[Trucklic]

Or I’m I just see things ?

 

[A Ford]

From what others have shown or pointed out in videos, it is a bumper cover (plastic) over a steel subframe with shock blocks built in for slow impact protection. Different animal than the current Ranger where Ford proudly promotes the FRONT bumper is steel on the Ranger.
All in all, its about weight reduction.

I am so old that my early trucks had all steel diamond plate wrap around “Barden Bumpers” on those early GMC/Chevy rigs. The Bardens may have been a regional or Western region product. Like I said, I’m old!😅

 

[A Ford]

From what others have shown or pointed out in videos, it is a bumper cover (plastic) over a steel subframe with shock blocks built in for slow impact protection. Different animal than the current Ranger where Ford proudly promotes the FRONT bumper is steel on the Ranger.
All in all, its about weight reduction.

I am so old that my early trucks had all steel diamond plate wrap around “Barden Bumpers” on those early GMC/Chevy rigs. The Bardens may have been a regional or Western region product. Like I said, I’m old!😅

Sorry - I did not answer your question.....
My guess is yes it may be the first truck with a non steel bumper. Not certain though.

 

[RobA979]

Sport Trac was the same, a cover over steel tubing.

 

[Darnon]

Plenty have had plastic bumper covers. Ridgeline, Avalanche, Explorer Sport Trac, Subaru Baja, Lincoln Blackwood to name just a few.

 

[yankeehotelfoxtrot]

I'm glad for it. A plastic bumper is a lot cheaper to replace when someone rear-ends me than any typical body material.

 

[Darnon]

Some of the modern trucks the metal bumper isn't much thicker than body steel and in separate pieces per side so they're fairly cheap to replace. Careful trying to push/be pushed with them, though.

 

[RainmanJH]

My 97 Chevrolet S10 had a plastic cover on the front bumper. The rear was a steel tow/step bumper.

 

[JohnTaurus]

.

I am so old that my early trucks had all steel diamond plate wrap around “Barden Bumpers” on those early GMC/Chevy rigs. The Bardens may have been a regional or Western region product. Like I said, I’m old!😅

Hey, that bumper looks pretty cool! I got a helluva rear bumper on my '74 Chevy. Definitely not as fancy as what you had, but I bet it was expensive and it certainly gets the job done!

 

[Trucklic]

That right there is a mans bumper . The trucks work bench for the guys in a trade .

 

[Fishchris]

And I need to mention this again, for those of you worried about the plastic covered bumper, or any other plastic trim parts. Yes, these fade, oxidize, and become pretty nasty looking over time. You can make it look 90% better, by drenching after every washing with some sort of tire gloss product, Armor all, or whatever.... But IMPO, this becomes kind of a PITA after a while.

Fortunately their is a really easy, nice looking fix for this. Its called Bulldawg spray. Basically it is a special type of primer, called an adhesion promotor. It is SUPER sticky, and will stick to plastic, glass, and even chrome. Then you can spray it with the paint of your choice, or roll on bed liner, whatever you prefer.