When I bought my Willys it had a large steel-diamond plate bumper. I did not particularly like this arrangement. Although utilitarian, from my perspective this bumper was aesthetically challenged. In fact, this bumper was one of the first things I removed.

Willys trucks did not come with bumpers from the factory. I suppose the reason for this was due to the tailgate. A bumper impedes the ability of the tailgate to fold all the way down to the vertical position. The bumper I had on my PU is a common find on these old trucks. I'm not sure if they were dealership options or if these bumpers were aftermarket bolt-ons.

I liked the idea of having a rear bumper but I just wasn't sure what type. Finally it came to me during a visit to the Willys America open house in July 2000. It was at this event that I spied a Willys PU with a rear bumper from a Willys Wagon. Instantly I thought, "What a great idea!" Why had I not thought of that sooner? So off I went in search of a Wagon bumper.

Later that year I found a Wagon bumper at a local wrecking yard. It was not in perfect shape but at least it was mostly straight. When I bought the bumper it still had the original brackets bolted to it. These brackets would not work with my PU frame so some shade tree engineering was necessary. Using part of the original brackets, I was able to fabricate some brackets that bolt to stock holes in the frame. The thumbnails below show the aftermath.