Front bumper tie-ins recommendation

I have a 97 that I purchased with a Hooke Road bumper and a winch. Pretty heavy rig, but I notice now that it was mounted without any unibody tie-ins. Looking for recommendations for what to get considering that I'm not trying to build an off-road monster but a moderate overlanding rig. I'd love to get something strong, but I'd rather spend the big money on other things. Looking at the Dirtbound tie-ins and steering box brace for <$100. See below for the current config.

Driver side:


Passenger side:

I'd just a new bumper that looks good and doesn't stick out into the next county!

RCP Phx said:

I'd just a new bumper that looks good and doesn't stick out into the next county!

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Yeah, that'd be nice. I might get a different one later on down the road, but for now I'm happy to have the one I've got. I'll make it work long enough to get some of the other things I'm missing.

I still wouldn't trust that bumper "with" tie-ins!

It's funny that if you go to their webpage, it doesn't properly fit either early or late years of XJ's.
https://www.hookeroad.com/collections/jeep-cherokee-xj/products/full-width-front-bumper-w-winch-plate-led-spotlights-jeep-cherokee-xj-bxg323

RCP Phx said:

It's funny that if you go to their webpage, it doesn't properly fit either early or late years of XJ's.

https://www.hookeroad.com/collectio...-plate-led-spotlights-jeep-cherokee-xj-bxg323

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I'm not sure what you mean. I went to the page and all it says is that it fits all year models. Is there something I'm missing? What is improper about it?

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I find this pic from their webpage disgraceful and looks horrible, and if you look at your own pic it doesn't look/fit any better.

wow... thats something.

RCP Phx said:

I find this pic from their webpage disgraceful and looks horrible, and if you look at your own pic it doesn't look/fit any better.

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Ok, but how is that relevant to my question? I didn't choose this bumper but I need to make it work for the time being. I'm just trying to make it safe for my jeep should I get stuck someplace. There has to be a better answer to my question about tie-in brackets than "you're bumper is ugly and you should replace it."

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The basic design and construction of the bumper was only meant for a "mall crawler". The main winch plate has no structure and bolted construction doesn't provide much strength along with the material type/thickness. The shackle mounts don't have any solid mounting either. The over-hang is about the most I've ever seen and no protection for your fenders!

Skip the whole idea until you can buy/build a good bumper.

RCP Phx said:

The basic design and construction of the bumper was only meant for a "mall crawler". The main winch plate has no structure and bolted construction doesn't provide much strength along with the material type/thickness. The shackle mounts don't have any solid mounting either. The over-hang is about the most I've ever seen and no protection for your fenders!



Skip the whole idea until you can buy/build a good bumper.

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If I get a whole new bumper, will I not need to get tie-in brackets? I'm just saying, I'm not even arguing with you but you've said a lot about my bumper in a thread about tie-in brackets. As I understand it, I would have to get tie-in brackets for any pre-built, aftermarket front bumper unless I have unibody stiffeners or don't care that I can rip the bumper off in a recovery situation.

Again, I'm looking for tie-in bracket recommendations, as the title indicates.

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JCR brackets https://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJUNF-PC.html because they have a tab to tie into the sway bar mounts also.

I would also install the t-m fab front cross member stiffener or something similar >> https://www.t-mfab.com/store-3/?model_number=2230916

I built a copy of the factory ( and JCR ) front cross member tie-in out of 3/8" steel.

Most good bumper builds, the mounting tie is part of the design. I do that along with my shackle mounts as part of that. Most good bumpers are like that and are fully welded.

Here's one to check out, make sure you look at all the pics.
https://hardcoreoffroadpa.com/jeep-cherokee-xj-front-bumper/

If you slot the holes that are used to attach your bumper to its bumper bracket, then you could slide any number of aftermarket tie-ins underneath. It would certainly be better than the current setup, but its still pretty far from ideal.

If you shop for tie-ins, the main differences are:

- Number of bolt holes used to tie into the unibody rail. Some, like the ones that RCP_Phx made, go all the way back to the unibody tie-down hole which is a good feature. But be aware that on the passenger side, some of the holes in the unibody rail are not internally supported, so tightening a bolt going through the rail can cause the rail to collapse around the hole.
- Slot for the fender support. Some tie-ins do not have a slot, and its necessary to remove the fender support that many people say is not needed. Alternatively, a slot can be put into any tie-in with basic cutting tools.
- Material selection. I suspect that many of the ebay offerings are using low grade steel, but just a guess.

JCR is a good bet. C-Rok is another to consider. Both go all the way back to the unibody tie-down hook and avoid the unsupported holes, but both also do not have a slot for the fender support bracket.

You could also make your own and adapt them to any issues that might be a problem.

RCP Phx said:

You could also make your own and adapt them to any issues that might be a problem.

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OMG!!

That drawing is a double-dimension nightmare.

I can't believe RCP would post such a thing.

Has someone hacked his log-in?

This must be a practical joke.

Anak said:

OMG!!That drawing is a double-dimension nightmare.I can't believe RCP would post such a thing.Has someone hacked his log-in?This must be a practical joke.

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All I know is the math is good, I've built many sets of bumper brackets using this drawing I found on the net 20yrs ago!

I just can't wrap my head around you, of all people, posting a drawing that is so in violation of proper practice.

My world view is shattered.

It is going to take years of therapy to get me over this.

Help.

Send whisky.

maxbraketorque said:

- Slot for the fender support. Some tie-ins do not have a slot, and its necessary to remove the fender support that many people say is not needed. Alternatively, a slot can be put into any tie-in with basic cutting tools.
but both also do not have a slot for the fender support bracket.

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If you look close at the pick, I drilled a 1/4" hole for the fender support!