machinegunmedic
New member
Any one running this on their rig? Any photos of the install. Wondering how much was cut off rear, and if this is something I can do my myself.
Any one running this on their rig? Any photos of the install. Wondering how much was cut off rear, and if this is something I can do my myself.
I had bought one but never installed it, turned out it was not compatible with my EVO Lever Rear Suspension. I would have had to do extra fabrication to run that bumper since the cross member that gets trimmed to fit the bumper is where my EVO Lever frame mounts to. I ended up giving the bumper away to a relative and he installed on his JK with hand tools and a reciprocating saw in his driveway in less than half a day. The install is really easy, it comes with a template to mark where, and how much to cut off the rear frame crossmember. It's a great looking bumper with awesome departure angle, in fact running no bumper is the only way to get more departure angle than this bumper. I'm pretty certain you could handle this modification at home.
To be clear, this bumper will require you to cut off a boxed in cross member just so that you can install a c-channel bumper. Is there a reason why you think this is a good idea?
Don't get me wrong but to be fair, the photo you show is a bumper to body hit and NOT bumper to bumper. Also, it looks like the hit was off center and that your passenger side frame rail took the bulk of the impact. Maybe if you hit a pole dead center and nothing happened, I would be more impressed.
As far as pulling people out, your tow points are located in line with your frame rails and of course you wouldn't see any negative effects on your bumper when doing a pull. There's a reason why this bumper doesn't have a tow hitch and it's not just for clearance - center of the bumper would not be safe to pull from.
I should note that what sucked most about the TJ was that its frame was too flexible and in large part, what makes the JK so great is that it comes with a LOT of boxed in cross members and they make the frame very rigid. I personally wouldn't want to give that up and I certainly wouldn't want to compromise the rear end strength when doing things like severe side pulls but, that's just me.
Last but not least, most people do not carry their spare inside like you and GCM 2 do and for them, having a heavy duty bumper will actually do a great job of protecting your spare when coming off big ledges. Something the OP should consider as well.
Your correct. I shouldn't have stated it as a direct bumper to bumper. While both bumpers did connect. I was slightly taller and with the angle of the bumper it shot me up and over top of his and into the body. I'd honestly have a hard time imagining a harder hit while wheeling. But like I said. If I were to do it over, I'd probably go a different route with less cutting. It does tuck up nice a close though. As for cutting the cross member. Exactly one half of it was cut at a 45. How much rigidity that takes away is hard to say after the the bumper is bolted on.
Bolting on a c-channel bumper is in my opinion, a far cry from a welded boxed in cross member. But, that's just me. I won't lie, I really like the looks of the bumper and the idea of it but steered clear of it once I knew what was involved in getting it installed.
Slightly? That's override. It slide over the top of the TJ's bumper into the tub.
Honestly, running no bumper is the best option in my opinion and surprisingly, I think it looks really good too :yup: