EAG Bumper Review

Irishguy

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 7, 2018
Messages
239
Location
Lick Skillet, AL
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.
 
I used to have the same bumper on my old TJ. Never had any issues with it, and I actually really liked the way it looked.
 
I love my EAG stuff. Totally underrated and very economical. I bought their front and rear bumpers, safari doors, tail light guards and grill inserts all for maybe 500?
2d9cd5dbfb71414b3571e8b485bcd927.jpg
eeaa2ada4974ea59b4e0f37029194729.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I love my EAG stuff. Totally underrated and very economical. I bought their front and rear bumpers, safari doors, tail light guards and grill inserts all for maybe 500? View attachment 45458View attachment 45459


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Where are you from in NJ? I grew up in Union Township and lived in Jackson before moving to CA. Nice Rubicon!
Lou
 
  • Like
Reactions: schmoupe
Where are you from in NJ? I grew up in Union Township and lived in Jackson before moving to CA. Nice Rubicon!
Lou

Up in Bergen county. Grew up in Ridgewood area and now live in Edgewater right across the water from Manhattan.

Thanks! Baby Rubicon is new to me. Still needs a lift but I am thinking next spring once I put some miles on the current tires and up for replacement
 
EAG is one of the chinese brands that are rebranded to about 100 different brands/vendors. I also had chinese bumpers front and rear. Work well and pretty durable. Replaced the front when I found a deal on an ARB bumper. Still running one of the rears. I agree, for the price, I don't think they can be beat.

I'll have to check out their doors - I want some half doors but steel doors would be good as well.
 
Thanks for the review and for everyone else's feedback here. I have a pair of EAG bumpers on their way to me along with a Superwinch Tiger Shark 9500 SR that I'm looking forward to. I'll be sure to share some pics once it's all set up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KCsTJ and ARae4TJ
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.

I have the exact same bumper set! Love mine so far and they have held up pretty great on the trail. I have to say EAG is one of the few who actually has decent customer service and is based out of California. I had some scuffs on my bumpers corners from shipping and they made it right. Anyway, good buy and I would buy again from this company. (I also have their winch plate).

IMG_0729.JPG
IMG_0739.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Equilibrium31
I had the comparable Smittybilt bumper combo on my previous X, which is still going strong on there, I saw the Jeep yesterday. I had no issues with fitment, fit, or quality of workmanship on them, either. I know Smittybilt, and imported stuff in general, gets ragged on a lot, but these are not spacecraft, they are steel bumpers.

I went with the Dirtworx this go round for my Rubicon, for difference's sake, support of a small USA manufacturer, and I actually wanted to try and finish them myself so I could touch them up if needed. The total for the DW front & rear came to $467, so while more, I am really happy with them also.

I would not hesitate in another situation to go with the import bumpers again. A ton of owners on this forum have the one @schmoupe pictured above, branded by one company or other, but identical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DuncLJ and KCsTJ
I have the exact same bumper set! Love mine so far and they have held up pretty great on the trail. I have to say EAG is one of the few who actually has decent customer service and is based out of California. I had some scuffs on my bumpers corners from shipping and they made it right. Anyway, good buy and I would buy again from this company. (I also have their winch plate).

View attachment 45696 View attachment 45698
sorry for being off topic, but i cant help but think your jeep looks like mantis from guardians of the galaxy
between the color, and the tan hardtop and the dark headlights

mantis.0.jpg
 
sorry for being off topic, but i cant help but think your jeep looks like mantis from guardians of the galaxy
between the color, and the tan hardtop and the dark headlights

View attachment 45699
Lol, if I had dual cb antennas or something, that would be hilarious. But hey I do like that for a Jeep name! Good stuff.

Maybe I can relocate my KC Flex led's from the lower windshield corners up to the top windshield corners somehow and it would add to the Mantis effect.
 
Lol, if I had dual cb antennas or something, that would be hilarious. But hey I do like that for a Jeep name! Good stuff.

Maybe I can relocate my KC Flex led's from the lower windshield corners up to the top windshield corners somehow and it would add to the Mantis effect.
Ha! that would be pretty funny, but all joking aside, your jeep looks awesome and right at home on that trail!
 
  • Like
Reactions: EJD
Very nice review but aren't they 5/32" as the Amazon ad says? That's a little thinner than most bumpers.

In all reality they are probably 4mm since the rest of the World produces their steel plate using the metric system. And in this application with the stiffeners engineered the way they are and the bends in the plate that also act to stiffen the whole bumper, there's not a real world difference other than these bumpers are somewhat lighter than it would be if it was .1875" thick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DuncLJ