A bumper system for a vehicle comprises a beam having a face and having mounts adapted for mounting to a vehicle frame, and an energy absorber engaging the face and having end sections located outboard of ends of the beam, the energy absorber being made of a structural engineering polymeric material and the end sections having flat top surfaces for forming steps outboard of the ends of the beam.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/957,228, filed Oct. 1, 2004 now abandoned and entitled BUMPER WITH ENERGY ABSORBER FORMING USEFUL FEATURES, now abandoned, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/726,169, filed Dec. 2, 2003 and entitled BUMPER WITH ENERGY ABSORBER FORMING USEFUL FEATURES, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,379, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/294,124, filed Nov. 14, 2002, and entitled BUMPER WITH HITCH, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,036.
An automobile bumper including an isolator including one or more step surfaces integrally formed on the isolator. The step surface(s) may provide a gripping surface for permitting a user to step on for loading and unloading objects from the automobile. A fascia cover may be attachable to the isolator and include a cutout for allowing the step surface(s) to protrude through the cutout to prevent direct contact of the user's foot with the fascia.
