Does having a steel bumper help in a mild collision?

[Cjanak21]

Smacked by a tractor trailer going about 75mph... Not sure how a plastic bumper would have held out, but I would say the stock steel one did its job. Kept me protected.

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[schizolingvo]

Keep in mind that even a stock Wrangler still sits higher than typical cars and SUVs, not to mention their likely unibody construction vs your frame, so your bumper probably won't eat shit as easily as it would smacking into a mid-size truck or larger. I rear-ended a Honda Odyssey in bad weather in one of my JKs a long time ago, annihilating the entire rear half of the vehicle, with only minor scratches to the stock OEM plastic bumper.

That's exactly what happened to me as well. A KIA Optima rear ended me. I have a broken plastic bumper and the electronic tow bar is bust. The Optima has a bent hood and fenders, broken headlights and grill + I think there may be some damage to the structure itself. I was standing still and he bumped me at around 3-5 mph. He basically got under my rear bumper with his nose.

 

[longfiredragon]

I could not find the article with the star crash rating, but I know I looked at it once before. And a correction the jeep did not flip onto it's roof, but only on to it's side. Which the IIHS says is not good, and could cause additional injury's. FCA disagreed with this. Also I did find where 2021 wranglers do have the rear passenger air bags. Although it may not stop the rear passenger from hitting their head on the door frame.

The Wrangler will probably never receive a good or above rating for the side impact because of the doors, unless they start putting side Curtin airbags in them. Which again FCA (At the time) said they really didn't need them.

All this said if you google it and read the IIHS report the Wrangler received a overall rating of Superior, with additional equipment witch I think they are talking about the headlights and visibility to get the superior rating, not it's actual crash rating.

Either way from all the research I did they actually do fare really good most of the time. Of course you can die in anything.

More to your point OP was the bumpers, and again they do actually work well to help protect you.

 

[DHW]

My answer is yes, it absolutely does. But only in low speed, minor fender benders. I've been rear-ended twice since I installed my steel bumper and it has held up beautifully. The cars that hit me, not so much. Here's a pic from the last time it happened about two weeks ago. A Magic Eraser and a bit of scrubbing got the white marks off and it was good as new.

EDIT: I will agree with other comments on here that the OEM rear steel bumper is shit. Definitely need something aftermarket.

 

[needajeep]

Hi all, first post here. I've seen this discussed maybe 4 years ago here, but still nothing really covered my case.

So a couple of weeks ago I got into a traffic accident. A taxi driver basically drove under me from behind (just because a Defender is higher than a KIA Optima). As a result, the plastic on the rear bumper is trashed. It was a low speed accident, his car just couldn't brake efficiently on the snowy road, I think he bumped me at around 5-7 kmph.

Yesterday I put an order for the JL Rubi, I'm trying to plan some upgrades and front-rear bumpers I think will be the first to be replaced. The official reinforced front bumper from Mopar seems better at least because it's shorter than the stock one, which is good in the city as well, since you can't really see it from the cabin.

I don't see an official reinforced rear bumper, but there's an option from ARB which seems to fit the best. So, would it save me some repair costs in the situation I described above? Will the steel bumper absorb the hit without it transferring over to the main chassis/frame (not sure how to say it properly in English).

I understand that in a high-speed scenario the vehicle will be toast, but I think a bumper won't save there. How will that affect my personal safety in a high-speed scenario?

FYI - the steel bumper is a bad joke. I have it and it crumbled like it was made of straw during a ~15 MPH off-set front collision. I'd probably still get it again if I had a do-over cause it looks fantastic, but it doesn't help anything in an accident except to cost you more to fix. I feel like I'm more careful navigating parking lots, off-road obstacles, etc.. than I would If I had gotten the plastic bumper.

 

[rallydefault]

It will quite possibly keep you more protected in terms of body damage to the jeep, but it's still gonna get to your frame and end up costing you time and money.

Little bumps on the trail or something? Yea, it'll be great. But steel's not gonna magically make the force of a mild collision evaporate into the ether. Speaking from experience, unfortunatley.

And not trying to be that guy, but here goes: A lot of people bragging they've been in little accidents and their steel bumper took it like a champ... yea, maybe, but also try taking that steel bumper off and looking at your mount plates and frame. There's a much larger chance than zero that something happened underneath you're not even aware of.

 

[Mike921921]

I'm sure steel offers better protection, but I have to admit, I replaced both of my plastic wonders because IMHO they (especially the front) just look so damn CHEAP and CHEESY!

 

[JustaJL]

We had a 25mph impact with the front of another jeep JL. The Warn bumper didn't seem to do much. Both air bags blew as well as the seat belts. Come to find out the frame is diamond'd. The body shop has a frame on order. The guy at the body shop says the frames on the new jeeps are not what they used to be.

 

[Benedict chu]

The stock steel rear bumper is a joke.

I backed into a small tree on a trail - very, very slowly and the bumper pushed into the rear corner of the body putting a small crease in the paint. And the bumper distorted itself. Everything was barely noticeable, and it took my months to finally see the damage.

My Jeep was less than a week old, and without knowing the dash lights, I inadvertently turned off the rear backup warning alarm.

I thought the bumpers were supposed to minimize damage to from under 5 mph collisions. I was on an offroad mountain road making a u turn....very surprised and disappointed.

I did the same thing by not having a spotter and tearing into a tree at less then 5 mph . The steel bumper was fine but side piece that is plastic is slightly bent now

I am going to pretend to not see it and just say … I play and there will be some pain

my Jeep is only a week old and I was itching to just see what is like to off-road in it

 

[BEACHED WHALE]

Mopar factory and AEV are the only metal bumpers capable of triggering airbag. minor benders plastic will dent and metal will just scuff. most head on accidents at high speed and your fubar

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