ALUMINUM bumpers ONLY. Let's see them!

[blink9cd]

I have heard about the difficulty in contact from a few different folks, not sure what is going on with the company. Try their Facebook site...I have heard that that sometimes gets a better response from them.

I sent another message to Roam, looked like the owner's email. So far nothing back...I have a feeling it's not gonna happen. Found this thread from a year ago: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/what-happened-with-roam-offroad.67861/

A shame too, as it seems like a lot of people are happy with their products. Your review of the bumper made it sound like a good fit for me on a lot of dimensions.

Anyway, gonna analyze my aluminum spreadsheet, winnow down to some final contenders there, and slowly start back on the research path. I have a feeling lighter steel ones might end up better meeting my price to weight ratio on the rear.

Sponsored

 

[Themistocles]

I sent another message to Roam, looked like the owner's email. So far nothing back...I have a feeling it's not gonna happen. Found this thread from a year ago: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/what-happened-with-roam-offroad.67861/

A shame too, as it seems like a lot of people are happy with their products. Your review of the bumper made it sound like a good fit for me on a lot of dimensions.

Anyway, gonna analyze my aluminum spreadsheet, winnow down to some final contenders there, and slowly start back on the research path. I have a feeling lighter steel ones might end up better meeting my price to weight ratio on the rear.

Sorry to hear that. Agree, company was making good stuff that hit the sweet spot for many folks. Good luck in the search.

 

[blink9cd]

@dragoneggs You make any moves on a bumper yet? Maybe you already bought one, but if not I went back on my spreadsheet to check things out, and it seems the Rock Hard went up in price on their site / Northridge's by $179. Not sure why, maybe general inflation / shortages lately, but anyway it's $1279 base now before tire carrier/shipping (ends up being ~$1700/$1900 depending on method).

I think that cuts it out of the running for me. If it doesn't for you, Northridge actually has one in stock now and they have a small forum discount/do free shipping (great deal to save on shipping vs Rock Hard direct -- total probably ends up being around $1400).

 

[dragoneggs]

@dragoneggs You make any moves on a bumper yet? Maybe you already bought one, but if not I went back on my spreadsheet to check things out, and it seems the Rock Hard went up in price on their site / Northridge's by $179. Not sure why, maybe general inflation / shortages lately, but anyway it's $1279 base now before tire carrier/shipping (ends up being ~$1700/$1900 depending on method).

I think that cuts it out of the running for me. If it doesn't for you, Northridge actually has one in stock now and they have a small forum discount/do free shipping (great deal to save on shipping vs Rock Hard direct -- total probably ends up being around $1400).

Yikes! No... I haven't pulled the trigger. Might need to check out Northridge for that one left. I'm very fortunate (or not) to live only 5mi from their physical location in Washington State!

Don't tell anyone else... I'm traveling on biz for the next couple of days.

 

[benny_rt2]

I have a Genright Front aluminum that I really like. Winch sits low as to no block airflow which is important if you live in the Desert lol. I haven't decided on a rear yet so glad I found this post. My rear is barely hanging as is but need rock sliders first.

which trail is that? Collateral Damage at Table Mesa, or Judgment Day? Genright makes good stuff. I had their rocker side armor on my TJ. I'll check them out again.

 

[Whaler27]

I love my Genright

Another vote for Genright. (Brother’s Jeep, yellow JL below, is wrapped in Genright).

 

[benny_rt2]

I have a Genright. The winch itself, winch plate, and one frame tab took some massaging to get it to even squeeze my Warn Platinum in between the frame rails. LOTS of test fitting. It took me 3 days of after work messing with it to get it all together.

I went on a trail ride. The 10 month old winch broke (we think it’s the brake). I can’t even think about inspecting anything internally on the winch between the frame rails. Now I have to fight to get it out. TIGHT fit. With it being so tight down between the frame rails, it was hard to reach the mud, twigs, and many leaves that got down in there.

It’s also more difficult to respool. You have to tediously respool evenly because the winch plate/fairlead is SO close to the winch body. I’m not worried about looks on the trail. I just want to get going again. It’s so tight it has to almost perfectly be respooled evenly.

I ordered a top mount bumper and a different winch and after less than two years and a handful of off road outings, I’ll be changing out this setup.

Those are my thoughts too about better access to the winch on a top mount. I plan to run a warn m8 for a 2dr JL and that will hardly obstruct airflow to radiator. Actually I wouldn't worry about obstruction on a top mount regardless of winch profile unless it was a Warn 8724 and thats from someone who had top mounted winch plates on 3 wranglers in dry heat of Phoenix AZ and also High Humidity in deep South Louisiana. *But I've never tried on JL andmaybe they overheat for some reason? Regardless, I'm okay with a winch top mounted on Wrangler for same reason you explained.

 

[proptied]

I'll have pics the rear NVM featherweight soon if you need some more detailed shots to help decide. Was suppose to ship out this week, so hopefully only a few days behind.

Got this back from my powder coater and started getting it mounted. Still have to mount and wire the lights and find a new place for my air outlet (previously had it mounted on the factory bumper).

Ran into a few issues with my lights as I'm running a non-standard Diode Dynamics SSC2. It's cut for a Baja Designs light, so I knew I had to make some mods. The SSC2 required opening up the hole about 1/8" overall. No big deal. What I didn't realize, because like a dummy I didn't mock fit it, was this location conflicted with the frame rail. THANKFULLY, I only had to shift the cutout closer to the center by about 1/4" and it still covered the overall hole.

Will have better pics soon.

 

[DadJokes]

Those are my thoughts too about better access to the winch on a top mount. I plan to run a warn m8 for a 2dr JL and that will hardly obstruct airflow to radiator. Actually I wouldn't worry about obstruction on a top mount regardless of winch profile unless it was a Warn 8724 and thats from someone who had top mounted winch plates on 3 wranglers in dry heat of Phoenix AZ and also High Humidity in deep South Louisiana. *But I've never tried on JL andmaybe they overheat for some reason? Regardless, I'm okay with a winch top mounted on Wrangler for same reason you explained.

Not that I think I’d have a problem but I got a Mopar satin black Gladiator grille to put on my Sahara. It’s more opened up and should offset any blocking of the radiator. Then again, I might be entertaining myself and it’s only a cosmetic mod. It makes sense to me anyway.

 

[Mikeg4572]

Genright ultra clearance bumper.

 

[proptied]

Got this back from my powder coater and started getting it mounted. Still have to mount and wire the lights and find a new place for my air outlet (previously had it mounted on the factory bumper).

Ran into a few issues with my lights as I'm running a non-standard Diode Dynamics SSC2. It's cut for a Baja Designs light, so I knew I had to make some mods. The SSC2 required opening up the hole about 1/8" overall. No big deal. What I didn't realize, because like a dummy I didn't mock fit it, was this location conflicted with the frame rail. THANKFULLY, I only had to shift the cutout closer to the center by about 1/4" and it still covered the overall hole.

Will have better pics soon.

Couple more finished pics. Wired the red backlight from the Diode Dynamics SSC2 to what was once the license plate light. Perhaps next up is to consider doing away with that ugly muffler.

 

[Low_Spark]

Next Venture Featherlight w/ skid

 

[blink9cd]

Yikes! No... I haven't pulled the trigger. Might need to check out Northridge for that one left. I'm very fortunate (or not) to live only 5mi from their physical location in Washington State!

Don't tell anyone else... I'm traveling on biz for the next couple of days.

Jealous of how close you're to Northridge. They seem like a great company from my interactions with them.

So to close the loop on my own bumper search, I was browsing Quadratec randomly and noticed had on at least two of the lighter steel bumpers I was looking at on sale right now (Rugged Ridge, Fishbone). I ended up pulling the trigger on the Rugged Ridge HD Rear for $465 -- was around 40lbs and had all the features I wanted.

I know this is the aluminum thread (still really liking my Rock Hard front!), but to me that was such a better cost to weight index for what I'm personally looking for that I decided it was worth trying (now we're getting nerdy, but on my spreadsheet I came up with a simple formula to normalize cost/weight for the fronts and rears to easily compare all the bumpers).

Applicable for most aluminum bumpers too: for license plate relocation, I noticed the area under the left taillight is the only (?) magnetic part of the body (by design for this?), so went with the Rugged Ridge Magnetic license plate mount for $25, and the Quadratec plug and play license plate light for $22. They seem like they're going to work well together, and the price is low enough to where I wouldn't pick a bumper for license plate cutout alone. I also decided to try the Fishbone Quarter Panel guards for $28 to protect the exposed body area (most non-OEM bumpers don't seem to cover that area fully).

All in with the bumper on sale, license plate relocation stuff, panel guards, shackles, taxes it came out to about $550 shipped. Not bad considering it's less than the cost of the bumper itself when I first started searching. If you're still looking around for a while, I can keep you updated on what I think about all the pieces working together for your search.

 

[dragoneggs]

Yes Billy, please do post an update once you've had it in operation for awhile.

 

[j-rob]

Does anyone have experience with the Aries Trailchaser front bumper?

Sponsored