Rubicon US bumper

[Elementad]

Hi
Has anyone imported or bought from dealer a US plastic Rubicon bumper as seen on the below picture?

Looks same as the steel version but obviously has the advantage of being lighter for those that don’t need it to be steel.

Can you buy these in UK?

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[Arterius2]

Hi
Has anyone imported or bought from dealer a US plastic Rubicon bumper as seen on the below picture?

Looks same as the steel version but obviously has the advantage of being lighter for those that don’t need it to be steel.

Can you buy these in UK?

That looks nothing like the steel bumper FYI.

 

[Elementad]

I’d be happy with it. It looks close enough to me compared to our UK plastic bumper.
Can any one help/advise?

 

[Dyolfknip74]

I’d be happy with it. It looks close enough to me compared to our UK plastic bumper.
Can any one help/advise?

So angry....so, so angry.

 

[Elementad]

That looks nothing like angry FYR

 

[Elementad]

Hi all
So for anyone that’s interested, my local UK Jeep dealer CAN supply and fit the US plastic rubicon bumper but cannot deactivate the front parking sensors.

I have a couple of questions for anyone that may know or be able to help.

1) Am I correct in thinking you can go into the menu on dashboard and deactivate front sensors? Or would a taser or other be required for that?

2) in terms of being legal to fit this plastic bumper I would imagine it IS because I see the mopar steel bumper can pass and is available with TUV certificate. My train of thought is that if the steel one is then the plastic one surely has to be more pedestrian safe.

3) I see some UK dealers are selling Gladiators (imported) and the ones they have for sale are the Rubicons with said plastic bumper (red tow hooks etc). My question is that for these to be sold/imported they must have to go through an imported vehicle approval process to be legally sold and driven over here in the UK. Again my train of thought is that if these are being successfully imported and sold here by Jeep dealer with the plastic bumper then surely this is deemed a safe COMPLIANT bumper to use?

Any help/thoughts/advice appreciated.

 

[lohr500]

I can't remember if you can deactivate them in the menu and I can't check right now as my wife is out in the Jeep!!

The front ones on mine didn't work originally as they had fitted the wrong module to the vehicle at the factory when it was built. The module that controls both the front and rear sensors is mounted in the corner of the right hand rear wing, behind the inside plastic trim panels. If I remember correctly the harnesses for the front and rear sensors were separate so it may be as simple as unplugging the front harness. Not sure if it would throw up an error.

Thinking about this some more, there is also a wiring loom connector close to where the bumper attaches to the main chassis in front of the driver's front wheel. I ended up disconnecting this to see if the front sensors were receiving power when I investigated the fault myself.

Here's the detail on the wiring and the connector.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/JL-Wiring-Diagrams/VEHICLE-GROUND_INLINE-CONNECTOR-MAP.pdf

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/JL-Wiring-Diagrams/PARK-ASSIST-SYSTEM.pdf

If you can find the connector XY101B close to the bumper as shown in the 1st .pdf, it should have 8 wires in and out of it, as per the 2nd .pdf. From what I remember of the connector, it had a plastic clip which pushed into the chassis to hold it in place and was wrapped in a bit of sticky rubbery material. The clip just pulled out of the chassis and after peeling back the rubber material, it was possible to separate the two pars of the connector. It had a spring type locking latch on the connector if I remember correctly.

You could try unplugging the connector and then testing the sensors. Hopefully with the plug disconnected, they just won't work and not throw up any error messages or front parking sounds or display. If this is the case, just tell the dealer to seal off the connector to make it waterproof and job done!! I would suggest if they do this, they do it in such a way that the connector can be used again in the future, should anyone want to fit the front sensors again.
They should disconnect the loom to the bumper using connector XY101B and the other one shown in the .pdf (XY101A) when they take off the old bumper anyway. XY101A is a 4 way connector used to connect the front fog lights to the main vehicle.

Usual caveat with the advice. If you try disconnecting the plug and the vehicle then throws a hissy fit , please don't blame me. I suspect it won't as when I was unplugging the rear sensor loom on mine (the rears did work when delivered) it didn't cause any warning messages or engine management lights to come on.

Hope this helps.

 

[Elementad]

Thanks lohr500 some great info on the sensors there. Just waiting on idea of bumper compliance now from anyone. Also waiting for a couple of dealers to ring me back.

Another question for anyone UK based. Has anyone ordered directly from US store Quadratec? I am considering buying the parts direct from them. Any good, bad thoughts?

 

[DavidArmen]

Just drill holes in precise locations on the new bumper and install the sensors from your old bumper onto your new bumper.

 

[pablo_max3045]

Again my train of thought is that if these are being successfully imported and sold here by Jeep dealer with the plastic bumper then surely this is deemed a safe COMPLIANT bumper to use?

Any help/thoughts/advice appreciated.

Not sure it works that way.
The importer is getting approval for a specific package. This cannot be applied to other vehicles.
It does show that in principle you can get a vehicle with that bumper registered. Pretty sure I have seen other posters from the UK who are running steel bumpers, so it must be possible there.
In Germany, if you know a TÜV center which has already approved it on your model type, then it is easy to get your paper work updated. But, you still have to pay them a lot.
I think I was quoted 580€ or so. Ultimately, I just left the stock bumper on.
Looks goofy, but after a year, I just don't care anymore.
Plus.. I have only driven like 2000 KM since March of 2020

 

[DDMELLOR]

Hi all
So for anyone that’s interested, my local UK Jeep dealer CAN supply and fit the US plastic rubicon bumper but cannot deactivate the front parking sensors.

I have a couple of questions for anyone that may know or be able to help.

1) Am I correct in thinking you can go into the menu on dashboard and deactivate front sensors? Or would a taser or other be required for that?

2) in terms of being legal to fit this plastic bumper I would imagine it IS because I see the mopar steel bumper can pass and is available with TUV certificate. My train of thought is that if the steel one is then the plastic one surely has to be more pedestrian safe.

3) I see some UK dealers are selling Gladiators (imported) and the ones they have for sale are the Rubicons with said plastic bumper (red tow hooks etc). My question is that for these to be sold/imported they must have to go through an imported vehicle approval process to be legally sold and driven over here in the UK. Again my train of thought is that if these are being successfully imported and sold here by Jeep dealer with the plastic bumper then surely this is deemed a safe COMPLIANT bumper to use?

Any help/thoughts/advice appreciated.

Hi,

Did you get fixed up with a bumper?

I’ve been looking to replace my stock bumper with the metal Rubicon version, but also don’t mind the look of the plastic US version. Did you get a quote from your dealer?

I would prefer to retain the front parking sensors but I have found out that they can be disabled via a taser device.

Cheers
Dan

 

[Elementad]

Hi,

Did you get fixed up with a bumper?

I’ve been looking to replace my stock bumper with the metal Rubicon version, but also don’t mind the look of the plastic US version. Did you get a quote from your dealer?

I would prefer to retain the front parking sensors but I have found out that they can be disabled via a taser device.

Cheers
Dan

Hi
Yes I got a quote from dealer for the plastic bumper but didn’t proceed. Fitted was £2407 which includes new fogs as dealer said it looked like the fogs were different. If I insisted on keeping and trying to use the existing fogs this would save £400.
I didn’t proceed as this was more expensive than the steel mopar bumper. This also didn’t include disabling the front sensors as they said they couldn’t do that so would be a constant warning/malfunction message on dash.

I also tried calling (twice) and emailing Quadratec in the US for one but they didn’t get back to me for a long time (2 months) and even then didn’t offer any advice to my questions about shipping and price.

The taser thing I’ve heard mixed reports (reliability) on.

Ive decided for short term to stick with stock bumper. It looks worse in pics than in the flesh but still keeping an eye out.
Another option (if you’re brave enough) is on alibaba (sourcing from China). There are a couple of places that sell the plastic bumper with the parking sensors provisions.

I guess another question I have is if it’s a straight swap or are there changes to bumper crush cans etc between US EU. Judging from the folk who have done straight swap with the steel one I guess not but it’s a question for any techies on here also.

 

[DDMELLOR]

Thanks for the response, £2407 seems like an insane price, considering you can get the genuine Mopar steel bumper from Buzz for £1700. I did see a US bumper on ebay, but it looks pretty banged up. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274818695034?hash=item3ffc787f7a:g:NrEAAOSwNNVgtoBH

I've looked at the Chinese 'copies' but I'm not convinced on the quality, or else I would be tempted to install one of these.

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