RockHard 4x4 Bumpers Powder Coating Issue - Buyers Beware

UND_Sioux

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2020
Messages
226
Location
Montgomery, TX
I should've known better.

My build changed scope a few months back and I decided I was going to focus on building a nice tow-behind Jeep for some light trails etc....Anyway, I got rid of the Savvy front bumper for something that was a little bit more conducive for flat towing. I ultimately ended up going with RockHard 4x4 front a rear bumpers. I liked the look of the front; I liked that I could order it with Blue Ox brackets and I could use the D-rings to mount safety chains. It was a pretty good setup for what I needed. Additionally, the rear bumper is adjustable up to hide the body lift if you'd like and it has a built in hitch that I can use to carry a couple mountain bikes.

I decided to place an order. The first thing that struck me as odd is their shipping. When I put the front bumper in my cart with the tow brackets, etc..., the shipping was about $55. Pretty reasonable for a heavy steel bumper.
Screenshot 2022-11-12 at 12.37.11 PM.png


Now when I added the 55 lb rear bumper, the shipping jumps to $300 flat FedEx freight to a local terminal.

Screenshot 2022-11-12 at 12.38.02 PM.png


At this point, I checked to see how much it was for just the rear bumper, and it was also $300.

Screenshot 2022-11-12 at 12.38.56 PM.png


So I made a phone call and spoke to a nice guy who basically told me that shipping was expensive now and that FedEx freight was the only way they ship...strapped to a pallet. (Remember this for later)

I ultimately placed the order and to my suprise, they arrived at FedEx within a few days. I expected longer. I went and picked them up. When I got home, I unloaded them and opened up the boxes on the garage floor and was immediately disappointed. On the rear, it was immediately apparent that the hitch had been welded in crooked. Not a big deal with a trailer, but a pretty big deal when you have a vertical bike rack off the hitch. Then I started to notice how thin the powder coating was. I could see the lines in the metal from the milling process through the coating.

IMG_0334.jpeg


IMG_0332.jpeg


The lines aren't too bad, but they're there. Then I opened the front bumper box and I was disappointed again. More bad powedercoating.

IMG_0331.jpeg


I sent an email to Rockhard with the photos and to their credit, they told me they would send me replacements and have FedEx pick up the old ones. They apologized and said that they should have never made it past their QC process. OK. Things happen. A few days later I get a text saying a shipment was on the way via.......WAIT.....FedEx Ground??????

But I thought they were too big and heavy to ship via anything other than $300 flat freight. That pissed me off. Additionally, when they arrived, I talked to the FedEx delivery driver and he told me they ship stuff like that all the time. Again, pissed off.

Just wanting to get these on, I decided to not worry about the shipping and let it go.

Today, I opened the boxes and guess what......more horrible powder coating. The front is even worse than the last one. The back is better, but there are four chips in the new coating right on the outer face of the bumper.

IMG_0406.jpeg


IMG_0409.jpeg


IMG_0414.jpeg


IMG_0411.jpeg


I think I figured out what the problem is. They use that chemical foam in a bag packing material which I believe is discoloring the finish in the box. The areas that are screwed up are where the packing material is touching the bumpers.

IMG_0416.jpeg


I sent another email and I am awaiting their response. At this point, I'm going to have them blasted and coated locally. Originally I was going to buy a few pounds of the powder they use from them directly to match some other parts to these bumpers, but now it looks like I take all of it to a local shop and just pick out whatever black I like and go with it. I'm not going to deal with the chance that a third set may be defective. We will see what RockHard has to say, and when I get a response, I'll let you know. If you are planning to order anything from them, I'd order it raw and have a good powder coating shop do it.
 
Last edited:
Well, here is a quote I just ran on FedEx's website. No corporate discounts or anything, just a straight up quote using RockHard's box size and weight from their shipment to me.

Screenshot 2022-11-12 at 1.29.57 PM.png


So if you ordered their rear bumper, you'd pay $184.08 for a cardboard box and couple pieces of foam (that will discolor your bumper). And as a bonus....you have to go pick it up at FedEx.
 
  • Wow
  • Angry
Reactions: L J and Apparition
shipping companies seem to have jacked up their rates and their service has gone down hill. recently bought some ammo. and it shipped ups from bastrop, tx. took 9 days to get to me in east tx. sat at their terminal in tyler for 3 days. ups tried to tell me shipping label had wrong address, that was a lie. driver didn’t want to deliver due to lane closures with road construction.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
shipping companies seem to have jacked up their rates and their service has gone down hill. recently bought some ammo. and it shipped ups from bastrop, tx. took 9 days to get to me in east tx. sat at their terminal in tyler for 3 days. ups tried to tell me shipping label had wrong address, that was a lie. driver didn’t want to deliver due to lane closures with road construction.

What are you complain about 😩 we can't even have ammo shipped in to CA from any other state
 
If you decide to keep it, reach out to Texas Custom Coaters in Navasota. They are top notch & very reasonably priced for blasting/powder coating.
 
Sorry to hear that about Rock Hard, I had one of there rear bumpers and after a dozen years it had a problem with the latching. I called them and they shipped me out new parts for free including shipping. They said there stuff came with a lifetime warranty
 
I should've known better.

My build changed scope a few months back and I decided I was going to focus on building a nice tow-behind Jeep for some light trails etc....Anyway, I got rid of the Savvy front bumper for something that was a little bit more conducive for flat towing. I ultimately ended up going with RockHard 4x4 front a rear bumpers. I liked the look of the front; I liked that I could order it with Blue Ox brackets and I could use the D-rings to mount safety chains. It was a pretty good setup for what I needed. Additionally, the rear bumper is adjustable up to hide the body lift if you'd like and it has a built in hitch that I can use to carry a couple mountain bikes.

I decided to place an order. The first thing that struck me as odd is their shipping. When I put the front bumper in my cart with the tow brackets, etc..., the shipping was about $55. Pretty reasonable for a heavy steel bumper.
View attachment 376284

Now when I added the 55 lb rear bumper, the shipping jumps to $300 flat FedEx freight to a local terminal.

View attachment 376285

At this point, I checked to see how much it was for just the rear bumper, and it was also $300.

View attachment 376286

So I made a phone call and spoke to a nice guy who basically told me that shipping was expensive now and that FedEx freight was the only way they ship...strapped to a pallet. (Remember this for later)

I ultimately placed the order and to my suprise, they arrived at FedEx within a few days. I expected longer. I went and picked them up. When I got home, I unloaded them and opened up the boxes on the garage floor and was immediately disappointed. On the rear, it was immediately apparent that the hitch had been welded in crooked. Not a big deal with a trailer, but a pretty big deal when you have a vertical bike rack off the hitch. Then I started to notice how thin the powder coating was. I could see the lines in the metal from the milling process through the coating.

View attachment 376292

View attachment 376296

The lines aren't too bad, but they're there. Then I opened the front bumper box and I was disappointed again. More bad powedercoating.

View attachment 376299

I sent an email to Rockhard with the photos and to their credit, they told me they would send me replacements and have FedEx pick up the old ones. They apologized and said that they should have never made it past their QC process. OK. Things happen. A few days later I get a text saying a shipment was on the way via.......WAIT.....FedEx Ground??????

But I thought they were too big and heavy to ship via anything other than $300 flat freight. That pissed me off. Additionally, when they arrived, I talked to the FedEx delivery driver and he told me they ship stuff like that all the time. Again, pissed off.

Just wanting to get these on, I decided to not worry about the shipping and let it go.

Today, I opened the boxes and guess what......more horrible powder coating. The front is even worse than the last one. The back is better, but there are four chips in the new coating right on the outer face of the bumper.

View attachment 376302

View attachment 376303

View attachment 376304

View attachment 376305

I think I figured out what the problem is. They use that chemical foam in a bag packing material which I believe is discoloring the finish in the box. The areas that are screwed up are where the packing material is touching the bumpers.

View attachment 376306

I sent another email and I am awaiting their response. At this point, I'm going to have them blasted and coated locally. Originally I was going to buy a few pounds of the powder they use from them directly to match some other parts to these bumpers, but now it looks like I take all of it to a local shop and just pick out whatever black I like and go with it. I'm not going to deal with the chance that a third set may be defective. We'll see what RockHard has to say, and when I get a response, I'll let you know. If you are planning to order anything from them, I'd order it raw and have a good powder coating shop do it.

I agree that if you pay for it they should paint it well. I still would always order raw and paint myself. That way I can touch up as needed and it will match. The shipping fiasco is ridiculous. That’s a total rip off by RockHard 4x4. I hate Fed Ex. They’re the worst at reliability since Covid.
 
I agree that if you pay for it they should paint it well. I still would always order raw and paint myself. That way I can touch up as needed and it will match. The shipping fiasco is ridiculous. That’s a total rip off by RockHard 4x4. I hate Fed Ex. They’re the worst at reliability since Covid.

Fedwreck is a joke up here. Needed a drive hub for an Eaton axle and it’s bad enough the charges to get it here but for the thing that was double boxed to show up looking like a half inflated beach ball is unacceptable.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: JMT
What a shame. I have some RockHard 4x4 components and I am very happy with the quality of the product. (Front bumper, hoop, and steering box armor)

Looks like they have taken a dump in the QC dept as well as the customer service department.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Duredel
That's one of the reasons I only order from companies that have a Paypal option. I've got so many free parts because of the idiots at UPS and FedEX smashing the boxes. I'm not paying return shipping for something I didn't damage.

I love PayPal, use it for same reasons as you described. I can think of like one shirt I purchased and the company would not take PayPal, I was skeptical, but still bought the Wrangler TJ forum shirt ;)

I laugh every time I think of @Chris getting banned from PayPal.
 
You should definitely get what you paid for. Though I've heard lots of horror stories about Jeep parts that come powder coated. Usually it is sub standard. If you want it done right, need to find a local powder coater that does a good job.

My rails from Ace (for my previous JKU) had awful powder coating that was flaking off from day 1. Ended up sanding it down and using a rattle can. If you're going to beat on them, it's easier to touch up that way.
 
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Reactions: rasband