Front Bumper Impact Strip Color Identification

[KCM]

Hi all.

First time poster. Have visited this site on occasion and found some useful information. I am now in need of some information which I have not been able to find anywhere, and am hoping a forum member will have the little gem of information I am in need of.

We have a 1997 Ranger XLT 4WD that recently got into a little fender bender. Broke the park light, scratched a piece of trim, and messed up the front bumper impact strip. I found the part number and info on the park light and trim, but the impact strip is throwing me for a loop. In particular, it is the color I am having problems with. When I go to the online Ford parts catalogs, of which there are many, for a 1997 there is only one impact strip listed, F37Z-17K833-C. But it is listed for a truck with fog lights, which this truck does not have, and describes the color as graphite. There is no strip listed for a bumper without fog lights. If I look at a 1996, it does list a strip for a bumper without fog lights, part number F37Z-17K833-A with a color described as titanium.

My question is which one do I need? How do I identify what color is on the truck? What is the difference between graphite and titanium? The color is what I would describe as medium gray. It is not real dark and not real light. Attached is a picture. I suspect it is titanium but want to be sure before order. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[55trucker]

The impact strips are all grey, ......you could try LMC truck for the strip, they have a decent supply of stock to cover almost all trucks cosmetic needs. But having said that much of their inventory is asian offshore.

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site. Picture of whole truck please. Nobody likes a tease...

 

[KCM]

Thanks for the welcome and replies so far. So what would the difference be in the impact strip between a truck with fog lights and one without? From the truck pictures I see on the web they all look the same. Still don't know why the Ford parts books don't show the strip for trucks without fog lights for 1997. Of course, parts books aren't always perfect either. Wasn't sure if the fog lights version was used on all 1997 models or if Ford just accidently omitted the non-fog light part for the catalog.

Also don't know why manufacturers choose color names that aren't straight forward to understand, or are very similar. When looking at the 1997 Ranger, saw the titanium, graphite, and opal, but if you search the web, those colors can come in different shades. If you look up opal, it actually is a whole range of colors. Gets confusing.

Checked out LMC. Price is fantastic but they say the color is black. Maybe you are supposed to paint to match.

dvdswan, I guess you're right. Didn't realize the pic was such a teaser when I posted.

 

[55trucker]

Checked out LMC. Price is fantastic but they say the color is black. Maybe you are supposed to paint to match.

Odd, I ordered a pair of them 4 years ago, what you see in my pic is what I received.

 

[KCM]

Likely an error in their description on the LMC site. Looked up the ones for a 1998. Left says black and the right says gray, and you know they can't be different colors. That is one of my pet peeves, an online seller website that is not kept up-to-date or has incorrect information. Makes it very difficult to know what you are going to get.

 

[4x4junkie]

It's quite likely there are infact two different colors for the rub strip.

Back around 1998 or so I had a woman in a Mercedes rearend me in my '94 Ranger. Tweaked the bumper slightly (just barely hitting the rear quarter panel and putting a small dent in it), her car was effed (hood buckled, radiator leaking... lol ... Keep your eyes on the road and don't rearend people!!).

Anyway, while looking in the local classifieds, I came across a rear bumper from a 1996 XLT. Went and bought it. Got it home, and discovered the plastic bumper cover had a distinct purplish hue when put up against the one from my '94, which was more of a neutral gray. It wasn't so much of a difference that I just put the bumper on and forgot about it. If I had to guess, this was a change that took place for the 1995 model year when the interiors were also updated (and included a small update to the front grill).

As for the fog light/no fog light thing... I would also probably chalk that up to another ignoramus who couldn't be bothered to do their research while writing the parts store lookup catalogs (programming the computers). Anyone who's tried to buy front axle parts for a 1993-1997 4WD truck w/3.45 gears, or rear wheel bearings and/or axle seals for a Ranger 8.8" probably knows this all too well.
The bumpers are the same, fog lights or no. I think it's a 1993-1994, and 1995-1997 thing (as for which is "titanium" and which is "graphite", I don't know... If I had to guess, the newer one is probably more likely to be "titanium").

 

[KCM]

Thought I would post an update to my conundrum. I was able to find a vendor who was able to verify the color of part F37Z-17K833-C (graphite color). They were able to verify that the part is black, or at least a very dark gray close to black. So part F37Z-17K833-A (titanium) is the medium gray and is what I needed. I was not able to find a factory new OEM part so ordered an aftermarket part instead, Keystone brand part #FO1057182. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the color matched nearly perfectly and a close to original texture. Fit was very good as well other than a gap between the bumper and strip at the very end of one end, likely a flaw during molding. If I knew ahead of time, would have bent it back a little by hand first before installing.

I was not happy with the way the reproduction attached though. Instead of snapping into place as the original, it has hollow round posts that you push through the bumper holes (which is fine), then you push on a stiff large 1-3/8" diameter concave spring clip. It came with a special tool to use to hammer the clips on, but I had a hard time getting the clips tight enough on all the posts to keep the strip nice and tight against the bumper, leaving a small gap in some places. On the clips at the center I ended up cutting off part of the clip edge to get a tighter fit as the larger diameter interfered with the natural formed shape of the bumper, preventing the clips from going on the parts far enough. Ended up taking the bumper off to put the clips on (not a big job). Might try another technique in the future to get the clips tighter. A big pain in the butt getting them on.

Overall though it looks great and you would probably wound not know it is a reproduction unless you were told so.