89 bumper on 80 Burb - IT WORKS

[SilverMiner]

See attached pics below all the text.

So, the rear bumper on my 1980 Suburban was in sorry shape. It appeared to me that there had been a major mishap with a trailer tongue at some point in the past, but I don't know the real story. Either way, I wanted to put something else back there to improve the look. The 89-91 bumpers have the added benefit of being a quasi-step bumper with the ability to actually stand on the bumper and access the roof rack, which is a major improvement.

The driver side frame horn was/is mangled pretty bad, but not so far off the original holes that the 89 bumper wouldn't work. It did require new and sometimes longer bolts and some creative use of stop nuts, but it all come together.

After a while, I found a useable bumper cheap from a 1989 Suburban. Everything looked similar enough that I decided to see if I could make it work. And I did. The outer braces aren't connected yet, but the holes lined up with the frame horns.

[Irish1941]

Nice job. Way better. Doesn't surprise me though.
Don't think those barges ever changed out back from '73 to '91. Inner mount looks little tweaked but nothing you can't bend back.
Friend put '91 barn doors on a '75 2 weeks ago. Learned something new that day.

[SilverMiner]

It turned out to be much easier than I expected. And very worthwhile for the ability to stand on the bumper and reach the roof. I have never understood why the heck GM put those rounded bumpers on the Blazers and Suburbans. There isn't much of a flat spot on the 89 and newer bumpers, yet it makes all the difference.