Installed Rugged Ridge Venator Bumper

[Gunzz]

@PntBlnk For the plate itself I just ordered online with the dimensions for the rectangle. Once I got it home, I ended up shaving the corners down slightly in order to get the plate to sit flush against the underside of the bumper's upper shell. The curvature of that bumper was just enough that the corners of the plate interfered.

I drilled the bolt holes myself. They were easy to mark because I just centered the plate on the underside of the bumper's upper shell and used the holes in the shell to measure the distance and mark where to drill. The overrider bar affixes to the upper shell with the same bolts used to fasten the shell to the frame so I just used the same bolt to secure the plate as well. That way I didn't have to drill any new holes into the bumper to get the plate in place.

The steps are Rugged Ridge Spartan Nerf Bars.

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[PntBlnk]

@Gunzz many thanks and can see this in my future. I like the aggressiveness of the bumper. What wheels / tires are you running and did you have to lift the Jeep? Stance looks perfect.

 

[Gunzz]

Jeep isn't lifted (yet). Tires are 33' Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the wheels are 20x9 Fuel Couplers (D556). I anticipate a modest lift in my future to accommodate 35's, just as soon as I can verify that the larger tires won't have any clearance issue with the wing tips on the bumper. There's a fellow member on here who I think has been running 35's with a 2-3" lift and recently added the Venator bumper so I've asked him for a consultation ?

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

Jeep isn't lifted (yet). Tires are 33' Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the wheels are 20x9 Fuel Couplers (D556). I anticipate a modest lift in my future to accommodate 35's, just as soon as I can verify that the larger tires won't have any clearance issue with the wing tips on the bumper. There's a fellow member on here who I think has been running 35's with a 2-3" lift and recently added the Venator bumper so I've asked him for a consultation ?

@PntBlnk - that member is me. btw I am still on 33s and my lift is Clayton 1.5" springs + 0.5" coil spacers with Fox 2.0 Shocks 2-3". I got about 3" of lift compared to stock sahara suspension I was running before. The bumper has enough clearance for 33s and even 34s on full articulation. Adding some pictures of my rig here

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

There is another thread where a member ran 37s with this bumper and has not had any rubbing issues. Based on a proper caster setup (5.5-6 degrees) the way the tires push in on articulation will likely be straight up or slightly leaned to the rear side.

Rugged Ridge Venator Front Bumper | Jeep Wrangler Forums (JL / JLU) - Rubicon, Sahara, Sport, 4xe, 392 - JLwranglerforums.com

 

[Trauma PA]

Spent a bit of time yesterday swapping out the stock bumper with a Venator from Rugged Ridge. As a novice, it wasn't too bad but it took me longer than it should have. I ran into a few snags removing the old bumper, then realizing that I had to take the entire thing apart to remove the wiring harness so that I could reconnect the fog lights.

Another snag I ran into is with the winch delete plate I made. The way the upper shell for the bumper attaches to the rest made it difficult for me to install the plate which I had designed to use the same bolts and fasteners as the shell and overrider bar. In the end I was able to get it together by reversing the order of some of the steps and then putting the assembled shell+plate+overrider+mounting brackets onto the frame all in one piece. I made the delete plate from a piece of diamond plate 3/16 steel (36" x 6.125") and painted it black with some Rustoleum Textured Black. Also painted the lower shell of the bumper with the same paint. It matched nicely.

It isn't perfect overall, probably because I'm not handy enough and have never done anything like this before. The fog lights aren't perfectly aligned (they angle toward the center of the vehicle slightly).

While I was doing this I also swapped out the chrome grille inserts with black ones. That project also went poorly as the piece I ordered wasn't compatible with the front facing camera. I had to cut out some pieces to accommodate that but it isn't visible so that is okay. It just took a while. The bezel around the headlight also required some cutting for one of the tabs as the slot for it wasn't large enough to accommodate it otherwise.

I have the same bumper. Recently picked up an over rider bar to add to the bumper and I can’t fit the Torx T45 socket behind the bar and into the shell of the over rider bar to tighten the T45 (M10) bolt down. Any secrets?

 

[Eddiechi]

I have the same bumper. Recently picked up an over rider bar to add to the bumper and I can’t fit the Torx T45 socket behind the bar and into the shell of the over rider bar to tighten the T45 (M10) bolt down. Any secrets?

There is another member finishing this install today and might have an answer or tip to share but not sure if he is throwing on the overide bar.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/seattle-2023-earl-jlur-xr-build.98808/page-7

 

[Gunzz]

I did it a while ago so I can’t remember exactly but I know I installed the overrider bar before installing the upper shell because of that problem. I reversed the order of things, and had bar upside down, placed upper shell onto the bar and then once I had those affixed to one another I turned that assembly over and dropped it into place on the brackets. It was easier for me to do it that way, especially with the winch delete plate I had in the mix as well.

 

[Steph1]

The Venator is certainly a nice bumper. It does look best on a Sahara, Moab or Sport however where it meets the fenders like it was obviously intended to. On Rubicons the Venator is still nice, but the gap between the bumper wings and fenders don't look quite as nice. I wish they had made Rubi specific versions where they'd look as finished as with lower fenders.

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