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Willys Bumper Options

Greymatter

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Looking for a bumper for my 21 Willys. I plan to upgrade to 34” tires and rubicon springs but not doing a major lift.

I am considering just getting the rubicon steel bumper, does anyone know if I also need to replace my skid with the rubicon or other aftermarket skid or can I use mine?

What other bumpers should I be looking at that aren’t crazy heavy and would go with a modest build with stock fenders and 34” tires.
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R3TRO

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Following... interested as well. I'm looking to doing the same thing with Rubi springs and 34" tires.
 

omnitonic

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I never looked at a Rubicon with steel bumpers that closely, and I'm not sure how the parts underneath differ, if they differ at all. My Willys came stock with a plastic bumper, a plastic splash guard, and a very thin piece of metal that had been embossed with indentations to impart additional strength. That small, thin metal was the only protection the Jeep had from the factory. Here is a picture.

Jeep Wrangler JL Willys Bumper Options 1630863797537


Pretty much the sky is the limit on aftermarket bumper options. Everything should work. Most bumpers I looked at offer a skid plate as an option. The skid plate is usually specific to a particular manufacturer, and typically covers a range of their bumper offerings.

I ended up going the Rugged Ridge HD route, and I added the skid plate. I replaced the original stamped metal thing with a pretty good hunk of steel down there. Installation was a PITA.

Jeep Wrangler JL Willys Bumper Options 1630863969388
 

R3TRO

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I've been eyeing this one. I like the understated looks. There's an option for 'no bull bar', but I can't find a pic of what that would look like? Skid plate is also an optional upgrade.

LOD midwidth
 

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I would add that if I hadn't made the bumper choice I did when I was just starting out in Jeep world, I would probably be running on 37s right now. My Rugged Ridge HD full width front bumper is known to cause issues with 37s. If you look at it, you can see why. It blends really nicely into the factory fender flares, but it has pointy, backward-pointing bits right where the big tires would want to go. I'm basically limited to 35s unless I take a Sawzall to this bumper.

I mean 35s are good. Lighter. Less likely to destroy stock axles and hubs and whatnot. But it cheeses me that I can't go to 37s because of that damn full width bumper.

My point is that if you don't think this disease is going to afflict you, you're probably wrong. One day, you will want to put 48s on your Jeep like a real man, and you should probably plan accordingly as you build. :CWL:
 

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Greymatter

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I've been eyeing this one. I like the understated looks. There's an option for 'no bull bar', but I can't find a pic of what that would look like? Skid plate is also an optional upgrade.

LOD midwidth
I really love this bumper, my concern is with not going with 35s I need a slimmer bumper. I probably need to find some images with smaller tires keeps and these bumpers.
 

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I never looked at a Rubicon with steel bumpers that closely, and I'm not sure how the parts underneath differ, if they differ at all. My Willys came stock with a plastic bumper, a plastic splash guard, and a very thin piece of metal that had been embossed with indentations to impart additional strength. That small, thin metal was the only protection the Jeep had from the factory. Here is a picture.

Jeep Wrangler JL Willys Bumper Options 1630863969388


Pretty much the sky is the limit on aftermarket bumper options. Everything should work. Most bumpers I looked at offer a skid plate as an option. The skid plate is usually specific to a particular manufacturer, and typically covers a range of their bumper offerings.

I ended up going the Rugged Ridge HD route, and I added the skid plate. I replaced the original stamped metal thing with a pretty good hunk of steel down there. Installation was a PITA.

Jeep Wrangler JL Willys Bumper Options 1630863969388
I smashed that piece of steel lol. Bent it bad and the frame right where that connects took a good one.
 

JeepJLU402

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I also want to keep weight down with bumpers. I’ve been looking at all the aluminum options out there. They are a bit more money but the bumper is 35 lbs and not 135 lbs.
 

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The 3 piece steel bumper takes a different skid from the plastic bumper.
 

omnitonic

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I also want to keep weight down with bumpers. I’ve been looking at all the aluminum options out there. They are a bit more money but the bumper is 35 lbs and not 135 lbs.
There's nothing wrong with shaving weight, but I've been impressed with how little impact it had on my fuel economy. Get rid of factory air tweaking stuff. Replace 20 pounds of factory with 250 pounds of aftermarket. My fuel economy should tank, right? But it didn't. All the stuff I bolted on, all the weight I added, it barely made a difference. Maybe 1 mpg.

The real impact was my bigger tires. That shot my fuel economy right in the ass, but I'm hoping to get some back when I finally get a chance to get regeared. (Parts are back-ordered.)
 

desmo2

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I have spent hours picking over front bumpers for my 2-door Rubicon (currently stock).

I think I have narrowed it down to two:

1) Rockhard Aluminum Patriot mid-width w/ lowered winch plate. $1,259.95, 34 lbs.
2) LoD Signature mid-width, lowered winch plate. $875.00, 72 lbs.

My dilemma is deciding if saving 36 lbs of bumper weight is worth the extra $384.95 for the aluminum bumper. That weight savings will help to offset the weight of a winch. For reference, the stock plastic Rubicon bumper is reported to weigh 36 lbs.
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