Full Width Front Bumpers recommendations?

[JLegends]

Hey all, what are y’all’s suggestions on full width bumpers? I kind of like Rock Slide Engineerings but don’t like the bullbar style on it. I like the LOD Destroyer but I don’t like how the winch is fully exposed. Anyone know anything that combines best of both? I know for rear that I’m doing the LOD.

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[mwilk012]

Warn Elite full width without the bar.

 

[FrostySerb]

No offense to anyone but in my opinion ... getting a full width bumper to put on a Modified JL is like buying your hot wife a baggy sweater to take her out to dinner in lol
Kills the lines !

 

[Myron]

Equally no offense meant, but stubby bumpers always remind me of a fat wife wearing a really too short dress or a muffin top. Good taste is just in the eye of the beholder, OP, so buy the bumper you like.

 

[lightsout]

Keep in mind a full width Steel bumper and winch will drop your front end .75-1". I went to an Aluminum 3/4 bumper and winch still had some drop but not as much as full width Steel. I have the Barricade Alloy Series. Winch is 1/2 exposed but also room under the bar for a 16"LED bar as well. Only 54lbs

 

[omnitonic]

I went with the Rugged Ridge HD with the X striker bar and the skid plate. I think it looks awesome, but it does come with the caveat that it may not work with larger tires.

Adding all that extra weight and aerodynamic weirdness only dropped my average fuel economy by ~1 mpg. I was pleased. Plus I have the stupid Virginia front license plate doodad that probably makes the aerodynamics even worse.

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

Hey all, what are y’all’s suggestions on full width bumpers? I kind of like Rock Slide Engineerings but don’t like the bullbar style on it. I like the LOD Destroyer but I don’t like how the winch is fully exposed. Anyone know anything that combines best of both? I know for rear that I’m doing the LOD.

I actually made a thread listing all the full width sunken winch bumpers I could find a while back. Just updated it for you https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/cheapest-full-width-hidden-winch-bumpers.59256/

Requirements:
Full Width (fender to fender, and not that tube crap)
Sunken Winch mount
One Piece (not modular)

This is what I've found so far. Please let me know if you have found cheaper ones.

Paramount Automotive $417
https://amzn.to/3w8W8A4

EAG $479
https://amzn.to/3opbRsh

Rugged Ridge HD $503
https://amzn.to/2S3Wo4V

Barricade Extreme HD $600
https://amzn.to/2S3hK22

DV8 Offroad Modular $700
https://amzn.to/3eX3FfI

Westin 59-80105 $692
https://amzn.to/3v2azG8

Rusty's Offroad RJB9900 $700
https://amzn.to/3tWD0UL

There's a handful more, but the prices get pretty ridiculous. I do like the factory steel, but that's $1000 and I'm not a fan of end caps being held on by little bolts.

 

[Rgabon]

Warn Elite full width without the bar.

Can you please tell me if there are pre-drilled holes on the top of the bumper in which you can use to mount exterior lights?

 

[Dave928]

Can you please tell me if there are pre-drilled holes on the top of the bumper in which you can use to mount exterior lights?

i just installed mine yesterday. there are 3 pairs of holes predrilled on top (bumper without bar).

that said, some poor engineering on these bumpers. the welds on the fog light pockets are off and the light brackets don't fit, so i have to open up the holes on the brackets.

on their Elite rear bumper the mounting bolts are extra long, on the front they're too short. there are 4 bumper gussets on the frame horns and the instructions tell you to only remove the inner 2. but if you don't remove the outer 2 also, then the mounting bolts aren't long enough to get thru the nylon lock on the nuts. luckily the outer gussets came off without pulling the bumper back off. the other problem is the carriage bolt square shank is too deep, it fits in the hole of the bumper, but not thru the holes in the frame horn. the instructions should have said to open up these holes.

the other REALLY stupid thing is they drilled 3/8" holes for the license plate mount that requires you to open up the holes on your plate. why not just machine holes that take normal size plate hardware?

i'm not an engineer, but i'm an aircraft mechanic at Boeing and work with engineers. while i love the looks, to me the engineering on these "Elite" bumpers is a real shit show. even the pop rivets holding the "Warn Elite" badge on aren't installed correctly.

unless you like a project, i can not recommend Warn Elite bumpers.

 

[Rgabon]

i just installed mine yesterday. there are 3 pairs of holes predrilled on top (bumper without bar).

that said, some poor engineering on these bumpers. the welds on the fog light pockets are off and the light brackets don't fit, so i have to open up the holes on the brackets.

on their Elite rear bumper the mounting bolts are extra long, on the front they're too short. there are 4 bumper gussets on the frame horns and the instructions tell you to only remove the inner 2. but if you don't remove the outer 2 also, then the mounting bolts aren't long enough to get thru the nylon lock on the nuts. luckily the outer gussets came off without pulling the bumper back off. the other problem is the carriage bolt square shank is too deep, it fits in the hole of the bumper, but not thru the holes in the frame horn. the instructions should have said to open up these holes.

the other REALLY stupid thing is they drilled 3/8" holes for the license plate mount that requires you to open up the holes on your plate. why not just machine holes that take normal size plate hardware?

i'm not an engineer, but i'm an aircraft mechanic at Boeing and work with engineers. while i love the looks, to me the engineering on these "Elite" bumpers is a real shit show. even the pop rivets holding the "Warn Elite" badge on aren't installed correctly.

unless you like a project, i can not recommend Warn Elite bumpers.

Appreciate your Input. I was thinking of solving my exterior light issue by just getting the Elite bumper with bull bar and then mount the lights to it. But you bring up other issues in which I’m instead looking at ARB full width options.

 

[lightsout]

Here another picture of the Barricade Allow series, (this is a 3/4 bumper) all lit up . Lighting is easy to add. Note: avoid those bumpers with built in lighting cut outs most of those require proprietary lighting so then (not if but when) they fail you may be SOL replacing them.

 

[545moose]

i just installed mine yesterday. there are 3 pairs of holes predrilled on top (bumper without bar).

that said, some poor engineering on these bumpers. the welds on the fog light pockets are off and the light brackets don't fit, so i have to open up the holes on the brackets.

on their Elite rear bumper the mounting bolts are extra long, on the front they're too short. there are 4 bumper gussets on the frame horns and the instructions tell you to only remove the inner 2. but if you don't remove the outer 2 also, then the mounting bolts aren't long enough to get thru the nylon lock on the nuts. luckily the outer gussets came off without pulling the bumper back off. the other problem is the carriage bolt square shank is too deep, it fits in the hole of the bumper, but not thru the holes in the frame horn. the instructions should have said to open up these holes.

the other REALLY stupid thing is they drilled 3/8" holes for the license plate mount that requires you to open up the holes on your plate. why not just machine holes that take normal size plate hardware?

i'm not an engineer, but i'm an aircraft mechanic at Boeing and work with engineers. while i love the looks, to me the engineering on these "Elite" bumpers is a real shit show. even the pop rivets holding the "Warn Elite" badge on aren't installed correctly.

unless you like a project, i can not recommend Warn Elite bumpers.

Good info and descriptions. Sounds more less like the QA was trash, or the supervisor in China was out to lunch and they just don't care as long as it's on there, good to go. Not what gives me a warm fuzzy after dropping a grand plus on something you should expect to fit, with what's included. Some guys are cool with going and getting new bolts or some washers etc., I say BS. You don't sell me a tv and not the right power cord, then just say F it, you can find one, and go hunting do you? Same concept; good service and product vs. not for me. I don't think it's asking too much, it's simply what's expected.

 

[rcadden]

I went with the Rugged Ridge HD with the X striker bar and the skid plate. I think it looks awesome, but it does come with the caveat that it may not work with larger tires.

Adding all that extra weight and aerodynamic weirdness only dropped my average fuel economy by ~1 mpg. I was pleased. Plus I have the stupid Virginia front license plate doodad that probably makes the aerodynamics even worse.

This is the exact bumper I'm planning to order in April (front and rear, plus the bull bar). How has it held up for you? Any installation notes I should be aware of?

 

[omnitonic]

This is the exact bumper I'm planning to order in April (front and rear, plus the bull bar). How has it held up for you? Any installation notes I should be aware of?

The powder coat has flaked off in places from the constant action of the shackles rotating in their holes, and thumping into the bumper. One of these days, I'm going to have to address this with some wire brushing and a coat of paint. It should look fine. I know from the experience of installing the skid plate that Rustoleum Farm and Implement paint in in low gloss black blends in pretty well with the factory powder coat.

Which brings up the biggest installation note. If you're going to install the skid plate that mates to this bumper, install it before you install the bumper. Surely that would have to be easier. It might even be completely easy. Installing the skid plate when the bumper is already installed requires making significant clearance cuts around the fog light buckets in order to get the thing positioned so the hardware lines up for attachment. It was enough of a pain in the ass to swallow an entire weekend with grinding and test fitting and more grinding and more test fitting.

The only other thing that came up was these extra bolt-on parts that were on my frame horns, but not depicted in the instructions. Keep them or ditch them? What's up with these things? So I ended up keeping them, and I had to bend them a little to get all the holes to line up. My rationale for keeping them was that they seemed to add some extra rigidity to the overall system. Sorry, no pictures.

The bumper has held up well apart from a little flaking powder coat. I hit a recap that came off an 18-wheeler, and I hit a deer, both with no apparent damage to the bumper. I tried to use my winch to uproot a small tree that was anchored better than I thought, and I did manage to shift my winch slightly as the cable tried to compress my suspension into the ground tugging on this damn tree. Even for all the stress involved, it's not far enough off to justify the effort of loosening everything up and tweaking it straight. That was a very abusive scenario, so I'd say it has all held up really well.

 

[Mckyver]

Westin has held up great over 2 years

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