I just installed a Fishbone front bumper. The winch doesn't fit without rubbing on the grill. The factory LED fog lights don't fit either. The mounting tabs on the bumper are about 1 inch from where they need to be.
Where is your back up camera mounted now that you have the license plate in the middle of the wheel?The most cost efficient and proper carrier solution is the Teraflex Alpha HD carrier. It simply replaces the factory plastic carrier, without getting further invasive with the Jeep. It provides both height adjustment to raise the spare for bumper clearance, and fore and aft adjustment to accommodate different width tires and wheel offsets to maintain full supportive contact between the inner sidewall and the rubber bumpers on the tailgate. The Alpha includes a clamp-on bracket that relocates the 3rd brake light to right above the backup camera. Here's a pic of a 315/70-17 bfgoodrich ko2 on factory wheel mounted to this carrier. This is with the carrier adjusted to the highest of its 3 settings.
Here's a pic of the Alpha holding my current 38x13.5 tire on a wheel that's wider and of less backspace than the factory wheel. The fore and aft adjustability made it possible to maintain firm contact between the inner sidewall and the tailgates rubber bumpers. Without that adjustability, the spare would've been shifted further away from the tailgate. This is an important aspect to consider, because when a given weight gets cantilevered away from its mounting surface, the negative affects of that weight will be amplified.
It's hard to see it in this 2nd pic, but the 38's brought me back to having the tire hitting the rear bumper. Also, as solid as the Alpha was holding up to the heavier spare during daily driver duty, I knew it was going to be a problem when bouncing around the trails. At the time, Teraflex still hadn't released their hinged tailgate reinforcement that was to be used with their carrier. I was also wanting to get the spare mounted even higher, to maximize clearance when coming off of ledges and whatnot.
My hunt for a hinged tailgate reinforcement with adjustable carrier expanded to include a rear bumper. It makes sense to do these together, so that it's easier to come up with a solution that covers all the small bits: 3rd brake light, license plate, and plate light. I ended up with the Elite hinged carrier and the Ultra High Clearance rear bumper from Cavfab in Georgia. All easy bolt on parts, but moving the plate from the original location requires some form of extending the factory plate light harness and rerouting it to come out of the back of the gate like the camera and 3rd brake light harnesses. I had them powder coated to match the Mopar steel bumpers lightly textured black and the Cavfab logo plates in the same gloss red as the factory tow hooks. The tailgate is so strong that I was able to hang my body weight, with the spare mounted and tailgate swung open, without any sign of hinge sag. The cargo area also became so much quieter while driving around on our lovely NY roads/moonscape.
It's in the metal housing right below the plate. Here's the closest shot I have at the moment. You can see the camera lense in between the 2 stainless bolts.
Ummm... aluminum is a metal. Sorry, I couldn't resist
Technically it's an alloy... LOLUmmm... aluminum is a metal. Sorry, I couldn't resist
Is it safe to say your parking sensors work with this bumper?It's in the metal housing right below the plate. Here's the closest shot I have at the moment. You can see the camera lense in between the 2 stainless bolts.
Yes, parking sensors work perfectly. I do highly recommend getting new outer bezels and inner retainers for all 4 sensors. It'll make switching them to the new bumper much easier, because trying to remove the existing retainers without damage is difficult and they are never the same once removed. Well worth the small price for those bits.
So, thereās a reason for all the angles? Seriously, most of my vehicles have been 4x4, never worried much about modifying them though, if you could explain the functionality of the angles, that would be great. Iām trying to settle on a front bumper for my first Wrangler and to be honest, many are too big and too strange looking, putting it nicely there because to each his own. I generally want something on the minimal side, functional for recovery, recess a winch, keep or improve approach angle, decent looking, and doesnāt break the bank. So far, thatās been difficult to line up. If there is a purpose to some of the many angles out there, maybe that would help sway my thinking.Looking for A super basic TJ style bumper for my JL...not really into all these angles, regardless of how functional they may be.
Anyone know of anything / in SoCal and want to fabricate one?
Something like this...
