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Review: Barricade Trail Force HD Rear Bumper w/ Tire Carrier

16K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  Jeff Hill 
#1 ·
I want to start by saying Thank You to Ryan at Extremeterrain.com for giving me the opportunity to review this product. He hooked me up with this bumper after I broke my stock tire carrier on my 2011 JKU. This is my 100% honest and unbiased review of the Barricade Trail Force HD Rear bumper and Tire Carrier.

The bumper was ordered on a Tuesday afternoon and I had recieved all parts of the order by 2pm that Friday. So they were super quick to get the order out the door and used a fast shipping method through UPS. I thought this was great. No one likes to wait a long time for new and exciting mods for their JK. UPS was a little rough with the boxes during shipping and bent the sleeve on the tire carrier. The sleeve was out of round and would not slide over the post on the bumper. This was definitely done during shipping, as the bumper/carrier seemed to be packaged well in my opinion. The UPS driver even complained about having to deliver the bumper. XTRyan sent out another tire carrier same day, no questions asked.

Installation is pretty straight forward. The hardest part is removing your stock bumper and reciever hitch ( if equipped ). I do wish better instructions were included with the packaging. You will have to download and print them from the extremeterrain.com website. Not a big deal though. A lot a people will get through the install without them. I installed my bumper alone with out any problems. The tire carrier took a lot of work to get on as it is a really tight fit on the post on the bumper. It is also a little stiff to open and close. Hopefully it will loosen up a little over time. The latch was easy to install and seems to close tight.

The quality of the bumper is good especially for the price point. It seems to be heavy duty and should stand up to quite a bit of abuse. The powder coating looks nice with the crinkle finish. The available tire carrier is fully adjustable for tires all the way up to a 37 and seems extremely solid. It does have a integrated reciever hitch, although not tow rated, should work fine for bike racks and such.

The bumper is roughly 110lbs and the tire carrier an additional 48lbs. My JKU just has a teraflex leveling kit and I didn't notice a change in rear height with this bumper. If it did lower the rear end it was negligible and well worth the better looks and added durability to the bumper and tire carrier.


PROS:
Easy install
Affordable
High quality especially for price.
3 year warranty
Excellent support from Extreme Terrain
Wrangler forum member discounts available (Contact XTRyan for details)


CONS:
Non tow rated tow hitch
No provided install instructions (Available online)
Tire carrier is somewhat difficult to open and close.


Overall I am very happy with this bumper/tire carrier. I would recommend it to anyone. For the money you get a great heavy duty bumper that looks really good. The support from Extreme Terrain is also a very big plus. I have no doubt that should you have any issues during the warranty period, Extreme Terrain will be more then happy to help.

Anyone else with experience, pics, or feedback on this bumper/tire carrier, Please post it here. Hope this helps others who might be considering purchasing this bumper.

Direct Link to website:
http://www.extremeterrain.com/barricade-rear-bumper-j20849.html
 

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#2 ·
Great review, I was on the fence about whether to buy the Barricade TF bumper with or without the tire carrier. The price difference is significant. I guess it all boils down to the stock carrier being able to handle a 35" tire. Thanks for sharing, it looks great.
 
#6 ·
I have the same bumper. I agree with you on the instructions and how tight the tire carrier is. I had to pound the tire carrier on with a small sledgehammer. That was 3 months ago. The tire carrier is slowly getting easer to open. I cut two 4 inch holes in the bumper and mounted 2 flush mount LEDs lights in it. Installed a backup camera in the trailer hitch. Over all I'm happy with the bumper
 
#10 ·
Thanks, Hsoj10! I saw your story on here, and thought it was pretty darn cool for XTRyan to step up like that. That was awesome.

So I wish I could say that my tire carrier went on as smooth as the bumper. I did get it on, and more importantly found a solution to getting it on, which then turned into a tip for others. That video is still a week or so out (it takes many hours to actually edit the videos). Once I got it on..its smooth as silk, and looks/fits great.

The key... I used a little brake cylinder hone ($16 purchase at the local auto parts store) to hone out the inside of the sleeve on the tire carrier. Not a lot (not to change the inner diameter of the sleeve) but enough to remove any powder coating buildup and burrs that might be in there. It is such a tight fit that any tiny thing will cause a massive hang-up. I was able to get it on without a hammer, there is no play, and it is very smooth to open and close.

I ended up having to hone mine because it wouldn't go on all the way...it got about 3/4 inch from seating and wouldn't go any farther. Then I couldn't get it off either. I was stuck. I ended up running over to a buddy's shop and we used a hockey puck hydraulic jack to get it back off....and that's where I realized there was a burr or something inside the sleeve that was getting in the way. You could see where the post was marred up and gouged as I tried and tried to get it to seat.

Even though I had a little trouble at first, once I honed it out a bit to clean up the sleeve, it's an amazing combo. "No ragrets" Not one letter. ;-)

I'd recommend everyone carefully check the inside sleeve before slipping the carrier over the post....and I'd personally go ahead and just hit it with the hone for a minute or so to smooth/polish the inside surface. $16 and a drill isn't much - and that will make things smoother after install as well.



This will all be in the part two video of course, but thought I'd share so people had some info while the video is in the editing room.
 
#17 ·
This was my third brake light solution. I cut down the stock light. Drilled two holes big enough for the screws on he back of the light at the height I wanted on the carrier. And then just ran the screws through the carrier and back into the back of the light. Then re route the wiring so that I can open the door and carrier seperately. It is pretty solid and didn't cost me a dime.
 

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#19 ·
I am having problem with Barricade Trail Force tire carrier latch - it got too tight lately to the point I am having trouble closing it. Does anyone know how I can adjust it? Thanks in advance, fellows.
I'm not sure what would cause the latch to become hard to close. I had a hard time in the beginning with the tire carrier being hard to swing open and closed but it has loosened up over time. Never had any trouble with the latch. Maybe @XTRyan can help in this one.
 
#24 ·
I also have the same Rear bumper and tire carrier. I had no problems installing the bumper or tire carrier. It was a little difficult sliding the bumper on. As for the tightness of the tire carrier... a little WD 40 did the trick for me!


I love the third brake light idea. I ended up buying the Barricade Adjustable Brake Light Bracket with LED Light. Thank goodness ET and Ryan are such quick shippers because I was afraid to drive my Jeep without the third brake light due to it being required in MD.
 
#27 ·
Nice review. I really like this bumper and the new Barricade Extreme HD rear bumper. But since I sold my truck for the jeep, I tow a trailer a lot more. And I'm not willing to give up my tow rated receiver for a bumper reciever. The Trail Force has been on my wish list for a while but I never bought it for this reason.

Does anyone know if the new Extreme HD bumber, which has a different looking receiver, can be removed to work with the factory receiver?
 
#28 ·
I just wanted to post an update on this bumper. I have had it on my Silver JKU for almost a year now and it is holding up very well. No squeaks or rattles. The powder coating is holding up very well, no rust or chips at all. I am really happy with the bumper/tire carrier and would recommend it to anyone in the market for one. @XTRyan and ExtremeTerrain.com have great customer service as well. If you have been considering this bumper, don't hesitate to buy it.



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