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Next Venture Motorsports Adventure Series Rear Bumper

spurly

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Back in July I destroyed my factory JLUR plastic bumper during the All4Fun event in Buena Vista. I came down off a ledge and landed on the driver corner. No big deal, this is why I ordered my Jeep with the plastic bumper. Having heard about other peoples horror stories of the steel bumper brackets damaging the body I didn't want to have the same fate. I'm personally not a fan of big gaudy multi angular designs thag look like they used the F117 Nighthawk as a template. I really had 2 main criteria. Clean simple lines and room to mount Baja Designs S2 Sports flush mounts.

I had searched high and low and was going to settle on another bumper when I stumbled across @NextDan at Next Venture Motorsports on Instagram. Turns out he's also a forum sponsor! This was the exact bumper I had been envisioning all along. It's not over the top, simple lines that flow with the Jeep, and room to mount my lights. So I eagerly sent Dan a message and received a response almost immediately. My timing couldn't have been better because he was actually running a sale on JL bumpers at that time. So in went my order. Dan told me that he keeps the unassembled bumpers in stock and each is welded to completion when ordered. I imagine this is just to save room on inventory. I even had a few follow up messages on Instagram from Dan, telling me he had received my order and again that it was welded up and ready to ship, along with the emails on my order status. About a week later, it was at my door, but as luck would have it I was out of town for work so I didn't get to see it for another 10 days.

Prior to this, I had already installed the @lodoffroad license plate relocation bracket for the spare tire. I choose this because it doesn't require you to cut the stock carrier like a lot of other relocation brackets and it reuses the factory third brake like. I did have a warranty claim on the bracket which was quickly resolved by @Northridge4x4
and LOD. So thumbs up to both for quickly getting that handled. The hardest part about the install was running the original license plate light wiring across the frame, up the body behind the taillight, into the cabin, behind the plastic, through the cloth tailgate wire loom, through the tailgate, behind the tire carrier, and over the river and through the woods. I did take my time to make sure license plate light wiring was wrapped in braided wire loom and I added Delphi weather pack connector off the lights for a quick easy removal should I ever need to use my spare. I can share more on that later if anyone wants.
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Back to the bumper...

I ordered the plain bumper with no light cut outs. Dan doesn't offer powder coat which is perfect for me because I have a local hookup where it cost me $50 and it was done the same day.

It's packaged well with cardboard and foam over all sharp points and wrapped in cellophane. Construction of the bumper is stout with good welds throughout. The Next Venture Motorsports logo is centered in the tire cut out and I think the Eagles head looks cool. And if it's not your thing, your spare covers it anyway.
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Before I had it powder coated, I cut out holes for the @Baja Designs S2 Sports. I took about 30 minutes before cutting to take every possible measurement to ensure they were even, square, plum, level, flush, symmetrical, the whole 9 yards. In the end, the light output couldn't be more even and symmetrical if I tried. And these lights are amazing. Super wide flat beam pattern. It puts the light where you want. Unlike some flood lights that literally do just that, flood everything with lights including the tops of trees. And the pictures I included of the lights are exactly what they look like in person. I did not alter the pictures or adjust any settings with camera. They are that bright.
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I'm unsure of the factory steel bumper, but the plastic bumper only has 6 bolts securing it to the frame. The 4 on the driver side actually bolt through the tow hook as well. During the mock up, I took this time to create 2 flag nuts for the lower 2 bolt holes on the passenger side. Since there are no factory bolts for this spot, I had to make a quick run to the hardware store. I don't remember what the bolt size or pitch was but it's the same as the other 6. A local 4x4 shop tack welded the nuts to the flags, for free.
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Installation of the bumper was a breeze, although I do recommend having a friend around to help. It can be a bit awkward lifting a bumper by yourself. You reuse all the factory hardware and there are slots in the mounts to fine tune the gap between the body and bumper. With this bumper, you do not reuse the factory rear tow hook. Again, fine by me because mines caught on rocks before. Once the factory 6 bolts were in place, and the bumper was where I wanted it, in went the flags nuts were a perfect fit. So now my bumper is secured with 8 grade 8 bolts instead of 6.

For the lights, I ran 12/2 wire (It was supposed to be 14/2 but Amazon sent me the wrong stuff) from the engine bay aux swith wires, into the frame, and out the back near the tailpipe. (Have to use fish tape to get it through the frame) I also wrapped all of my wires in braided wire loom prior to installing (think of Chinese fingercuffs but in a 100ft roll) because I dispise split loom. Braided wire loom gives a much cleaner and factory finish to any additional wiring. All electrical connections were made with Delphi Weatherpack connectors and dielectric grease. But why did I run 2 wires to the back instead of just a power? Because having all your grounds in the same place makes for easier troubleshooting and cleaner finish and I don't want to leave a ground exposed to corrosion. I also plan on installing a grounding terminal block under the hood after I find a place to mount one. The terminal block and weatherpack connectors were all bought from McMaster-Carr.

I can't recommend this bumper enough. Price point is great, it's nothing over the top, flows with the Jeep, built solid, and Dan is super responsive if you have any questions.
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My supervisor was very critical of my work and not very good at lending a hand.
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NextDan

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Thanks for sharing! Those amber lights in the rear really light up the jeep behind you. For anyone else considering our bumper, I'd be more then happy to do the cutouts in our rear bumper for the flush mounts Spurly is running instead of the 3x3 cubes we normally offer as an option.

PS: I have a supervisor like that. "Red" is only critical when I refuse to give him my bacon or let him ride in the front seat....
 
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spurly

spurly

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When I'm home again, I'll have to take some pictures showing the side coverage too. I completly forgot to take more pictures. But those lights are insane. My buddy has a set of Rigid Lights on the rear of his Grand Cherokee that have a higher lumen output, but because of the Rigids diffused lens they use for their floods, it doesn't appear nearly as bright as the little S2 Sports.
 

Pig-Pen

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That is a great looking bumper. I really like how it flows with the body and it looks very well made. Lol at the F117 nighthawk comparison. I agree completely. Not a fan of those either.
 

mikej

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@spurly , thanks for the write up and pictures. One thing I’m a bit confused by is the flag nuts. Why did you have to make your own, were they not included?
 

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spurly

spurly

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That is a great looking bumper. I really like how it flows with the body and it looks very well made. Lol at the F117 nighthawk comparison. I agree completely. Not a fan of those either.
This is a pretty simple bumper that compliments the Jeep nicely and you gain a bit of extra clearance over the stock. And I think it's weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 pounds if I'm remembering correctly.


@spurly , thanks for the write up and pictures. One thing I’m a bit confused by is the flag nuts. Why did you have to make your own, were they not included?
Dan said that you reuse the 6 factory bolts on the rear of the frame. The frame has nuts welded into it for the original 6 bolts but there are two empty holes on the bottom passenger side. I just thought I would utilize the extra space for the added insurance. It probably doesn't need it but I figured why not since I was already in there.
 

Pig-Pen

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i really like it. but with the cost of the part, shipping and then having it powder coated by a good shop, it will be up there. oh plus the license plate relocation.. but, all the best, high quality bumpers seem to be up there in the same neighborhood. youre definitely paying for that Made in the USA quality though and you get what you pay for.
 
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spurly

spurly

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i really like it. but with the cost of the part, shipping and then having it powder coated by a good shop, it will be up there. oh plus the license plate relocation.. but, all the best, high quality bumpers seem to be up there in the same neighborhood. youre definitely paying for that Made in the USA quality though and you get what you pay for.
Keep an eye on his website. I bought it during the labor day sale for 20% off. At the end of September he posted in the Vendor Marketplace announcements that he had 20% off and free shipping for all bumpers. That's a hell of a deal.
 
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Pig-Pen

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Keep an eye on his website. I bought it during the labor day sale for 20% off. At the end of September he posted in the Vendor Marketplace announcements that he had 20% off and free shipping for all bumpers. That's a hell of a deal.
ive been exercising my credit card in preparation for Black Friday :dance:
 

NextDan

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Just remembered this post and figured I might mention we've got this going on right now.... 20% on adventure series bumpers specifically with code "NoTricks" ;)

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spurly

spurly

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Which S2 Sports did you get? The 2 amber choices I see are, Spots or Driving/Combo.
I bought the s2 sports driving combo and swapped the lens for a set of wide cornering ones.
 

Surfarch

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When I'm home again, I'll have to take some pictures showing the side coverage too. I completly forgot to take more pictures. But those lights are insane. My buddy has a set of Rigid Lights on the rear of his Grand Cherokee that have a higher lumen output, but because of the Rigids diffused lens they use for their floods, it doesn't appear nearly as bright as the little S2 Sports.
Great write up. Thanks. Got any side photos? Installing mine in a few weeks.
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