Rock Hard RH-4014 front bumper and flat towing

PackFan

PackFan

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Reno, NV
Does any one have experience with the Rock Hard RH-4014 Front Bumper?

I want a bumper that I can flat tow with and Rock Hard offers bolt-on tow bar brackets for a variety of bars (see photo below). In looking at other threads, I understand that many are towing off the D-rings on a variety of other bumpers, but the manufacturers typically will not indicate they are OK for towing like Rock Hard does. (Not that it matters.)

This bumper is made of 1/4 inch steel, is winch ready, and comes with with a fair lead mount. I should be good to go, as my TJ came with a Warn M8000 winch. The winch was mounted on a funky removable plate/insert that can be deployed in a front or rear towing receiver. It is not the most convenient set-up and that front receiver has already been removed.

The RH-4014 bumper weighs 39 lbs and I plan on converting the winch to synthetic rope to keep the weight down. Hopefully I wont get a lot of sag in the suspension with this set-up (especially after removing the front receiver).

Any feedback on this plan is appreciated.


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Not sure I have any actual feedback yet, but I just bought this bumper on Northridges 4th sale. Now waiting for it to get here.
 
I have a Bestop front bumper and I flat tow all the time using the D-ring tabs, I have towed it from CA to Moab this way. I thought if they are strong enough to be used to pull my jeep out of the mud, snow, or off rocks they should be strong enough to pull the jeep just rolling down the road

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I flat tow using the D-ring eyelets. These are fairly high so I have to use a hitch offset adapter to get the tow bar level. It wants to be within 3 inches of level.

If your bumper is 1/4 inch thick you should have no problem, as long as the eyelets are double welded, front and rear. My bumper is only 3/16 inch thick.
 
I have the Patriot series bumper, but not the tow brackets. The bumper is probably overkill for flat towing, as it is rated for a 12,000 lbs winch. You could probably hang the jeep off the bumper.

You might also consider having RH4X4 add a hitch receiver on the front. Great as an extra recovery point, cargo rack/kayak rack/fish rack mount, or even pushing trailers into tight spaces

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Thanks all. Good to know someone else on the forum considered this bumper.

I think the D-rings are double welded and should be good to go, but I will probably order the add-on Rock Hard tow bar brackets that bolt-on. It looks like they mount low on the bumper so that should make leveling easier.
 
It is an excellent bumper. I have one on my TJ with a Warn M8000.

If that bumper is rated for a 12k lb. winch, then it will actually withstand a 24k lbs. pull, because if someone uses a snatch block in combination with a 12k lb winch, then you would have 24k lbs. of pull.

It does use 6 bolt to secure it to the Jeep, instead of the factory 4.

You can probably drag anything you like with the D ring mounts, it is a heavy duty piece of kit. Rockhard's rear bumper is very impressive(and heavy) as well.
 
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Thanks lindsey97. I think it has all the features I am looking for and the price is right at $319.00.

Do you have any of the optional winch guards or hoops?

I am leaning towards going with just the bumper and adding a Rock Hard winch fair lead light mount to have a place to mount my fog lights as I don't think there is a provision for lights with the standard bumper.

It may be time to get in line for drop ship from Rock Hard as I haven't found them in stock anywhere.
 
PackFan said:
Thanks lindsey97. I think it has all the features I am looking for and the price is right at $319.00.

Do you have any of the optional winch guards or hoops?

I am leaning towards going with just the bumper and adding a Rock Hard winch fair lead light mount to have a place to mount my fog lights as I don't think there is a provision for lights with the standard bumper.

It may be time to get in line for drop ship from Rock Hard as I haven't found them in stock anywhere.
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Far as I can tell looks like most of the places you can order from just have it shipped directly from Rockhard. Still haven’t got the shipping notice or guesstimated date when mine will start heading towards me.
 
Rockhard is in Nebraska, nice people just call them. I bought mine from CSE in New York on eBay. I do have the short hoop for 2 KC and the power steering box guard. Let me go take some pictures.

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Rockhard will sell directly to you. I have their rear bumper as well, with frame tie ins. The rear has twice as many bolts holding it on as stock, plus the frame tie brackets. It's heavy, and has extra bolt hole positions for covering up a 1" BL, which I haven't done yet.
 
lindsey97 said:
Rockhard is in Nebraska, nice people just call them. I bought mine from CSE in New York on eBay. I do have the short hoop for 2 KC and the power steering box guard. Let me go take some pictures.

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Nice! Makes me more excited for mine to get here. Not doing the Winch guard hoop initially, wanted to try a different look for a bit. Thanks!
 
I'm looking at these bumpers (RH-4014) as a possible solution to reduce weight, simplify my winch mounting situation, and provide a solid/simple base for flat towing. Any feedback from folks who've run this for a while?

Also, from a looks point of view, since we run metalcloak "high-line" fenders, I feel like the minimalist bumper design might flow better than the OG Garvin setup.

Thanks in advance for any info.
 
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