ALUMINUM bumpers ONLY. Let's see them!

[Odyssey USA]

Thanks for sharing how your thoughts have evolved. I don't know a ton about winches yet (just seen them in action), so I didn't realize the implications of it being lower on spooling and placement. And 3 days of fitting sounds so rough...I currently don't even have a garage or personal parking spot, so multi day installs isn't really an option for me.



My Jeep hasn't even seen a summer yet, but yeah I live in VA so not nearly as hot as some other areas. I also didn't think about debris getting stuck in there...had a good at laugh at "looks like you threw a winch on your bumper..because you did". Though I still think that sounds like it looks better than getting a bumper with holes cut out for a winch and not putting it in there.

I think at a minimum you guys have convinced me top mounted isn't a bad idea. And that means I don't need to have to have figured out a winch by the time I want a bumper, and that means I could buy it whenever I wanted, and that means....hmm...

Yeah, I used an angle grinder with a flapper wheel to gently grind on the front and back of a new winch! I did the same on the front face of the rear portion of the winch plate just to get another couple of mm’s. On that bumper the bolts go through the front so that means that you have to put nuts on the backside of course. I literally had to slide the nuts onto a screwdriver and let them slide back down the screwdriver through a crack and into place. From that point I had to use another screwdriver like it was my own finger to turn the nut onto the end of the bolt. It was extremely tedious and I will never do it again lol. I did not bargain for that complicated of an install and Genright only mentioned lightly grinding on the front inside corners of the winch. Not accurate by any means for my ‘19.

Sponsored

 

[jack bauer]

EVO rear aluminum rear bumper install completed.
Zero instructions , zero drama. Everything lined up, no prying, no BFH, hitch is good to go, sensors work as before.
27 pounds.
Still waiting for the EVO aluminum 1/4 pounder front bumper to ship on out the 31st.
Posted in other sections, but I thought I'd throw it up here too.

 

[Steve JLUR]

Hey everyone! I have rockhards aluminum mid width and genright tire carrier…still deciding a rear bumper

How come you have non Rubicon front fenders?

 

[smokeythecat]

I went with GenRight for the front bumper. The rear is still stock but I plan to replace it with a steel bumper as I think it is more likely to get banged on coming off of a ledge.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

Export Rubicons are like that and they also have a big ugly Euro bumper.

 

[bjm00se]

This pic makes me feel pretty good about the RH alum mid width I have on order.

 

[lightsout]

Nice looking rig!!

I don't think the RockHard sits any lower than the Barricade. It sits no lower than frame horns. You can see the bottom two mounting bolts that go into the frame horns and the integrated skid angles below. The integrated skid is thicker than the stock skid so I guess technically the bottom edge would be just a touch lower.

The D-Ring mounts are solidly welded front and back. I have no concern about their strenth. This is actually one of the selling points of the RockHard in my mind. Many aluminum bumpers have bolt on D-Ring mounts, which I see as a weak point. The font and back welds on the RockHard are going to be far stronger than most bolt heads.

I agree the accessory light mounts are a bit limited on the RockHard.

The Barricade Bumper only drops to 3" below the bottom bumper bolt the Rock hard goes well beyond that so there is a cleacance difference. Additionally I use the Maximus 3 Tow loops (for towing behind Motorhome) the Rock hard bumpmper it too low to allow the loops without cutting slots in the bumper for the Maximus. And with Jeep/Stellantis saying you should never tow a TOAD from the bumper that makes Rock hard a no go for me. But is is good to see another 3/4 aluminum bumper option on the market, there are not enough 3/4 options

 

[AVGeek99]

The Barricade Bumper only drops to 3" below the bottom bumper bolt the Rock hard goes well beyond that so there is a cleacance difference. Additionally I use the Maximus 3 Tow loops (for towing behind Motorhome) the Rock hard bumpmper it too low to allow the loops without cutting slots in the bumper for the Maximus. And with Jeep/Stellantis saying you should never tow a TOAD from the bumper that makes Rock hard a no go for me. But is is good to see another 3/4 aluminum bumper option on the market, there are not enough 3/4 options

The RockHard bumper has an integrated skid plate that replaces the stock airdam/electronic swaybar protector. The Barricade bumper doesn't have a this extra skid/protection, you still have to use what comes stock.

The stock protector is just a thin piece of sheet metal that bolts directly to the bottom edge of the frame. The integrated skid on the RockHard is 1/4" plate aluminum, same as the rest of the bumper and extends just below the bottom edge of the frame. This is the only spot where the RockHard would have less clearance, but no more than 1/2 ".

The skid on the RockHard provides much more protection for the electronic sway bar than the stock protector. I'll take this extra protection at the expense of minimal loss of clearance.

 

[blink9cd]

The RockHard bumper has an integrated skid plate that replaces the stock airdam/electronic swaybar protector. The Barricade bumper doesn't have a this extra skid/protection, you still have to use what comes stock.

The stock protector is just a thin piece of sheet metal that bolts directly to the bottom edge of the frame. The integrated skid on the RockHard is 1/4" plate aluminum, same as the rest of the bumper and extends just below the bottom edge of the frame. This is the only spot where the RockHard would have less clearance, but no more than 1/2 ".

The skid on the RockHard provides much more protection for the electronic sway bar than the stock protector. I'll take this extra protection at the expense of minimal loss of clearance.

This weekend I installed the Rock Hard Aluminum Patriot Full Width Front bumper. Decided against the lowered winch plate version given feedback here and that I don't plan to have a winch in the near future. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:

One tip for anyone installing this (or probably any other front bumper). Forgive my lack of good terminology here, but you have the eight frame bolt openings with plates over them:

Either from taking off the original front bumper, or just standard factory intolerances, the plates don't perfectly align over the holes as you can see in the following pictures:

Loosening the bolts on the side, realigning the plates, and then tightening with bolts in them proved to make it a much easier process to get the bumper on. We got halfway through the install before realizing they were off that much and had to take it back off. We also noticed about two holes of the eight were a little tight and took much more work to get bolts through.

 

[AVGeek99]

This weekend I installed the Rock Hard Aluminum Patriot Full Width Front bumper. Decided against the lowered winch plate version given feedback here and that I don't plan to have a winch in the near future. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:

One tip for anyone installing this (or probably any other front bumper). Forgive my lack of good terminology here, but you have the eight frame bolt openings with plates over them:

Either from taking off the original front bumper, or just standard factory intolerances, the plates don't perfectly align over the holes as you can see in the following pictures:

Loosening the bolts on the side, realigning the plates, and then tightening with bolts in them proved to make it a much easier process to get the bumper on. We got halfway through the install before realizing they were off that much and had to take it back off. We also noticed about two holes of the eight were a little tight and took much more work to get bolts through.

Nice! I need to post new pics now that I have D Rings and the hook I originally wanted. What feedback have you seen that steered you away from the lowered winch plate version? Was it just that the winch was difficult to install because of very tight spaces to get mounting screws in and tightened? That I would definitely have to agree with!!

I ended up mounting my winch first and then mounted the bumper to the Jeep. Even with the bumper off the jeep I had difficulty getting my hands in there. Luckily my neighbor was helping and he is a former mechanic so he is good getting his hands in tight spots. I think the only realistic way to get the winch mounted after the bumper is on the Jeep is if you have a lift that allows you to sit upright or stand with the Jeep at shoulder height or just a bit higher. This might make it easier to reach in and get the mounting bolts on and tight.

I too had to loosen the brackets on the frame horns in order for the holes to line up correctly. I also had one hole in one of the frame horns that wasn't big enough for the bolt so I ended up having to drill it out with a 5/8 bit. I happily disovered my wireless drill had a 1/2" shank, otherwise I would have been SOL.

 

[blink9cd]

Nice! I need to post new pics now that I have D Rings and the hook I originally wanted. What feedback have you seen that steered you away from the lowered winch plate version? Was it just that the winch was difficult to install because of very tight spaces to get mounting screws in and tightened? That I would definitely have to agree with!!

I ended up mounting my winch first and then mounted the bumper to the Jeep. Even with the bumper off the jeep I had difficulty getting my hands in there. Luckily my neighbor was helping and he is a former mechanic so he is good getting his hands in tight spots. I think the only realistic way to get the winch mounted after the bumper is on the Jeep is if you have a lift that allows you to sit upright or stand with the Jeep at shoulder height or just a bit higher. This might make it easier to reach in and get the mounting bolts on and tight.

I too had to loosen the brackets on the frame horns in order for the holes to line up correctly. I also had one hole in one of the frame horns that wasn't big enough for the bolt so I ended up having to drill it out with a 5/8 bit. I happily disovered my wireless drill had a 1/2" shank, otherwise I would have been SOL.

Yep the main two pieces of feedback were that it's very tight to get the winches to install or take off to service, and that a lot of crap gets stuck in the lowered winch plate versions. I also thought a lowered winch plate version doesn't look great on its own without a winch installed, and I don't plan on adding one for a while.

Good to hear I wasn't the only one on the frame horns, but I guess I'm lucky I didn't have to break out a drill.

You should post your pics! I just got the shackles out of my recovery kit and added them today. Fitted them with Daystar isolators:

Right now I like the look of the silver shackles with the silver bolt heads. Though these shackles feel kinda rough and I have concerns they're going to rust...might consider getting new ones that call out rust protection, or going with aluminum ones.

I was also considering coloring in the bolt heads to make them blend in with the bumper (the only silver I have left on my vehicle are the lugs). Anyone done that before? (plastic-dip?). If I do that, I might consider going body paint on the shackles, as I originally bought all the materials to paint my original bumper's tow hooks.

 

[OHV LV]

Rival 4x4 full-width front bumper and Rival cube lights. Hooks painted 4xe blue.

Net weight gain over stock plastic, without the winch= 54.8 pounds

 

[Rival 4x4]

Rival 4x4 full-width front bumper and Rival cube lights. Hooks painted 4xe blue.

Net weight gain over stock plastic, without the winch= 54.8 pounds

That looks stunning!

 

[AVGeek99]

Yep the main two pieces of feedback were that it's very tight to get the winches to install or take off to service, and that a lot of crap gets stuck in the lowered winch plate versions. I also thought a lowered winch plate version doesn't look great on its own without a winch installed, and I don't plan on adding one for a while.

Good to hear I wasn't the only one on the frame horns, but I guess I'm lucky I didn't have to break out a drill.

You should post your pics! I just got the shackles out of my recovery kit and added them today. Fitted them with Daystar isolators:

Right now I like the look of the silver shackles with the silver bolt heads. Though these shackles feel kinda rough and I have concerns they're going to rust...might consider getting new ones that call out rust protection, or going with aluminum ones.

I was also considering coloring in the bolt heads to make them blend in with the bumper (the only silver I have left on my vehicle are the lugs). Anyone done that before? (plastic-dip?). If I do that, I might consider going body paint on the shackles, as I originally bought all the materials to paint my original bumper's tow hooks.

I'll try to remember to take some pic's and get them posted tomorrow.

I found some anodized D-ring shackles that were pretty inexpensive. I think they were about $25 per pair. They came with isolaters and a quick release pin to prevent them from unscrewing and falling off. I really wanted to get some billet aluminum shackles, but considering what I just spent on two bumpers and a winch I didn't want to spend that much more right now. What I got looks good. I am going to pay close attention next winter to see how they hold up in the road salt.

 

[JP52]

Rival 4x4 full-width front bumper and Rival cube lights. Hooks painted 4xe blue.

Net weight gain over stock plastic, without the winch= 54.8 pounds

That looks great. How much does the bar block the camera view?

Sponsored