Am I crazy for wanting to keep the stock bumper? Are there more people out there like myself? I have some money to play with and tossed around the idea of bumpers. Every time I look, I can't seem to find anything that I think would look better than what I have. Here is what I am working with now. I wonder if VDP will ever make high clearance rear caps.
not crazy at all... but I'm thinking once I go lift and bigger tires, I will want the security of the solid metal up front... some guys have been in accidents where it tears the front end of a car off and breaks a plastic piece on the metal bumper... I like those odds.
I like my stock bumpers other then that they dent so easy... if it weret for that I would never change them. Already replaced my front one after 500 miles just tapped a pole and made a dent. got a new one from the forum but still stock.
Its all a matter of taste and what you use your Jeep for. I went with a heavy duty front for the bar to protect the grill and a winch mount. I went with a rear with a tire carrier that I am not worried about breaking with large tires on it.
I think the stock bumpers look fine. I like the simple look. I just despise the fact that they fade so bad and end up looking like crap. Takes a lot of up-keep. With that said, I still want to replace my front/rear sometime next year. Also, you can get the stubby end caps for the front bumper. An easy, cheap mod which IMO makes the front stock bumper look 100% better.
Yeah its a Mopar grill guard with three kc LZR lights. I have 5 of them total now. And I mean if vdp will make rear high clearance caps. I already have the fronts as you can see. I saw the rampage shorty but was not sold on it.
Also I cam across black plastic bumper dye to makes old faded bumpers look brand new. It's an actual dye not a cleaner. It can get messy to apply but works so well. It's called forever black
I like the stock bumper as well. It serves the function for which I use my Jeep. I also have the stock Mopar light bar. It now has lights mounted on it.
Had the stock bumper until I couldn't get out of a rut and it threw me into a tree. It was bent in and the drivers side tire rubbed it at every turn. Stubbied it and hit it with plastidip. Looks great and the mod cost me $8.00.
I like my stock bumper, have vdp stubby kit, Rockhard winch plate and bull bar and a warn zeon winch on it, looks better than any after market in my opinion.
I have mine and like it. Only thing I dont like is the appliqué. It's silver and I have Billet. At a quick glance it matches but looking at it longer the color is slightly off. May looking into getting power coated or something along those lines.
From a safety stand point they are simply a POS. A 37lbs POS. If you have any concern about protecting your family and yourself surround the Yeep with 3/16 or 1/4" metal.
I would love to have an LOD midwidth front bumper but the cost of them is a deterrent and then to get it to Canada, bend over, even more so since our dollar tanked. So I will be sticking with the stocker for a while. I want the VDP stubby end caps too.
If I had a JK, this would be my set up. Possibly with a winch on it if it fits with the light bar. I like a lot of aftermarket designs, but my taste has always been for the OE+. I like the mods that someone can look and love without knowing exactly what is different from stock. That is a great look!
Personally I like the look of the AEV and the MOPAR aftermarket bumper.
For my Jeep purpose the Stocker works fine.
I live in Edmonton, AB and I always look at Jeeps with aftermarket bumpers; they are always rusty.
I like the stock bumper. I LOVE the AEV setup. Until I can swing the cash to do the AEV bumper and a winch and some suspension support, I'm going to rock the VDP high clearance ends and an add-on light bar.
Looks great. Did you use the kc add lights harness? I just bought a set of your kc's for my Maximum-3 winch mount but want a another set for the windshield.
the two windshield lights are one one harness, and the other 3 in the front are on a another harness, I used a Y visionX pig tail adapter to run 3 lights on one harness. the harness can hand up to 55 watts and the three lights all together are less than 25. They are all using the KC harness that comes with the kits. i just had to buy one additional light by itself for the front on amazon.
Living by the beach I'll keep the plastic. Fading a bunch from 2007 but about to rhino or line-x them. Everything just rust so damn much down here. Have to pull the hitch and mounting brackets off the side steps and send them for some powder coat. Easier to deal with the fading fenders/bumpers considering everyone is selling them then some rust/corrosion with the metal bumpers
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