy.

[Cougar]

Originally Posted by aerotruk63

If you flip the brackets? Pictures would be handy.

You can't flip the brackets (at least the two inner ones) as they would then have a forward tilt instead of the needed back angle tilt. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

[yelmer]

I had the same problem . It was the after market bumper brackets . Installed gm brackets it all fit nice . License plate fit good

[Cougar]

Originally Posted by yelmer

I had the same problem . It was the after market bumper brackets . Installed gm brackets it all fit nice . License plate fit good

I really hoped it was the brackets as they are cheaper than the bumper. The brackets were the "Counterfeit" brand brackets. I assume all the aftermarket outfits sell the same brand brackets. If anyone knows differently, please let me know. I'll have to keep an eye out for some original GM brackets now . . .

Thanks for the info. I'm glad you were able to understand the issue as it is hard to verbalize without pictures.