XJ rear bumpers with towing capabilities

Hey guys, new member here. About a month ago I purchased a modified XJ that use to belong to a member of this forum. Long story short, I am looking for an aftermarket rear bumper for it. It needs to have a built in hitch and recovery points. I really like the Rusty's Trail Bumper for it's high clearance and no frills appearance. HOWEVER, I noticed that the rear receiver is only rated for recovery and not for towing. I'd really like to use this XJ to haul Jet Skis in the summer and hauling a Honda Grom (About 225lbs) on a hitch haul for various activities. I found the SmittyBuilt XRC bumper but it's a little more spendy (Not a big deal), seems much bigger and IMHO is a touch on the ugly side. Is there anything closer to the Rusty's bumper that has a Class 3 hitch certification?

Pictures for reference; Rusty's Bumper







And the Smitty XRC;





And a picture of the 'ol Jeep it's going on;

From what I can gather you might be better off getting a tow hitch and installing that vs. an aftermarket bumper. Alot of the aren't class 3 rated. You might be able to install the hitch under some of the aftermarket bumpers to.

You have a plethora of options out there, but it all depends on your budget.

One thing that I will say is that few, if any of the bumper manufacturers are going to straight up say "Class 3 rated Hitch". Reason being is there is probably some sort of certification required to state that. That being said, look how a class 3 hitch is installed to your frame. Most of them use the 4 holes located in the frame that most aftermarket bumpers also tie into. I would feel pretty confident with a higher end bumper that ties into the same nut strip locations on the frame, along with other bumper tie in locations. In fact, I feel like they would probably better, because they don't just utilize the nut strip locations.

https://www.hansonoffroad.com/proddetail.php?prod=JXJ4002-P

I have Hanson's tire carrier, which is exactly the same as this bumper, just adds the tire portion. If you have any questions about this bumper I would be more than happy to help. I've never towed with it, but I know the previous owner towed a dual Skidoo trailer with it.

Oh and PS, I have an ARB Front bumper, like yours as well, so go Hanson, just cause I'm biased, haha.

I'm having the same problem only I have a bit more drivetrain weight to my XJ vs one with stockish drivetrain. I can across these tie-ins which seem a bit better than most however they require cutting the unirail open in the rear. That I feel is truest way to achieve what I'm looking for.

I like that Hanson's bumper but it's hard to justify the extra $300 over the Smitty. The Jeep is a wintertime daily and occasional weekend wheeler/overlanding/hunting rig so $750 on a bumper is hard to swallow, haha. I will probably just end up going with the Smittybuilt bumper and doing some customization.

If cost is a selling point and you don't mind some bending and welding jcr has a good diy bumper for a good price. That might be a better option if you plan to modify the bumper.

I have looked at JRC components and they seem very nice for the money. I work at a heavy diesel shop so I'm sure I could have one of my mechanics in the shop finish it for me. Definitely a good option, thank you.

Read the reviews on the smitty before deciding to go with it. Fit and finish is not their priority. I was looking at them earlier this year, and this post in particular made me decide not to go with them.

http://gunscarstech.com/2015/01/03/...re-carrier-initial-thoughts-and-installation/

As for the jcr I will say that you might want to swap out the box tubing for a actual receiver the box tubing fits a little lose. I have jcr bumpers myself and that is something I noticed. It should be fairly easy to beef it up as well.