ALUMINUM bumpers ONLY. Let's see them!

[Low_Spark]

Bumper looks awesome. What lights did you use? Are the lights mounted in front of or in vent holes? Can you share any photos or info on how you modified the skid plate to accept lights? Thanks

Thanks, I'm running BD Squadrons. BD has a flush mount bezel that comes with a cutout template. It's kind of a challenge to make the cutout since it's a square with round corners and the skid plate has those fluted holes. But this approach allows the lights to be flush mounted to the skid. The bezel lip protrudes from the plate surface by 1/8" but the actual light housing is behind, and protected by, the plate. That being said, NV told me that the skid will support the S1 lights without having to make any cutouts.

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[veganchefstyle]

Thanks for the info. Definitely a great setup.

 

[Ron ap Rhys]

I've been thinking of upgrading my bumpers for some time now - especially considering I managed to nearly tear off both of the rear bumper caps wheeling at SMORR, in Montana, and then did further damage to the rear in Sand Hollow.

Going with the Next Venture Adventure front (with skid and 7" stinger) and their rear Featherlight. I've got a Smittybilt X20 10K winch that I'll be transferring over. Also think I'm going to run some Diode Dynamics for lighting. Stage Series 2" Flush Mounts in the rear bumper, maybe some SS3 flush mounts up front, and a light bar on the stinger DD Stage Series 18").

Did order them in bare metal, so I'll have to do the surface prep, zinc chromate primer, and some decent fizz bomb paint to cover it. Mostly I want something I can touch up myself periodically.

7-8 week lead times right now.

 

[Apples491]

Next Venture Featherweight Bumper, color matched with Baja Squadrons and an Engo 12k winch.

I had to drill the holes to mount the Squadrons, but there's plenty of room under the bumper for them. My biggest complaint is the mounting system. It mounts directly to the frame horns and one of the 4 bolts on each side has such tight clearance that they ship you a bolt with a shaved head on it. I found it impossible to get that done so I'm actually running 3 on each side.

 

[NextDan]

Next Venture Featherweight Bumper, color matched with Baja Squadrons and an Engo 12k winch.

I had to drill the holes to mount the Squadrons, but there's plenty of room under the bumper for them. My biggest complaint is the mounting system. It mounts directly to the frame horns and one of the 4 bolts on each side has such tight clearance that they ship you a bolt with a shaved head on it. I found it impossible to get that done so I'm actually running 3 on each side.

Nick, that looks great with the body matched color on it! Sorry to hear about the difficulty with the bolts. I'm guessing you received your bumper a minute ago? We updated the design of that front bumper (early 2022 if I recall correctly) with a keyhole shape for the hardware that won't fight the carriage bolt heads going in or getting replaced.

 

[Apples491]

Nick, that looks great with the body matched color on it! Sorry to hear about the difficulty with the bolts. I'm guessing you received your bumper a minute ago? We updated the design of that front bumper (early 2022 if I recall correctly) with a keyhole shape for the hardware that won't fight the carriage bolt heads going in or getting replaced.

I'm pretty sure I have the redesigned version. I ordered it on your EJS sale last year and recieved it in May IIRC. I got the shaved bolt and there was a long slot to pop it through.

The issue I had was, once I had the bumper in place, there was enough play that the bolt could drop back and spin freely when I tried to thread the nut on. I couldn't get enough leverage on it to actually get the nut to tighten. The one idea I had was to get a couple tooth lock washers to keep the bolt where I needed it but at that point I had been fussing with it for a couple hours and decided to just pull them out and run three per side. I may go back and try to address it in the future, but I'm not terribly concerned about running it the way it is right now.

 

[MIKKY Slim]

Where did you purchased it from

Kodi nox​

 

[Apples491]

Where did you purchased it from

Are you asking me? I ordered directly off the Next Venture website.

 

[Ron ap Rhys]

Quick update and pics to come, but I fitted the Next Venture Featherweight rear this last weekend. The bumper itself had no issues - but my Joop did have one. The ends of the framerails stuck out about an eighth of an inch too long. It took me several runs of trying to get everything fitted to realize this. I don't have a pic of the frame itself, but I could see that the metal used to make the frame itself (it's two pieces folded into C channels and welded together) wasn't even. Grinding that to even and it worked a charm.

And, by worked a charm, I mean lining up the brackets, recovery tabs, and bumper holes such that the bolts go in easily is a bit of a faff.

I still have to pull it off again and paint everything (wasn't about to paint and then try to install).

This weekend, however, I'm fitting the Aluminum Adventure series front bumper.

 

[Ron ap Rhys]

Next update - no pics yet, but those are coming once I'm done.

Next Venture Adventure Series front bumper installed. This thing went in very easily - the only issues I had to deal with are Jeep's rivnuts stripping out, which meant I had to cut off the old skid plate that was on there first. I'm still waiting to put my upgraded fogs in (Diode Dynamics SS3s) and a lightbar on. Ran out of time for wiring and all this weekend, so that's coming up next weekend.

Also, have to drill out the hole for the antenna wire on the rear, then pull it, paint everything, and reinstall that.

 

[Ron ap Rhys]

One additional note for those installing the rear bumper. There are two backing plates included with the bumper. The passenger side one is an L bracket and stands there by itself, no issues whatsoever. The driver side one, however, is just a flat piece that's somewhat difficult to hold up in place, which makes starting the one bolt difficult. What I did to solve this is use double sided tape on all the large flat sections. A wee bit of 70% isopropyl on a rag cleaned the inside of the frame.

That little trick make bolting this up much easier. Also, an offset wrench (22mm, I believe) made tightening the bolts much easier.

 

[Grayhound]

I'm still debating the MP Concepts, waiting on a sale or something. It's still around $850 shipped, tax, etc. although it does include skid and winch plate, whereas the best I can find the OEM is $850 for the stubby, then another $450 or so for skid and winch. Anyone else install the MP Concepts and have any issues, etc.?

The other factor is I'm literally in sand/salt on the beach almost daily, basically wind-blown sand onto my Jeep. So......rust is definitely a factor with steel.

I waited for it to go open box and got it for $300. The install has some right places, but it weighs less than the plastic bumper so adding the winch only gave up 1/4” of clearance. I’ve really enjoyed this winch plate and bumper!

 

[JMP]

Did anyone just bolt their raw aluminum bumpers on? How are they holding up?

I have NVM featherweight bumpers coming and debating if I should put them on raw or…

 

[DaddyEngineer]

I just installed the NVM rear featherweight bumper. I left it raw, but don’t have any time yet to see how it does. I figure if it gets bad, I’ll polish it then and clear coat it.

Scott

 

[SlickRickMotoADV]

I just installed the NVM rear featherweight bumper. I left it raw, but don’t have any time yet to see how it does. I figure if it gets bad, I’ll polish it then and clear coat it.

Scott

IDK why, but I really like that one. Got a side shot by the rear fender by any chance?

Edit: Nevermind, I found one:

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