One of my earliest mods was to install a rear bumper from Stout, out of New Mexico (sadly, they closed up shop in 2001). The Stout bumper is massive 3/16" wall 3"x3" square tube, impressively built, has fully welded plates and mounts for recovery shackles, two light cans, and a removable trailer hitch. I ordered a standard bumper, thinking I would be removing the 2" body lift - well, that never happened, so I went to see Matt Peters about modifying the bumper.

Matt was able to cut and weld the mounts and tuck it up closer to the body - by pulling it back towards the bottom of the bed, and by moving it up. This resulted in the bumper providing exceptional ground clearance, acting as a burly skidplate when needed, and it still provides all of the protection and function Stout built in.

Matt accomplished this by cutting the actual bumper channel mounts, and rewelding. See the pictures! The stock / Stout mounts were retained - 4 1/2" bolts per side.

As always, click on the thumbnail to see the full-size image!