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Mopar Steel bumpers vs Aftermarket

Doug

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This is my first post and hope it already hasn’t been covered. I will be buying my first wrangler as soon as pricing is finalized on the 13th(hopefully). I’m torn on buying the steel bumpers with the Mopar winch and mini stinger, but was wondering what everyone else plans to do. Will the money be better spent waiting for the aftermarket bumpers to come to market, because I’m not married to look of the steel rubicon bumpers if there are much better and cheaper options coming soon. What are the thoughts on the quality and price of the Mopar winch for the rubicon steel bumper?
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Jabs

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This is my first post and hope it already hasn’t been covered. I will be buying my first wrangler as soon as pricing is finalized on the 13th(hopefully). I’m torn on buying the steel bumpers with the Mopar winch and mini stinger, but was wondering what everyone else plans to do. Will the money be better spent waiting for the aftermarket bumpers to come to market, because I’m not married to look of the steel rubicon bumpers if there are much better and cheaper options coming soon. What are the thoughts on the quality and price of the Mopar winch for the rubicon steel bumper?
I am personally waiting on some aftermarket parts. The Mopar one is nice but I want something a little different and unique to make my car "mine". That's just me though. Do what makes you happy!
 

Armycop

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Mopar bumpers are stamped steel like AEV bumpers. If you get other bumpers, like Poison Spyder, LoD, etc they are usually thicker plate steel welded together. I bought the JK LoD rear bumper/tire carrier and it was sturdy as hell. You can finance the factory bumpers which may help, because quality bumpers can be pretty expensive. Now that the license plate is in the bumper they are going to have to modify the aftermarket ones or relocate the plate up on the spare tire.
 

Spank

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This is my first post and hope it already hasn’t been covered. I will be buying my first wrangler as soon as pricing is finalized on the 13th(hopefully). I’m torn on buying the steel bumpers with the Mopar winch and mini stinger, but was wondering what everyone else plans to do. Will the money be better spent waiting for the aftermarket bumpers to come to market, because I’m not married to look of the steel rubicon bumpers if there are much better and cheaper options coming soon. What are the thoughts on the quality and price of the Mopar winch for the rubicon steel bumper?
I've got the equivalent steel bumpers on my JK and while the rear isn't that much better or stronger than the plastic due to the way it's mounted to the frame, the front bumper is solid. Being winch ready and able to remove the ends to make it a stubby is a feature most aftermarket companies don't offer save for Rugged Ridge and maybe one other (can't recall the name). However, RR is made in China and I don't trust or care for their products at all due to poor quality and fitment.

I plan on doing a fully-loaded (or mostly) Rubicon and I'll most likely keep the front bumper, but replace the rear with something stronger that mounts directly to the frame instead of through separate brackets.
 

jkrod

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I've got the equivalent steel bumpers on my JK and while the rear isn't that much better or stronger than the plastic due to the way it's mounted to the frame, the front bumper is solid. Being winch ready and able to remove the ends to make it a stubby is a feature most aftermarket companies don't offer save for Rugged Ridge and maybe one other (can't recall the name). However, RR is made in China and I don't trust or care for their products at all due to poor quality and fitment.

I plan on doing a fully-loaded (or mostly) Rubicon and I'll most likely keep the front bumper, but replace the rear with something stronger that mounts directly to the frame instead of through separate brackets.
hey spank.........actually RR are made in taiwan and are basically just a "metal" version of the plastic factory "bumpers"......I really liked the factory steel ones on my hard rock JK...........even the rear was much more out of the way than aftermarket but lots of options coming I'm sure
 

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BillyHW

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Hard to say until we get some aftermarket bumpers released.

But I do like how the Mopar ones are subdued compared to the more elaborate aftermarket ones.
 

Spank

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hey spank.........actually RR are made in taiwan and are basically just a "metal" version of the plastic factory "bumpers"......I really liked the factory steel ones on my hard rock JK...........even the rear was much more out of the way than aftermarket but lots of options coming I'm sure
Which RR bumpers are you talking about? I haven't seen a Rugged Ridge bumper that resembles factory, but I was primarily referring to their XHD products in terms of matching features. (Regardless, stay away from Rugged Ridge. They make crap crap crap.)

The problem with the Mopar steel rear bumper for the JK is that it mounts to the frame from a separate bracket at the corners with no added support. I've seen them fold on rocks easily. If they'd made it bolt to the frame at the frame and added some horizontal reinforcement along the interior to the corners, it'd hold up much better. And I can't figure out why they've got those useless hollow plastic inserts at the ends. Jeep just couldn't resist putting plastic somewhere on a metal bumper.

The front bumper is solid. I had a guy plow into the passenger side corner of mine in a failed attempt at a lane change that tore apart his front fender and there wasn't a scratch on me.

The JL rear steel bumper looks like they've done away with the plastic corners, so maybe it's better.
 

Revelation17

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My plan is to go aftermarket. I like a bumper-mounted tire carrier and having the option of Jerry can mounts and other features that the aftermarket ones have. The winch seems spendy but I haven’t priced warm so it may be right in line. I agree with a post above in that going aftermarket allows you to personalize more. My short list when I was looking at JK stuff was Shrockworks, LOD and Poison Spyder. Well see what comes out for the JL.

Pete
 

nowandthen

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Which RR bumpers are you talking about? I haven't seen a Rugged Ridge bumper that resembles factory, but I was primarily referring to their XHD products in terms of matching features. (Regardless, stay away from Rugged Ridge. They make crap crap crap.)
I have the Rugged Ridge modular front bumper with stubby ends. Going on almost 4 years now. I haven't had any problems with it. Not sure what can go wrong, it's just a metal bumper. ???
 

Mattyp1214

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I like the aftermarket stuff better but going with factory to finance and keep some money to use towards a lift, lighting, tires, possibly wheels etc. just my personal choice.
 

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nowandthen

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I like the aftermarket stuff better but going with factory to finance and keep some money to use towards a lift, lighting, tires, possibly wheels etc. just my personal choice.
I think the the first mod people should do, is to go with larger tires (and possibly wheels) and if possible (but not needed for 35s on the JL Rubicon) a lift. This does more to transform the look of your Jeep than any other mod.

33's from factory are better than anything prior, but 35's (or 37's) do make a huge difference in the look of your rig.
 

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I have the Rugged Ridge modular front bumper with stubby ends. Going on almost 4 years now. I haven't had any problems with it. Not sure what can go wrong, it's just a metal bumper. ???
If yours is holding up fine and works for you, that's great. My experience, unfortunately, was different.
 

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Mopar bumpers are stamped steel like AEV bumpers. If you get other bumpers, like Poison Spyder, LoD, etc they are usually thicker plate steel welded together. I bought the JK LoD rear bumper/tire carrier and it was sturdy as hell. You can finance the factory bumpers which may help, because quality bumpers can be pretty expensive. Now that the license plate is in the bumper they are going to have to modify the aftermarket ones or relocate the plate up on the spare tire.
On my JK I got a Mopar steel offroad bumper that was 1/4" steel that was a welded unit. Was actually quite nice and I was able to find it in an airplane hanger for $150 because it was missing the mounting bolts.
 

nowandthen

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If yours is holding up fine and works for you, that's great. My experience, unfortunately, was different.
I had it powder coated when I got it. I don't care for the crackle finish. Other than that, it is stock. I haven't hit anything. :) Was yours a paint issue?
 

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Are the front/rear Mopar bumpers sold separately?

I might consider the Mopar front, but agree with others - a swing-away bumper-mounted spare w/ jerrycans is what I'm looking for.
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