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Flat Tow winch bumper options

AFfiredawg

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Your 1st two sentences is just pure ignorance.

We are not talking factory steel Bumpers as they do not have a tow provision (and for god reason Mopar does not recommend towing from the bumper). If you have actually measured the difference the clearance of the aftermarket bumpers vs the Tow Plates you would not be proven wrong. The Blue ox Tow plate is only 4.5" below the bottom bumper frame bolt whereas the two-able bumpers are lower than that by a fraction

How many base plates have you installed on the JL? Again the Blue OX base plate can be removed and reinstalled under 1/2 hour as it is simply 6 bolts (3 per side) to to the side of the frame that is easily accessed, I could probably have it off in 10 minutes. back on single handed in 1/2 hour much less with two people. All the twoable bumpers have a significant surface below the bottom bumper bolts hence the no difference in clearance, whereas the Stock steel Mopar bumper (and some other non towable bumpers) is not as tall so it would provide much better clearance with tow bar removed. My Barricade bumper without the tow-plate has a couple inches more clearance compared to eh LOD and RH towable bumpers so this is factual and not simply bias.

No one here is talking factory bumpers so not sure why you are injecting that as it is not even relevent. Now if you are using the Mopar bumpers you want to use the maximus 3 tow/plate. Still that tows from the frame and not the weaker bumper base plate.

It is crazy LOD comes out with an great added safety solution for towing and the crowd resist and goes wild with resistance, Maybe I am in COLLUSION with Mopar. LOL
Ignorance? Do you know my level of cad design knowledge? I used the factory steel bumper as a comparison point....my towable bumper has more clearance than the steel bumper does...my bumper cuts in less than an inch below the bumper horn...so please do explain how 4.5” isn’t much compared to mine? I never referenced the LOD or RH versions...there are couple JLs where I am now that have bumpers or base plates...out of curiosity since your such an expert...how much do you weaken the bolts every time you take them off then re-install and properly torque them? I want to see you completely remove it in 30 minutes and then be towable again in 10 as you say....prove it...I don’t think you can, but the optimism is surprising from your norm skepticism...

Did I ever say their new optional part wasn’t worth purchasing?
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lightsout

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I Love My LOD bumper. I will be flat towing across Canada this summer. I have full confidence that my LOD bumper will work fine.
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The bumpers are fine it is the wrangler frame mount that is weak which is why LOD created the OPTIONAL support brackets they announced on the previous page.
 

Isidro27

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Hi. Do you still have your oem bumper? Interested in selling?
 

Terminex

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I ordered the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot Full Width in Aluminum, as well as the LOD frame tie in brackets. This should give me the light weight awesome bumper I want, as well as make it safe for towing behind my RV.

Bumper rated for flat towing - check
Frame to bumper mount reinforcement - check

Will let everyone know how well the brackets work with a non LOD bumper. (looks like they should work with any bumper)
 

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lightsout

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I ordered the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot Full Width in Aluminum, as well as the LOD frame tie in brackets. This should give me the light weight awesome bumper I want, as well as make it safe for towing behind my RV.

Bumper rated for flat towing - check
Frame to bumper mount reinforcement - check

Will let everyone know how well the brackets work with a non LOD bumper. (looks like they should work with any bumper)

you should be good to go, that is the route I would have gone had it existed last year., With that said though where would you attached the safety cables since the aluminum bumper on its own is not strong enough for that. It is too bad the Tie in brackets does not have a added safety cable attachment so they too tie to the frame...
 

AFfiredawg

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you should be good to go, that is the route I would have gone had it existed last year., With that said though where would you attached the safety cables since the aluminum bumper on its own is not strong enough for that. It is too bad the Tie in brackets does not have a added safety cable attachment so they too tie to the frame...
LOD brackets do have a spot for the safety cables.
 

AFfiredawg

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lakebuster

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So I recently went through the same search and after serious consideration here is what I discovered and did. You are right the Rock Hard and LOD bumpers are the only ones, meaning they are the only ones willing to take on the liability risk. Mopar says DO NOT TOW FROM a bumper reason being the frame bumper connections are not designed for towing. If you remove your bumper you will see that the bumper connects to a thin (not as heavy steel as the frame) Plate that is welded to the end of the frame, while it is designed to take impacts and protect you it is not robust enough to pull the nearly 5000lb jeep (according to Mopar). In fact there is a thread here where LOD actually acknowledge's Mopar's position.

Below is the picture of the bumper attachment, as you can clearly see that plate is not very robust, Because Mopar warned me not to bumper tow I decided safety was the best policy so I installed the official Blue OX tow plate and as you can see is is only 5 inches below the lower bumper bolt. With that said the Rock Hard Bumper I ordered and then canceled after I talked to Mopar was actually slightly lower, so in reality I did not lose ANY clearance however gained peace of mind with safety and reliability which is paramount to me.

c1e5b37a-8e9a-49c5-a43d-6eaf8d831711_zpsli8uo8oe.jpg


The other issue I had with the Rock Hard is the tow connection on attached to two of the 4 bumper bolts making it an even weaker unbalanced connection (pictured below
jkflattow-jpg.jpg


Now LOD Welds on there connection tow connection so the tow point is NOT directly connected to the frame since the tow point is independent of the bumper-frame connection.

dsc01825.jpg


Kook there will be several on here that say they have been towing with bumpers for a long time with no issues, however that does not negate the fact Mopar does not recommend it with the current JL frame-bumper connection method.

I wold have much rather used bumper connections however I was not willing to risk it towing a 5000lb $50K jeep behind a $180K RV, especially from the remote chance something did happen the liability would likely negate any insurance coverage since Mopar says NO.

However if Mopars position changes I will be the 1st to abandon the tow plate. Additionally I went with an Aluminum bumper to keep the front end weight down even then with winch I have about a 1" drop on the front and that is after the 3.5" lift that is supposed to eliminate the front rake.

Here is the final installation on mine as you can see I was able to re use with some cutting the stock under bumper plastic skid and have the tow connection protrude.

tow%201_zpsma2rd4i3.jpg


Note I will not be rock crawling as there is no good option for that, if you use a bumper connection you also stand to damage the any bumper.

If you plan to use the Mopar Steel bumper with winch here is the best tow connection option.

20181021_113733-jpg.jpg


So any way you slice it, be it Bumper connection or tow plate overall the approach Clearance is about the same since the claimed towable bumpers drop so low below the frame connection.
What brand bumper did you go with that works with the blue ox base plate?
Also in the other picture where did you get those red tabs?

Jeep should be here tomorrow and ready to connect to Essex and hit the road!
 

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lightsout

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What brand bumper did you go with that works with the blue ox base plate?
Also in the other picture where did you get those red tabs?

Jeep should be here tomorrow and ready to connect to Essex and hit the road!

Because after adding 35's tires, new wheel, Diabolical security enclosure, Sliders and steps, bumper and winch I weighed out at 4900lbs (100lbs shy of the Ford F53 motorhome chassis tow limit. Because weight is important I chose the Barricade Aluminum 3/4 Bumper weighing in at only 45lbs. It fit perfectly with the Blue Ox Tow plate. Also what I found was that the two bumpers that some purchase to tow with are very tall bumpers which drop to the same clearance at the blue ox tow plate, so you loose NO clearance with the tow plate and you get a towing system that is more robust and endorsed by Mopar since Mopar does not recommend towing from the bumper plate connections.
 

roaniecowpony

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My setup is a Rock Hard Aluminum bumper with my custom made lugs, 4 bolt attach, 1/2" thick plate. I added the LOD frame reinforcement plates. I have a Blue Ox 10,000 lb rated towbar. The issue with the frame bumper flanges is that they're thin and will flex when towing. When towing, this flexing happens whenever the load is applied (acceleration) and released or reversed (braking) The concern is that the flexing will at some point lead to metal fatigue and cracking will occur. This is a relatively slow process. It's a legitimate concern. ...eventually. The addition of the LOD reinforcements adds 2 more load paths to the existing 4 load paths for a total of 6 load paths. In addition, I have two safety cables. I also don't expect to tow more than a couple thousand miles a year. I don't stay up nights thinking any more about this.

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20190928_161932_resized.jpg
 

mwpncookeville

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I ordered the Rock Hard 4x4 Patriot Full Width in Aluminum, as well as the LOD frame tie in brackets. This should give me the light weight awesome bumper I want, as well as make it safe for towing behind my RV.

Bumper rated for flat towing - check
Frame to bumper mount reinforcement - check

Will let everyone know how well the brackets work with a non LOD bumper. (looks like they should work with any bumper)
Hi Terminex,

Apologies for reviving such an old conversation, but was wondering how your flat tow setup mentioned above worked out? Thanks.

Edited - found your post that said it worked out with longer bolts required.

Do you have any pictures of the front that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks.
 
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Terminex

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Loved the idea of the socket in the bumper so i added one to mine in the same location. Only difference is that i soldered mine to the jl flat tow harness so that i can connect to either.
 

Valv910

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I Love My LOD bumper. I will be flat towing across Canada this summer. I have full confidence that my LOD bumper will work fine.
Jeep Wrangler JL Flat Tow winch bumper options 20190928_161932_resized
Jeep Wrangler JL Flat Tow winch bumper options 20190928_161932_resized
Jeep Wrangler JL Flat Tow winch bumper options 20190928_161932_resized

What bumper is that ? I don't see it on their website
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