Does anyone have a rear bumper from Bulletproof Bumper Mfg? This company has been defunct for a decade or two. It's a shot in the dark but I'm looking to get their basket that goes over the spare tire.
Any bulletproof bumpers out there?
- Thread starter EugeneJeep
- Start date
They were out of Goleta California. Here's a pic of their ricochet rack that I found online.
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FrankieDee
New Member
Would you happen to know what brand of Jerry cans that work with the rear bumper set up?
Tray Burge
TJ Addict
These have held up great to many trips to the mall?
Motobilt fwiw.
Motobilt fwiw.
Can I see a closer up picture of the Locking mechanism and the hinge point? I have a bulletproof rear bumper and finally after all these years I want to go with 33" tires but I want to to build a tire carrier off the original bumper.
Thanks
Chris
@ChrisTJ98 I loved those bumpers, I sold them with my last jeep it went to Louisiana ironically. Those bumpers took a beating this is the best I could do, If I find any more I'll send them your way. Looks like a piece of half inch bent 90 and welded on. There there was no bushing just the gate clamped right to the L bracket. If I remember correctly where the U bolt attached to the L it had a bit of a valley so it nested in there when clamped.
Thanks, you wouldn't happen to remember the spacing between the cross member and the bumper itself would you? it looks like maybe a 1-1-1/2" spacing possibly. I decided to just build a new bumper I ended buying a latch from E3machine probably paid to much but it looks like the highest quality compression latch I've ever seen and should last I hope another 20 years.
The space between the bumper and crossmember needs to be wide enough to insert the length bolts you intend to use and the tool you intend to use to hold the bolts.
I'm going to thread it into the backside of the bumper like bulletproof did, so that's why I'm curious as to what is the spacing they used.
If the bumper face against the crossmember is threaded for bolts, then the bumper can fully contact the crossmember. The is no specific need for a space in between.
@ChrisTJ98 I'd say no less than an inch. If you take in to account the width of the bumper and the swing out are the same then add one half inch for the angle stop that will hang off the crossmember side of bumper that the swing out will rest on, plus the thickness of the u bolt latch that attaches to the backside of the angle stop. Add more back spacing as necessary if you would like to hang accessories such as a shovel or hi lift jack on the tail gate side of the swing out. Bullet Proof also had an adjustable spare tire carrier. It used a 2" receiver witch you could slide in and out to accommodate for different width tires or if you want to add Gerry cans or tools to the tire side of the swingout. It's just something you are going to have to play with and get it right for your application and how you want to outfit the swingout.
I'm hoping to do the same thing this year I bought a kit from EMS Offroad they are local to me. https://emsoffroad.com/tire-carrier-hinge-and-latch/ They use the same latch bulletproof used the company is called Destaco and the series is 344. You can ebay search and find them. I bought the kit from EMS because the price was good and I also needed a spindle. One stop shopping.
I'm hoping to do the same thing this year I bought a kit from EMS Offroad they are local to me. https://emsoffroad.com/tire-carrier-hinge-and-latch/ They use the same latch bulletproof used the company is called Destaco and the series is 344. You can ebay search and find them. I bought the kit from EMS because the price was good and I also needed a spindle. One stop shopping.
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@ChrisTJ98 So after thinking about it for another min I do remember the U bolt being very close to the tub when I'd latch it. The Ubolt itself is 5/16 I just measured it, then I had 3/16 body armor as well. So that's a half inch right there plus the thickness of the angle stop and now you are at an inch so it would have had to been at least one inch one quarter minimum or the latch would have not been able to operate.
I ordered the spindle style hinge from EMS as well and these two plates from Taboo Customs https://taboocustoms.com/store/TJ-Rear-Bumper-Tire-Carrier-Mount-Kit are 1/4" thick that is the same bolt pattern that the TJ cross member has and is the same as what bulletproof manufacturing did but I think they may have used 3/8" plate so I would have at least 3/8" gap between actual bumper and crossmember currently. I reached out to another company that makes swing out tire carriers and they told me using 4"x2" rectangular tubing and the swing out tire carrier that I would need no less that 1-1/2" gap between bumper and crossmember. I do want to keep this close as I can to the crossmember but a little gap I think is good. I'm just real picky on the way some manufactures mount these bumpers. I just want a clean look about it. I do think I am going to need more than what I currently have to mount a highlight jack if I ever were to buy one. Its good to brain storm and ask lots questions. I'm basically just taking little ideas from everyone out there that makes bumper and trying to put it into something of my own that is a clean look.
Thanks
Taboo is a good company to work with, I had him custom CNC me some rear frame sections for my LJ when I was rebuilding the frame. You should keep this thread going to bounce ideas around. I'm going to try and build off of a Warn bumper at first If it doesn't look like it will work out I'll go full custom.
If you really want the absolute details the guy I bought my replacement engine from has a pair of said Bulletproof bumpers on his LJ. He's not that far from me and I'm sure he'd have no problem with me coming up and taking measurements, I'm still in contact with him. And no he doesn't want to sell them I already asked. I think he was a little stunned when I called them out he just kind of gave me that blank stare for a second.
Taboo is a good company to work with, I had him custom CNC me some rear frame sections for my LJ when I was rebuilding the frame. You should keep this thread going to bounce ideas around. I'm going to try and build off of a Warn bumper at first If it doesn't look like it will work out I'll go full custom.
If you really want the absolute details the guy I bought my replacement engine from has a pair of said Bulletproof bumpers on his LJ. He's not that far from me and I'm sure he'd have no problem with me coming up and taking measurements, I'm still in contact with him. And no he doesn't want to sell them I already asked. I think he was a little stunned when I called them out he just kind of gave me that blank stare for a second.
I've looked at the Dirtwox bumpers and my plan is to build pretty similar to them but I just don't like how it mounts to the rear crossmember. It looks tacky to use channel, in one hand it makes it easy to fasten it but it just doesn't look good to me. The 1/4" plate from taboo I will weld to the rectangular tubing and tap it all the way through including the 3/16 thick tubing just like Bulletproof did. I thought I could always use a thick piece of aluminum the same shape as taboo plate if I had to space it out anymore than 1/4" and it would still look decent to me and of course it will get mounted underneath as well. The other thing is I don't like these latches that Ive seen and so many complain about rattling. I'll probably use some delrin/plastic blocks to minimize the swing out tire carrier from ratting any. I did buy L shape piece of plastic from EMS that I may use, I'm still thinking about it. https://e3machine.com/products/ultimate-billet-compression-latch
This is the latch I purchased and yes its quite a lot but I've seen it work on other custom bumpers and I really like that it has a safety pin so it doesn't come flying out and it allows you to add a pad lock so it can me locked. I plan to put a hard top on as I have no desire to ever run a soft top again, soft top was factory. To be able to lock this and not allow the rear window to be opened so easily adds just a spec more security because over the years Ive had this soft top sliced and broken in for why I hate them so much LOL
Its going to be a bit before I start this as I'm currently replacing ALL of the a/c and heater core at the moment.
Hi there, I just came across this thread and was wondering if anybody was interested in a Bulletproof Manufacturing Ricochet Rack for a TJ. I just have the rack assembly, not the bumper. I got it for a project a while back and never used it. It’s brand new, never used. I know that these are impossible to find and I would love it to go to somebody that will use it. It’s located in Canton Michigan. The site won’t let me post pictures but I can send pictures if anybody wants. Let me know if anybody is interested. Thanks
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