Warn Rock Crawler Bumper

ranger101

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Joined
Dec 30, 2018
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Location
Inwood, WV
A little over a year ago I found a deal on a Warn Rock Crawler rear bumper/tire carrier for $150 on Facebook Marketplace. The ad said it had some rust but was still in decent condition. So I hopped in the truck and drove about 2hrs one way to get what I thought was a fairly clean setup. I get there only to find out it was a crusty mess that was outside behind the barn for 2yrs. But, all things considered I went ahead and bought it since I was already there and knew what they cost new.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures in its “crusty” stage but this was after getting all the old powder coat and major rust off
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Ive never used POR-15 so I grabbed their 4oz kit and gave it two heavy coats after prep. Much too glossy for me to leave alone, plus it needs a top-coat due to lack of UV protection. But I have to say it looked good like this. It’s crazy how this stuff levels itself out and dries HARD.
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Next I hit it with Rust-Oleum Self Etching primer and finished it off with my favorite stuff, Rust-Oleum Truck Bed Coating. Couple coats of primer and 2 coats of bed liner, then let it cure out in the sun for a day before bolting everything up.
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To give you an idea of what everything looked like before. This is the original hardware and frame tie-ins that came with it
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And after a good sandblast and primer treatment
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Also grabbed some new tie-ins off eBay from Pocono Metal Fab. Nice brackets for $45, but they come raw steel and no hardware. No big deal, $10 trip to Lowe’s got me everything I needed.
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And a before shot to show the difference in clearance. Notice you can just barely see the factory gas tank skid
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Thanks! I was torn on using this or selling it to fund a MORyde setup and another bumper. But with this setup weighing in at 80lbs, I’m not sure all that effort is worth saving.... 20-30lbs at most. Unless I went with an aluminum bumper but I’d really like to keep the hitch.
 
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Thanks! I was torn on using this or selling it to fund a MORyde setup and another bumper. But with this setup weighing in at 80lbs, I’m not sure all that effort is worth saving.... 20-30lbs at most. Unless I went with an aluminum bumper but I’d really like to keep the hitch.

I hear you on that. A receiver hitch was extremely important to me as I use a bike rack to transport our mountain bikes. I ended up with a Dirtworx rear bumper, as it's cheap, made in the USA, and has a receiver hitch.
 
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I hear you on that. A receiver hitch was extremely important to me as I use a bike rack to transport our mountain bikes. I ended up with a Dirtworx rear bumper, as it's cheap, made in the USA, and has a receiver hitch.

It was either a light bumper and run a steel gas tank skid, or steel bumper and aluminum gts. So now I’ll keep my eyes open for an aluminum GTS 😁
 
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The whole Jeep looks shiny and new! I don’t see a single pinstripe or mark on it. Do you actually use that Jeep?:)

Yes and no. As far as a lot of trail time, nothing aggressive since I bought it back. It has 190k and gets driven to work often. I’m also not big on tearing up my stuff haha the month of August is looking busy for it though. Fixing some spots on the frame that are starting to worry me and rebuilding all the joints in my control arms. Then it’ll be ready for some fall wheeling trips 😁
 
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Got the carrier primed and sprayed today. Was kinda lazy with this part and didn’t strip all of the powder coat off. The carrier didn’t have nearly as much rust, but the bottom of the center tube(vertical tube) collected water and swelled/cracked. Laid a small bead down and ground everything smooth. I should be able to bolt everything up tomorrow 👍🏼
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I got a deal on some Warn bumpers on Ebay. The guy wanted $250 for the pair because he said it was a scratch and dent sale. When they showed up, there wasn't a scratch or dent. I was really happy with them. Now I have heavier LoD bumpers.
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@ranger101 . That rear Warn bumper looks great. You really brought new life into it. Great work. Looks brand new.

I run Warn stubby and the rear without the tire carrier.Both came through forum members. All in forjust shy of $150.

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Thanks guys! 🍻

@JMT I appreciate that! I love that stubby front bumper. I remember seeing the thread where you did the same with your rear bumper and i liked them ever since. Love the full coverage and the tapered ends just like you said. It was just the price of them that kept me away. I also have the matching front bumper that I found for $50, but its the full width style. Just can’t decide if I like that look or my stubby PS bumper more.
 
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Thanks guys! 🍻

@JMT I appreciate that! I love that stubby front bumper. I remember seeing the thread where you did the same with your rear bumper and i liked them ever since. Love the full coverage and the tapered ends just like you said. It was just the price of them that kept me away. I also have the matching front bumper that I found for $50, but its the full width style. Just can’t decide if I like that look or my stubby PS bumper more.
Is there a way to cut it down and re-weld the ends? Ie turn it into a stubby?
 
Is there a way to cut it down and re-weld the ends? Ie turn it into a stubby?

Yes and no. I’d have to cut the ends off and bring them in which would take off a couple inches. Not as easy as chopping a section out from the center, but definitely feasible. For now it’s tucked up in the attic until I get bored haha

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Yes and no. I’d have to cut the ends off and bring them in which would take off a couple inches. Not as easy as chopping a section out from the center, but definitely feasible. For now it’s tucked up in the attic until I get bored haha

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It still looks good AND you also have a PS stubby, so I'd say you're pretty set.
 
Is there a way to cut it down and re-weld the ends? Ie turn it into a stubby?

You could always just hack off the sides as I did to mine. I got tired of hitting the corners, right under the logo, on rocks. It's not pretty but it got the job done and was cheaper than a new bumper. I kept the ends in case I ever wanted to fab up some corners and reattach the warn logo. Perhaps now that I have a welder I'll do that one day.
 
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You could always just hack off the sides as I did to mine. I got tired of hitting the corners, right under the logo, on rocks. It's not pretty but it got the job done and was cheaper than a new bumper. I kept the ends in case I ever wanted to fab up some corners and reattach the warn logo. Perhaps now that I have a welder I'll do that one day.
I've thought about cutting my ends off right at the frame and capping them with something like what UCF does on their ultra-high clearance bumpers
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