Shout out to the Smittybilt best customer service ever.

[ImAJeepskate]

I purchased and installed a Smittybilt XRC2 Front Bumper on my 18' JLU about a year ago. Living in Minnesota where the winters are a salt and brine party it started to develop some rust on the leading edge. They claim a 5 year warranty on the coatings and it was as simple as one email with customer service and the new bumper is on the way. Not everyday that things are that simple.

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[Dethwalkin]

I purchased and installed a Smittybilt XRC2 Front Bumper on my 18' JLU about a year ago. Living in Minnesota where the winters are a salt and brine party it started to develop some rust on the leading edge. They claim a 5 year warranty on the coatings and it was as simple as one email with customer service and the new bumper is on the way. Not everyday that things are that simple.

Nice to hear they are going to honor their warranty.
How are the stainless steel pieces on the rear bumper holding up? Mine are rusting very badly on both sides, hardware too.
All the screws holding on the plastic pieces, front and rear, have lost most of the black finish so now they look grey. I've only had the bumper since last fall. Going to try to get replacements for everything.

 

[ImAJeepskate]

Nice to hear they are going to honor their warranty.
How are the stainless steel pieces on the rear bumper holding up? Mine are rusting very badly on both sides, hardware too.
All the screws holding on the plastic pieces, front and rear, have lost most of the black finish so now they look grey. I've only had the bumper since last fall. Going to try to get replacements for everything.

Mine were just fine. Try rubbing it with steel wool. Ssteel shouldn't get much more than surface rust

 

[Dethwalkin]

Mine were just fine. Try rubbing it with steel wool. Ssteel shouldn't get much more than surface rust

Well in IMO this shouldnt happen. Ever time i washed it i used Stainless steel cleaner on them as well.

 

[Jeepdude101]

Well in IMO this shouldnt happen. Ever time i washed it i used Stainless steel cleaner on them as well.

100% agree However if you live somewhere where salt gets put down thick 3 to 6 months out of the year most finishes will rust to a degree now if it’s all over that’s a bad finish the main reason I didn’t get smittybilt is because of the finish just my .02

 

[ImAJeepskate]

Well in IMO this shouldnt happen. Ever time i washed it i used Stainless steel cleaner on them as well.

IMO stainless steel cleaner doesnt do jack S**t just hit it with anything more abrasive than a towel and it will wipe right up

 

[ImAJeepskate]

Well in IMO this shouldnt happen. Ever time i washed it i used Stainless steel cleaner on them as well.

I would also look at the washers used, from the pictures that looks to be the source of the rust. maybe swap them out or remove all together.

 

[Adam 4248]

FWIW, low grade stainless steel will rust. If a magnet sticks to it, it will rust.

 

[sf5211]

Well in IMO this shouldnt happen. Ever time i washed it i used Stainless steel cleaner on them as well.

Thats a shame Darryn, you know what that is? The manufacturer gave you a stainless steel plate and stainless steel bolts but cheeped out on the washers and used regular steel. My Morgan truck body on my plumbing truck has beautiful stainless steel edges but they used steel rivots so my truck looks just like your plate. I see this in the plumbing trade too. People pay good money for fancy faucets and the manufacturer uses steel screws to hold the handles in place. After a year or two you can't even remove the handles. What you can do is take each bolt out and check that a magnet doesn't stick to it. Whatever hardware sticks to a magnet replace with stainless steel and you won't get those rust stains.

 

[Dethwalkin]

Well after a few emails and arm twisting, Smittybilt has agreed to ship out new plates and hardware. I'm just going to powder coat them and use some rubber washers. I'll post up if and when they arrive.

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