Any truck I have ever owned you could step on the center license plate section of the rear bumper and often it was even suitable for a light duty hitch. Truck I bought this past January has the fold out step in the tailgate which I regularly use. It wasn't until I removed the tailgate to use my bulk tank that I discovered this section on my '12 is nothing but unsupported cosmetic plastic. I mistakenly stepped on it and cracked it in the process before I realized it was only for show. For the section circled in red in the attached photo... any options out there either aftermarket or from Ford to beef this up enough to support a person's weight without changing the entire bumper?

 

I step on mine every time I need to get in the back of my truck, which is normally when I wash it to get the top of the cab. I have not actually looked under it, but there is a steel support under the plastic.

 

There is steel under the plastic. I know for a fact because I have drilled into it.

 

Tagging for info.
This is the reason I hate this truck. Its just a car with a bed on back.
If I could buy a new 1995 F150, I would do it in a minute. Sheet metal was thicker, had real bumpers you could climb on, no VVT, normal shocks in front/back, not $$$$$ struts, fuel filter I could change, no mess oil filter, etc, etc, and the same gas mileage I'm getting now.

 

Good to know because what I have now seems pretty ridiculous for a truck. You can see the crack directly above the hitch receiver where I tried to step on it to strap down the tank. Will have to take a closer look and see if there's something missing underneath.

 

Mine is cracked too. I looked at the steel piece under it and found it to be cracked too. You might have the same problem.

 

Will definitely check it out. Thanks for the tip. Is it a replaceable part or something a welder could fix up if that's the case?

 

our trucks don't have struts, they have shocks, front and rear.

 

I guess what he is trying to say is the newer trucks have coil overs in the front which is basically the same as a strut because the spring needs to be compressed to change it. On the older models, you could pull the shock independently of the spring.

 

A welder could fix. One of these days I'll weld mine up.