I was going to post something about these bumpers in the other thread where a poster is asking about bumpers, but I thought I would just post my thoughts and a small review of these bumpers here for future reference for those searching for similar recommendations.
Here's the bumpers I purchased and installed this past weekend:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CV6F9VK/?tag=wranglerorg-20
They were $322 including shipping for both bumpers and arrived in about 3 days.
First off both bumpers were packaged extremely well and arrived with no scratches, dings or dents. Upon opening the package I noticed a very nice wrinkle black finish that looks to be very durable. I am a structural steel designer, and one of the many things I do as part of my job is to inspect steel structures, welds, etc... for the power industry, so I play close attention to the way things are built and I can assure you that these bumpers are built very well and are structurally sound. They are 3/16" thick steel and all the welds look to be well made with plenty of penetration.
The front bumper uses the original bolts from the OEM bumper and recovery hooks. 6 bolts all together which are plenty strong for this application. I did not reinstall the tow hooks because, of course, I now have shackles Which brings me to the shackle brackets. There are slots cut in the bumper for each and they are welded both outside the bumper and inside the bumper and on the back side the attachment locations where they stick through the bumper is reinforced with a channel type gusset plate on either side. You should have no problem towing your Jeep out of a mud hole with this bumper. If the original shackles were meant for recovery, then the shackles will perform just as well if not better.
It took me about 1 beer to install this bumper, with the biggest hassle being removing the OEM bolts that had been on there for 20 years. The only other issue I had was the bottom brackets were misaligned and I took a 3 pound hammer and bent both inward toward center of the bumper a little to get the holes to line up with the mounting holes on the bottom of the Jeep frame. I think the only improvement I would make would be to slot the holes in these brackets parallel to the bumper instead of perpendicular to the bumper.
Long story short: I love the bumper. It looks great on the Jeep, it has a nice clean appearance, and is plenty stout enough for recovery or to later mount a winch on it if I want. Two thumbs up!
What got all this started is that my Jeep didn't have a receiver hitch, so I bought a "Hidden Hitch" brand used off or Craigslist, but it sat too low for just about any type of off-roading. I need a hitch to pull my utility trailer and possibly a small skiff in the future. So I started looking all over for a bumper/hitch combo and eventually settled on this one. I strongly considered other American made bumpers, but they weren't coated and I would have needed to rattle can them. Did I say the finish on these were great?
The first thing I noticed about the rear bumper was that it in fact had the eyelets welded to the receiver for my trailer safety chains. Perhaps earlier models didn't have them. The next thing that I noticed was that it was fabricated and welded very well. The receiver is reinforced, completely welded and gusseted by the safety chain eyelets. The bumper is slotted for the shackle brackets and they stick through to the inside and are completely welded on the outside and the inside. They also have gusset plates fully welded to the inside of the bumper on either side of the shackle bracket locations to reinforce the bumper at those load points. There are shelf brackets that bolt to the frame with 4 bolts each. They are reinforced with gusset plates as well. The bumper bolts to these brackets with two larger bolts and then also bolts to the bottom of the frame with two OEM bolts from the original bumper. It is all very well thought out and constructed. Mine fit perfectly and took about 1 beer to install. Less than an hour.
Bottom line: The bumper looks great. It has a nice finish with nice clean lines. I would not hesitate to tow anything with this bumper that the Jeep could safely tow. My bumper had a sticker on it that stated it was rated for 5000#. All in all 2 thumbs up. I am super happy with this purchase and would buy again in a heartbeat.
I'm sure there are better bumpers out there for a TJ, but if there is a better set of bumpers for this price I would like to see them.
Here's the bumpers I purchased and installed this past weekend:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CV6F9VK/?tag=wranglerorg-20
They were $322 including shipping for both bumpers and arrived in about 3 days.
First off both bumpers were packaged extremely well and arrived with no scratches, dings or dents. Upon opening the package I noticed a very nice wrinkle black finish that looks to be very durable. I am a structural steel designer, and one of the many things I do as part of my job is to inspect steel structures, welds, etc... for the power industry, so I play close attention to the way things are built and I can assure you that these bumpers are built very well and are structurally sound. They are 3/16" thick steel and all the welds look to be well made with plenty of penetration.
The front bumper uses the original bolts from the OEM bumper and recovery hooks. 6 bolts all together which are plenty strong for this application. I did not reinstall the tow hooks because, of course, I now have shackles Which brings me to the shackle brackets. There are slots cut in the bumper for each and they are welded both outside the bumper and inside the bumper and on the back side the attachment locations where they stick through the bumper is reinforced with a channel type gusset plate on either side. You should have no problem towing your Jeep out of a mud hole with this bumper. If the original shackles were meant for recovery, then the shackles will perform just as well if not better.
It took me about 1 beer to install this bumper, with the biggest hassle being removing the OEM bolts that had been on there for 20 years. The only other issue I had was the bottom brackets were misaligned and I took a 3 pound hammer and bent both inward toward center of the bumper a little to get the holes to line up with the mounting holes on the bottom of the Jeep frame. I think the only improvement I would make would be to slot the holes in these brackets parallel to the bumper instead of perpendicular to the bumper.
Long story short: I love the bumper. It looks great on the Jeep, it has a nice clean appearance, and is plenty stout enough for recovery or to later mount a winch on it if I want. Two thumbs up!
What got all this started is that my Jeep didn't have a receiver hitch, so I bought a "Hidden Hitch" brand used off or Craigslist, but it sat too low for just about any type of off-roading. I need a hitch to pull my utility trailer and possibly a small skiff in the future. So I started looking all over for a bumper/hitch combo and eventually settled on this one. I strongly considered other American made bumpers, but they weren't coated and I would have needed to rattle can them. Did I say the finish on these were great?
The first thing I noticed about the rear bumper was that it in fact had the eyelets welded to the receiver for my trailer safety chains. Perhaps earlier models didn't have them. The next thing that I noticed was that it was fabricated and welded very well. The receiver is reinforced, completely welded and gusseted by the safety chain eyelets. The bumper is slotted for the shackle brackets and they stick through to the inside and are completely welded on the outside and the inside. They also have gusset plates fully welded to the inside of the bumper on either side of the shackle bracket locations to reinforce the bumper at those load points. There are shelf brackets that bolt to the frame with 4 bolts each. They are reinforced with gusset plates as well. The bumper bolts to these brackets with two larger bolts and then also bolts to the bottom of the frame with two OEM bolts from the original bumper. It is all very well thought out and constructed. Mine fit perfectly and took about 1 beer to install. Less than an hour.
Bottom line: The bumper looks great. It has a nice finish with nice clean lines. I would not hesitate to tow anything with this bumper that the Jeep could safely tow. My bumper had a sticker on it that stated it was rated for 5000#. All in all 2 thumbs up. I am super happy with this purchase and would buy again in a heartbeat.
I'm sure there are better bumpers out there for a TJ, but if there is a better set of bumpers for this price I would like to see them.