front and rear bumpers?

Hey all,
Well it's getting closer to Xmas,and I want to put bumpers on my Xmas list.
For the rear I want a tire carrier to go with it.For the front I dont know if I should go for a winch mount design or just a reciever and get one of those carriers that plugs into the reciever.. I also dont want to spend a grand on the rear bumper tire holder.
What do you guys and gals think,which ones are good?
Thanks,
Frank

Well Frank, my first suggestion would be for you to spend some time using our "Search" feature and read some of the thousands of posts on this topic. I'm sure you'll find alot of good information there. After you've got some bumper manfacturer names that you're interested in, go to www.xjdb.com and look at all the photos of other people's XJ's to see what bumpers they're using - give youself a good idea of what they look like and whatnot.

As far as getting a "good" bumper goes, it's all in your own definition of what you consider "good". There are alot of bumpers out there that work well, cost alot and look good. Then there's bumpers that work well and cost alot, but not so good looking. Then there's bumpers that don't work well, cost alot, and look good....... and then there's cheap bumpers - which for the most part, don't look good or work well.

You need to determine what you want the bumper to do. Do you need one that will take severe rock abuse? Are you concerned about approach angles? Is overall weight an issue? Are you gonna want to add other gear like high-lift jack, shovel, gas can or whatever to your tire carrier?

I guess what I'm trying to get at is you're gonna have to spend money to get something that fits as many of those needs as you want - nothing cheap does all those things.

Other people's opinions about what bumpers are the best, cheapest or whatever are based on their perceptions. So, it'd be better for you to do some research on your own, find what you like, then maybe search out those that already have that kind of bumper and ask their opinion.

Happy searching!

Though I have Not had the chance to beat it up on the rocks yet, I love the clean look and unobtrusiveness of my C-Rok rear bumper. I wanted a tough rear bumper that wouldn't take any departure angle away, yet still protect the back end and have a built in rear hitch to hook a carrier style winch into. I like that it also protects the lower rear panels behind the tires. It wasn't cheap, but so far I'm happy. We will soon see how it takes the rock rash.

jjmat3 said:

Though I have Not had the chance to beat it up on the rocks yet, I love the clean look and unobtrusiveness of my C-Rok rear bumper. I wanted a tough rear bumper that wouldn't take any departure angle away, yet still protect the back end and have a built in rear hitch to hook a carrier style winch into. I like that it also protects the lower rear panels behind the tires. It wasn't cheap, but so far I'm happy. We will soon see how it takes the rock rash.

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Yea I just looked at those,They dont offer a spare tire mount for it.. I have a hitch on mine but I can always take it off.
Thanks for your input