To anyone with TrailReady bumpers

I just installed these, front and rear.

In the rear, you have to cut away the sheet metal to access the inner portion of both frame rails. That way you can slide their new mounts in. These bolt down through existing holes with the existing 3 bolts.
These need to sit flush on the bottom of the inner frame rails, and I found a small 1/4" chunk of steel welded to the bottom inner side of the right frame rail. It was about 7-8" back, and the new mount wouild 'teter' on it.

Did you run into something like this? I stacked 2-3 large flat washers on each side to make the mounts sit level. I saw no way to remove that chunk, unless you cut it out of the frame rail entirely.
Do you think this is adequate, strenght wise?

Now, the front bumper bolts to the factory mounts, three existing bolts each side. This seems kinda weak, and I already had Rusty's tow hook brackets. They go back a good 7", and bolt through the entire frame rail, totalling 4 bolts for added strength.
I decided to reuse these, simply sliding the new bumper mounts between Rusty's brackets, and the frame rail. I'll need longer bolts for two of the front mounts, but it should add some strength to the front end.

What do you think?

i have the rear trail ready. i do remember the washers you are talking about. when they designed theirs maybe that cherokee did not have that bump. do you have the tire carrier? i put on a 35" spare and the hatch would not clear when opening. i had to grind the bumper on the so that the swing out could go farther out. jack

I do have the tire carrier, should be instaling it in a day or two. I'd like those mounts to sit flush, instead of on washers though. I'll only be putting a 33" tire on it. Pics on their website show an xj w/35 on back...

BTW, did you put the end caps/tire carrier on after installing the bumper? This is how I'm trying to do it. Not much room to work though. And also, the bolts and washers (4 each side) they provide are pathetic. Way too small and thin for the size of the mount holes. I'll be picking up bigger hardware.

Thanks

it was over a year ago so i dont remember everything. the bumper came in one piece so thats how i put it on. but the mounts that go inside the frame were seperate. so i put on the mounts than with 2 people install the bumper. i am not as impressed with the bumper as i thought i was gone be. it could have been made a lot better. jack

Hey Jack,

I assume you have the side 'pods' that wrap arround the rear quarter panel, right?
Well, how did you ever fit 35s w/ that rear bumper? Mine were bought apx one year ago, and those pads wrap around to to inner side of the stock flares...

My front bumper has the same deal... wraps around too far. I've got 31s now, but 33s soon, and they will hit the bumper before stuffing.

I'm gonna call TR tomorrow.

i do have the pods (corner guards) . i requested my bumper to be made specific to the new (at the time) bushwacker flares. the regular trail ready bumper is way to long to fit 35s or maybe even 33s. i waited for my bumper for 11 months because bushwacker was late with their flares coming out. email me private at [email protected] , jack