Aftermarket Front Bumper

To start the thread off, yes I did search.

I looked around on JCR, AJ's, RigidCo, and TnT. I liked TnT's front bumper but the price tag is a bit too steep. With JCR, AJ's, and RigidCo I found that their designs were almost similar.

Do you guys reccommend any other quality manufacturer's beside these? I'm not looking for a custom built bumper, rather one that I can just chose and have built.

TIA

the backbone system seems to get pretty good reviews around here. its not a full front bumper but it can be built into one with little effort.

Moab 4x4 Outpost makes the best looking, most durable, most functional XJ bumper I have ever seen or used.

http://www.moab4x4outpost.com/servlet/the-5/Cherokee-Front-Bumper-w-fdsh-Winch/Detail

I recommend Hanson. It's expensive but worth every penny. Very strong but not overweight.

http://www.hansonoffroad.com/product_info.php?cPath=25_46&products_id=37

Mine:http://www.fototime.com/%7B6F442141-0C9A-4BB9-AD7E-6B18417CDB5F%7D/picture.JPG

Try http://www.logansmetals4x4.com. I almost went with them but ended up ordering one from AJ a couple days ago. Only bad thing is he is behind on orders so I am looking at a 4-6 week wait but he did say he is getting some help so he is hoping to catch up sooner than that.

check out moab4x4outpost.com front bumper. i'll sell you mine its onle 2 years old. i also have this skid plate.

Ronbo said:

I recommend Hanson. It's expensive but worth every penny. Very strong but not overweight.

http://www.hansonoffroad.com/product_info.php?cPath=25_46&products_id=37

Mine:http://www.fototime.com/{6F442141-0C9A-4BB9-AD7E-6B18417CDB5F}/picture.JPG

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Really? You like this bumper? I mean it looks good, but that is about it. It only uses the stock 3 mounting bolts on each side. I nearly ripped my buddies off his XJ trying to use one of our superyankers on it. I would not recommend this bumper to anyone but a mall crawler.

The Moab bumper is nice, but it doesn't protect your side marker lights, and if you have the 97+ you will crack your fiberglass if you come up too close on a tree or rock.

Rigidco bumpers are nice, and so are AJ's.

-Alex

Gotta echo what Ba-Riedo said on the Hanson. They make those bumpers less than an hours drive from my house, but after speaking with them on the phone and looking at how they mount I went with RigidCo. When I called Hanson they basically degraded the Cherokee's unibody construction as weak, but at the same time stated that their 3-bolt stock mounting is fine! I had asked specifically if they had beefed up the bumper mounting beyond stock and that's when they switched up and said the stock three bolts were strong enough. He further explained that it's to difficult to ship bumpers with longer mount plates. They are pretty bumpers, but that's all.

As for RigidCo, here's my experience so far. I'm in Iraq right now, and will be coming home around May. I emailed RigidCo some time just before Christmas and got an informative and detailed reply from Terry. I more or less knew what I wanted, but needed to be sure before making the order, so after checking out all the pics on his flickr page I emailed him back. A minor delay for the Holidays and a couple of emails back and forth later and we had it worked out. I had my wife send him a check for payment and on 21 Jan he emailed letting me know he got the check and asking a few more questions. Terry answered my reply by the 22nd and told me he would be starting the bumper. Terry knows where I am and knows I'm in no hurry, my only request was that he make sure it was there for me when I got home. I got an email on 4 Feb with the tracking numbers, one for the bumper, and one for the mounting system and hardware. My rigidCo bumper is waiting for me at home now. It's the FbG with BG11 brush guard and fog light inserts. I'll be getting a winch mount and wiring the Jeep to run the winch both forward and aft from the receiver hitch mounts.

So.... All that long-winded paragraph means is that I highly recommend RigidCo. Besides, I don't think you can beat his mounting system, which was one of my primary reasons for getting his bumper in the first place.

Doug

Avantone has the right idea. That bumper is SERIOUS! look at the approach angles. Very sick bumper, probably the most functional I've seen and great looking at the same time.

protofab4x4.com. good stuff

Ajs Armor, good stuff! high quality, absolutely sick welds

bmyohn said:

Ajs Armor, good stuff! high quality, absolutely sick welds

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that is a sexy bumper... i looked on aj's site and didnt see that particular one... was it a custom, or just added doodads?

Ba-Riedo said:

Really? You like this bumper? I mean it looks good, but that is about it. It only uses the stock 3 mounting bolts on each side. I would not recommend this bumper to anyone but a mall crawler.

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Not on mine. Not sure when they switched, but my mounting brackets go back to the rearmost mounting points, as well as the six up front ?

That pic is the top of Sledgehammer, right next to the 99 cent store.

dgrigorenko said:

that is a sexy bumper... i looked on aj's site and didnt see that particular one... was it a custom, or just added doodads?

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Looks like the one he calls the SlikRok Winch Bumper. I just ordered the PhatXJ Bumper from AJ. Can't wait till it gets here.

I built my own, with frame brackets... cost about $200, exactly what I wanted, and sold it for more than I built it for.

Otherwise you have lots to choose from, for only 2x or 3x as much.

You can't go wrong with AJ's

Another vote for Logans. Great fitment and it's held up to a lot of winching, hasn't budged yet.



My other choice would have been Rigidco but these guys are local to me.

Cherokeekid88 said:

Avantone has the right idea. That bumper is SERIOUS! look at the approach angles. Very sick bumper, probably the most functional I've seen and great looking at the same time.

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This post is worthless w/o a link or pics!

Ronbo said:

Not on mine. Not sure when they switched, but my mounting brackets go back to the rearmost mounting points, as well as the six up front ?

That pic is the top of Sledgehammer, right next to the 99 cent store.

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:confused1 Alright, well at least some of them are tied in correctly?

-Alex

RCP Phx said:

This post is worthless w/o a link or pics!

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Google the moab 4x4 outpost.

-Alex