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Purpose of ordering the Steel Bumper Group?

entropy

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Is this true? Stiffer springs to offset added weight makes sense, but I've never heard this before.
steel group, hardtop, and towing package all give stiffer springs.

I bought a rubi suspension that had all these upgrades to support my mods.
 

Reinen

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I dont really want to get into the argument of "collision" with a metal bumper vs. the plastic.

A few corrections from what I've been reading on this post and some real reasons of going metal. The plastic front bumper IS NOT PLASTIC. It is an aluminum bumper with a hard plastic bumper. Whoever has installed their own aftermarket bumpers know this. I can share a picture of how the oem real bumper looks like. The rear bumper is plastic.
You are correct, by protection I mean protecting the vehicle in a minor collision. Not the occupants in a major collision. Once you get into crumple zones you're beyond anything a bumper can do.

Yes, it is just a plastic cover but you must admit the aluminum underneath it is pretty flimsy as bumpers go. I would not want to introduce it to a rock.
 

word302

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For me:

1) I wanted OEM, not aftermarket. I hold a high value on OEM parts which are heavily designed and proven to work and meet OEM standards. ALOT of aftermarket parts over the years have failed to meet the same expectation (lifts, axles, bumpers, tops, etc - almost all of them without fail, have not met the same standard as OEM for me)
2) Durable / strong (stronger than the plastic)
3) Looks
3) Upgradeable (remove end caps, add tubes, lights, etc)

I think it fits the bill perfectly for me.

Jeep Wrangler JL Purpose of ordering the Steel Bumper Group? tenor (18)
If aftermarket parts aren't as good as OEM you're buying from the wrong manufacturers.
 

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entropy

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If aftermarket parts aren't as good as OEM you're buying from the wrong manufacturers.
+1 on this. Even some of the value brands products (smittybilt, rugged ridge, etc...) offer same or better quality than oem parts from my experience. Most oem stuff is so overpriced.
 

pnut

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If aftermarket parts aren't as good as OEM you're buying from the wrong manufacturers.
I strongly disagree. Let me use the example of the maximus tube added to my wife's 2015 steel bumper. It is rusting, the steel bumper which it is attached to is not.

Or even on my 2021, the warn bumper tube, has a hole in the weld at the base, and you can see a small bit of rust which I will seal with silicone but it shouldn't be that way.

Or the Teraflex long arm pre-runner kit for my JK which the joints needed replacing every year, and the bolts at the link joints had clunking no matter what I did.

These are (arguably) respected suppliers, which make alot of Jeep stuff. Their stuff is good, and I know what to expect, but not even close to OEM. I work for a supplier to an OEM, and I know what kind of testing and design is required for OEM parts, and I suspect few, if any, do such validation.

AEV, is the only one I know of who comes close. Mostly because it was founded by (so I heard) a former Chrysler / Jeep employee. I've had good luck with their stuff but even there I had an LED brake light for my JK which was DOA.

I will pay way more for OEM or MOPAR any day of the week.
 

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and yet im sure most of the mopar goodies are manufacturered by aftermarket suppliers, including the bumpers. the oem front bumper has rugged ridge written all over it lol. the way its built looks very much like the spartacus bumper they make (not the actual design of course). and i believe it was revealed they made the mopar tube doors. the construction of the mopar and RR doors look very similar. nothing like any of the other manufacturers.
 

pnut

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and yet im sure most of the mopar goodies are manufacturered by aftermarket suppliers, including the bumpers. the oem front bumper has rugged ridge written all over it lol. the way its built looks very much like the spartacus bumper they make (not the actual design of course). and i believe it was revealed they made the mopar tube doors. the construction of the mopar and RR doors look very similar. nothing like any of the other manufacturers.
That's true. Bestop is a perfect example they I heard make the OEM soft top.

However no matter what aftermarket supplier, they have no way to recreate the millions of dollars of test equipment, people, labs, etc. Not to mention access to unlimited test vehicles, very early in development. Now, I will be the first to admit some OEM Jeep and Mopar stuff leaves something to be desired (*cough* - hinges bubbling - *cough*), but there are cold weather chambers, salt spray tests, hundreds of thousands of cycles, approved materials and coating, and it goes on and on that only the OEM has, to engineer the right part.
 

word302

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I strongly disagree. Let me use the example of the maximus tube added to my wife's 2015 steel bumper. It is rusting, the steel bumper which it is attached to is not.

Or even on my 2021, the warn bumper tube, has a hole in the weld at the base, and you can see a small bit of rust which I will seal with silicone but it shouldn't be that way.

Or the Teraflex long arm pre-runner kit for my JK which the joints needed replacing every year, and the bolts at the link joints had clunking no matter what I did.

These are (arguably) respected suppliers, which make alot of Jeep stuff. Their stuff is good, and I know what to expect, but not even close to OEM. I work for a supplier to an OEM, and I know what kind of testing and design is required for OEM parts, and I suspect few, if any, do such validation.

AEV, is the only one I know of who comes close. Mostly because it was founded by (so I heard) a former Chrysler / Jeep employee. I've had good luck with their stuff but even there I had an LED brake light for my JK which was DOA.

I will pay way more for OEM or MOPAR any day of the week.
Like I said, you’re buying from the wrong manufacturers. Plenty of companies blow the OEM out of the water on quality. LOD, Rock Krawler, Metalcloak, American Adventure Labs, Dynatrac, Adam’s, RCV, Artec, Fox, and ARB just to name a few. If you want to keep spending more for trash then by all means but don’t kid yourself.
 

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hybrid3.0

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I also prefer the Mopar parts as these as these have been engineered to work with the vehicle and have a certain high standard to manufacture even if they are made overseas like most things are these days. If you buy your steel bumper group as part of your factory build then it is included in your 3 year/36 month warranty and possibly longer for rust perforation. On my Jeep, if I have any issues, I just hand the keys over to the dealer to figure it out under warranty. My aftermarket accessories are Mopar if available so there are no questions about parts working together. There are quality aftermarket manufacturers out there that make equally good or better engineered devices, but that takes a lot of research and experience to ascertain and sometimes the brand is not consistent if they have a 'value leader' part. I don't want to find out two or three years later that I made a bad choice when parts begin to fail.
 

Daywalker78

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If I could have added it from the start then I would have, but I bought mine used. Either way, I have since upgraded and I love it. Lastly, as others have mentioned, it's great because it's so modular, tons of options for it.
Jeep Wrangler JL Purpose of ordering the Steel Bumper Group? Steel Bumper
 
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CodyDog

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Yes I will give you the looks are superior but I'm already inexpensive vehicle another $2,000 for simply the bumper is hard to justify. Aftermarket seems far more appropriate..
Yeah, and it's just getting started. Welcome to the internet.

Lots of people will chime in with largely the same reasons for and against. Lots of people will criticize the opinions of others. It may peter out quick or it could grow to dozens of pages.
It seems like a lot of post like this are written in a manner to start a divide amongst members. Too many of them but drama seems to be entraining for those who like asking stupid questions.
 
 



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