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Do the factory steel bumpers hold up in the rocks?

rkwfxd

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Have any of you with the factory steel bumpers beat them up on the rocks? If so did they simply get scratched or did they bend and twist and dent?

TIA
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Gdub

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Hold up as good as aluminum foil. The mounts on the rear are weak and if you come down on it, it will fold up and hit the body.
 
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rkwfxd

rkwfxd

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Well thats not good. Can I assume the upgraded Rubicon slider/steps are also just as weak?
 

Windshieldfarmer

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Hold up as good as aluminum foil. The mounts on the rear are weak and if you come down on it, it will fold up and hit the body.
Yep - backed into a pole at 5 mph and deformed the bumper and shoved it into the rear quarter panel creating a small horizontal crease in the quarter panel. Very disappointing. They look great but don’t do well in anything remotely hard core.
 

R00STER

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Yep - backed into a pole at 5 mph and deformed the bumper and shoved it into the rear quarter panel creating a small horizontal crease in the quarter panel. Very disappointing. They look great but don’t do well in anything remotely hard core.
That sucks. If the mounts are suspect, will changing to aftermarket bumpers improve anything?
 

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Gdub

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Well thats not good. Can I assume the upgraded Rubicon slider/steps are also just as weak?
They are body mounted not frame. If you are going to spend the money get some LOD or comparable brand of your choice.
 

MarkY3130

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Guess I’ll take the opposing view. I agree the bumpers are not as strong as aftermarket options. However, I added the Rusty’s rear fascia and use with the stock steel bumper. I have dragged my bumper on rocks and come down on rocks and it’s doing ok. Biggest issue to me is the license plate falling off on the trail and in the car wash from time to time. Haven’t lost it yet though.

I don’t have any issue with the front bumper. I guess I do scrape it on steep obstacles on the approach, so maybe a lower profile front bumper would be nice. I’m tempted to go with the rusty’s extreme rear bumper which basically only covers up the frame rails. (Or similar bumper)
 
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rkwfxd

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Im leaning towards LOD or Rock Hard 4X4
 

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Well thats not good. Can I assume the upgraded Rubicon slider/steps are also just as weak?
They hold up surprisingly well. There is a group of us that wheel around the US. Two of them are still running the stock rock rails. The stock rock rails has withstood, Moab twice, Holy Cross in Colorado, The Rubicon Trail in California, Windrock in TN, and Rausch Creek in PA.

One of them ran the Rubicon trail in a JLUR that was stock on 35s. He was on the rock rails many many time while doing the Rubicon trail........ Many times.
 

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So far my stock rock rails have held up. I do not have any large dents but rather big scratches. They are on my list to replace with something that will protect the body better.
 

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rkwfxd

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Guess I’ll take the opposing view. I agree the bumpers are not as strong as aftermarket options. However, I added the Rusty’s rear fascia and use with the stock steel bumper. I have dragged my bumper on rocks and come down on rocks and it’s doing ok. Biggest issue to me is the license plate falling off on the trail and in the car wash from time to time. Haven’t lost it yet though.

I don’t have any issue with the front bumper. I guess I do scrape it on steep obstacles on the approach, so maybe a lower profile front bumper would be nice. I’m tempted to go with the rusty’s extreme rear bumper which basically only covers up the frame rails. (Or similar bumper)
Im not over concerned about the front one either. I actually like it a lot but it does not come with D ring mounts and I need those to flat tow it. So, $2700 for Steel bumper group and heavy duty sliders plus $350 for D ring kit and I am over $3,000. Looks like for that money or a couple huny more I can get stronger aftermarket parts.
 

GSLSE21B

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Have any of you with the factory steel bumpers beat them up on the rocks? If so did they simply get scratched or did they bend and twist and dent?

TIA
I bashed mine pretty good through Old Sluice on the Rubicon . My JLURD loaded up with extras is pretty heavy. The only reason I would change from these stock bumpers is better clearance.
Jeep Wrangler JL Do the factory steel bumpers hold up in the rocks? B598E156-26B5-4F47-9ACA-9342EE91BC85
Jeep Wrangler JL Do the factory steel bumpers hold up in the rocks? 64D0AABD-3DC4-4F5C-81F0-4D912C4EA537
 
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rkwfxd

rkwfxd

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Im totally fine with scratching up the bumpers. But having that rear bumper flex up and into the body and denting and scratching the body is unacceptable to me. And I do not buy the argument that the flimsy brackets on the rear are there to prevent bending the frame in an accident. If that were true, the front bumper would be attached with flimsy brackets as well. It is not. It bolts directly to the frame.

I have found several after market bumpers and sliders that will provide more protection for the same money. Still, I love the look of the stockers and am still considering them.
 

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Im totally fine with scratching up the bumpers. But having that rear bumper flex up and into the body and denting and scratching the body is unacceptable to me. And I do not buy the argument that the flimsy brackets on the rear are there to prevent bending the frame in an accident. If that were true, the front bumper would be attached with flimsy brackets as well. It is not. It bolts directly to the frame.

I have found several after market bumpers and sliders that will provide more protection for the same money. Still, I love the look of the stockers and am still considering them.
Those stamped steel brackets towards each end of the rear bumper are not for structural purposes. Their sole reason for being there is to add rigidity to the plastic filler panels between the bumper and rear fender flares. I've got over 3 decades of experience working around structure, so I'm not throwing guesses and assumptions at you. To verify that the brackets serve no structural purpose, I gave the back and bottom of the bumper a good wallop with a ten pound dead blow hammer both with and without the brackets. There was no notable difference. I mocked up a vernier dial indicator from the in house machine shop that can be set to hold deflection. The true structure of a bumper relies on thickness of material and proper use of shape.

I personally prefer the mopar front steel bumper over what I've seen in the aftermarket, so I opted for the steel bumper group when I had mine built. But from my prior readings here, and especially when I got to see it myself, I knew I'd be replacing the rear. It's "U" shape, thin gage steel, and open backside design makes it prone to being easily bent upward into the body when hit from below.

Here's what I ditched it for. The Cavfab Ultra High Clearance bumper.
Jeep Wrangler JL Do the factory steel bumpers hold up in the rocks? 20210117_135535
 

donmontalvo

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They hold up surprisingly well. There is a group of us that wheel around the US. Two of them are still running the stock rock rails. The stock rock rails has withstood, Moab twice, Holy Cross in Colorado, The Rubicon Trail in California, Windrock in TN, and Rausch Creek in PA.

One of them ran the Rubicon trail in a JLUR that was stock on 35s. He was on the rock rails many many time while doing the Rubicon trail........ Many times.
The Rubicon rock sliders on my 2021 JLUR have taken a beating on Poison Spider and Steel Bender a couple weeks ago when I slipped off of rocks and came down hard. Slight dings on the rock sliders but no body damage.
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