Bumper help please..

[59ORLander]

I've scoured the forum trying to get a grasp on these Overlander bumpers, but I haven't seen much discussion on them in particular. Ours has what appears to be a home-made version, with an ugly rack for a spare.

I'd like to go as original as possible. Can anyone tell me what the overall length and width should be, and maybe how wide the gap is between the "rolls" (the two curves) is?

I have a local steel fabricator that can make this for me, but I have not been able to describe all the dimensions needed. I think the curvature of the ends on my home made one will suffice, but I am struggling to tell them about the thickness/width ( Is it 5" or 6"? ) and about the curvature of the "humps" in it.

Any pictures that someone has up close would be awesome too


Thanks much!

[markdoane]

Can't help with dimensions, but here is a photo that might give you a place to start.

[reinergirl]

My 63 had the " rolls" , sorry it's buried under 6 feet of snow and ice, but I thought 59 had a bumper more like this....
1950s' and early 60s' bumper

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by reinergirl

My 63 had the " rolls" , sorry it's buried under 6 feet of snow and ice, but I thought 59 had a bumper more like this....
1950s' and early 60s' bumper

Yeah..see, mine has this one exactly, but it has been cut up and re-attached and sure had a home made look to it. Meanwhile, a local friend with a '59 has one with the rolls. I'm confused. Perhaps it was a California-Ohio production difference?

Thanks Gang. At least I feel better knowing that this seems to be a point of confusion and it's not just me

Every other pic I've seen has shown the double curved bumper..HMM...

[59ORLander]

I talked to Dimitri there in Utah, and he said a 59 would have had a 4" plain C channel. He also commented that the ends of the frame has a bracket/plate welded to it that tapers from the frame's 4" dimension out to 6" at the bumper itself. So I guess I can move forward with mine!

Amazing..I can't find a picture of a '59 anywhere with this style on it, but I guess I better roll with it!

[KCN]

I spent a lot of time looking at bumpers and taking pictures of them. My 62 has your style, but others have the guard-rail style. I've about decided that if you have a trailer of this 58-63, then there were endless variations of _____ (fill in the blank). Someone will be bound to tell you it's 'wrong,' or that someone added it/changed it, regardless what you choose to do/or have. But then someone else will contradict them, or you will find one just like yours somewhere else... part of the fun is the individuality of each of these trailers.

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by KCN

I spent a lot of time looking at bumpers and taking pictures of them. My 62 has your style, but others have the guard-rail style. I've about decided that if you have a trailer of this 58-63, then there were endless variations of _____ (fill in the blank). Someone will be bound to tell you it's 'wrong,' or that someone added it/changed it, regardless what you choose to do/or have. But then someone else will contradict them, or you will find one just like yours somewhere else... part of the fun is the individuality of each of these trailers.

Yup, that's a thumbs up

[Foiled Again]

One of them was and still is this:

Airstream ASSEMBLES trailers, much more truly than it "manufactures" them.

They buy axles, appliances, converters, inverters, lights, etcetera ad nauseum. They probably bought bumpers from the least expensive supplier - again probably a few dozen at a time. Next order - gee the same factory might have had a surplus or canceled order for a slightly different style, and "we could make a deal for $"....

The super anal engineer types can just go wild over the "wrong" fit or finish on anything. And it isn't just Airstream. I recently bought a Singer sewing machine from the 50's - it isn't quite as good on knits as my serger - but boy on denim or leather or anything thick it's a champ. Anyway I was quite surprised to find that when originally manufactured it came in green, tan and black - and the black ones had two slightly different body styles (one was sold to businesses like tailors, the other to the general public.) Odd but the black one just seemed WRONG to me, even though in point of fact ALL singers were black (often with heavy decals) until sometime AFTER World War II.

Paula

[thesignlady]

Airstreamsupply.com has a used one for sale, not sure if it is correct for your needs, but there is a few different ones on the site under the used items tab

1950s' and early 60s' bumper

[59ORLander]

Originally Posted by thesignlady

Airstreamsupply.com has a used one for sale, not sure if it is correct for your needs, but there is a few different ones on the site under the used items tab

1950s' and early 60s' bumper

Yep, that's the Dimitri I was referring to..and who knows what the freight would be like

He said the smaller trailers in '59s were equipped with 3" bumpers like ours. But I have a strong feeling this one on ours came with it and was retrofitted with the spare assembly later.