Are Duster rear bumper corner brackets important?

[Wvbuzzmaster]

So I am in the process of replacing the rear bumper on my 1972 Duster and I am curious what is the consensus on the rear bumper corner brackets. Who is using them, who isn’t, are they even necessary? When I removed my rear bumper those corner brackets were in fact bolted to the bumper, but not to the car, so I am inclined to just omit them.

 

[Kern Dog]

For a correct restoration, they do need to be there. Otherwise, you could put a bumper bolt in the hole and leave the brackets off.
I'd think a stock bumper would be rigid enough to not shimmy and shake without the brackets but a reproduction bumper may be thinner and less rigid.
That may affect your decision as well.

 

[andysauto1]

For a correct restoration, they do need to be there. Otherwise, you could put a bumper bolt in the hole and leave the brackets off.
I'd think a stock bumper would be rigid enough to not shimmy and shake without the brackets but a reproduction bumper may be thinner and less rigid.
That may affect your decision as well.

Good answer

 

[Professor Fate]

My thoughts are a little more "Toe the Line".
The car factories, especially Ma Mopar, did not exactly have a reputation for putting a lot of unnecessary superfluous parts on their cars- the bean counters would have a hissy fit. Every part had to have a purpose and justify the expense of adding it to the assembly line, so it's there for a reason- and probably a darn good one.
Will it cause a catastrophic failure if they're not there? Probably not, but...
Use 'em if you've got 'em.

 

[Murray]

The bumper ends will vibrate without them.

 

[Wvbuzzmaster]

The bumper ends will vibrate without them.

I do not understand how when 4” away is… the other bumper bolts…

 

[72bluNblu]

The corner brackets actually have reinforcement brackets backing up the sheet metal where they attach, so all of that was added for a reason.

I converted my ‘74 over to the ‘70-73 style bumper and brackets. The sheet metal reinforcements for the outer brackets are kind of a pain in the *** to add to a complete car that didn’t have them, so, I just run the main brackets. Car has been that way for years, no issues with the bumper, body gaps etc.

So, will running without the brackets cause you any issues with the bumper? Not as far as I can tell, at least as long as you’re not in an accident.

But, I’m equally sure they’re there for a reason. It’s not cosmetic, because they don’t affect the gaps and the bumper stays in place on the main brackets without them. Bang the corner of the bumper on something without them though and I would bet the bumper would bend at the main bracket and hit the quarter.

 

[JDMopar]

Along with all of the other points for retaining them, my guess is that the factory put them on to add more rigidity to the bumper when the bumper jack was used to change a tire. I bought a rear bumper core for my 70 Duster at Mopars at The Rock the other day and was glad to see the end brackets there since I don't remember seeing them on or in my Duster anywhere.

 

[72bluNblu]

Along with all of the other points for retaining them, my guess is that the factory put them on to add more rigidity to the bumper when the bumper jack was used to change a tire. I bought a rear bumper core for my 70 Duster at Mopars at The Rock the other day and was glad to see the end brackets there since I don't remember seeing them on or in my Duster anywhere.

Yeah you would definitely want them there if you were going to use a bumper jack on the car. I wouldn't use a bumper jack on any of my stuff anymore anyway but I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was part of the reason for having the corner brackets.

 

[JDMopar]

I was a teen in the 70's, and couldn't tell you how many times I jacked my 70 Duster up as high as it would go with it's bumper jack and another crank type bumper jack, stacked cinder blocks under the frame on both sides to get under it to work on whatever. Mostly changing oil, fixing brakes, replacing busted spider gears in the 7 1/4 X number of times, etc. I got a floor jack in my early 20's and thought I was King Kong with bloomers on!