I am wanting to order a bumper with a tire carrier this week. Currently, I have 31" tires on my 06 TJ including the spare. I'll be going to 33s later this fall when I put a lift on it. One problem I have, is I have a bike rack for my mountain bike that mounts on the spare. I think that this is hurting my door a bit and I've stopped carrying my bike since I don't want to do any more damage. So, I want to order a bumper real soon so I can get back to transporting my bike on a hitch mount bike rack.
I know what I want in a bumper. I want it to be tow capable. I doubt I'll ever tow anything with it but you never know. I will most definitely put that hitch mount bike rack on it though. I absolutely hate things that rattle too. I know I don't want an Ebay or Shittybuilt bumper. I'd like something nice and solid that securely holds the tire without it sticking out too far from the carrier. I'd also like for it to be able to accept accessories like a rack above the tire and a jerry can or two on the sides of the tire. I'm not too concerned about the cost and realize that I can pay around $1,000 for a good, quality bumper.
I've been looking at a few, but each one has things I'm not crazy about. First, is the Jeeperman bumper. The only problem, is I can't find much info about Jeeperman. It looks like they're not in business any more.
Another one I like is the LOD Offroad Signature Series bumper. I've read a few bad things about them being shipped without hardware, no instructions, etc. I could deal with that. Personally, I like this bumper the best. The only thing I really don't like about it, is the hi-lift jack mount. I've read that the way it's mounted, makes it to where you can't open the back glass on hard tops!
I also really like the Rock Hard bumper with tire carrier. I just don't like how the hi-lift mounts on there either. It looks like it blocks the license plate. I don't want to relocate it.
Anyways, what I'm looking for, is more suggestions on good, quality bumpers that I'm not aware of. If you're familiar with the bumpers mentioned above, then you probably have a good idea of what I'm looking for. I could live with the hi-lift issues and only carry my hi-lift when I go wheeling. There are things I consider must haves though.
- Tow capable
- Able to mount a rack and Jerry cans
- No rattles!
Groundpounder fab bumper here for good price. It's the best bumper out there. I ordered new and then my friend at Jeep got me a killer deal on a jk. Never even installed or painted. I have bumper, tire carrier, and high jack lift mount. American made and I will sell it for cheap.
I went with a JCR rear bumper with tire carrier. It has a jack mount, cb antenna mount and will hold 2 rotopax jugs. It also came with led's in the bumper I wired to my rev lights. Make sure you get the frame tie ins too.
I had a Dirtworx for a long time, Robert makes them seriously tough. I have since moved my spare in the back, then back to the tailgate. If I were to get another bumper/carrier combo again, only one stands out for quality and value -
Hey there KC10Chief....thought I would weigh in, just in case this helps you out since you gave me the recommendation for the Die Tech mirror mounts on another thread.
I am in the market for the same thing as you and just placed a down payment on a new rear bumper w/tire carrier and platform for 2 Jerry cans. The guy (Tyler @ Keystone Fabrication) is right here in my home town of Boise, ID and came highly recommended by my friend who had this same guy build a custom bumper for his Bronco......which came out real nice, especially for the price. I went over and checked out his shop/work yesterday and placed my order right then. I would guess its comparable to the Dirtworx stuff. I'm enthused to buy American small business too.
Give him a call and see what you think. I was sold it anyway. I will have to paint it but it seems like good quality stuff for a good price. I will know more when I get it mounted though. I have to wait a couple of weeks because he is going on vacation but I think his turn-around is normally pretty good.
I also liked the price/looks of the 'The Barricade' by ExtremeTerrain but it's not made in the USA. Until I went to Keystone Fabrication I was going to go with the DirtWorx guy in CA.
Let us know if we can be of any help, any Hardware issues should be taken care of 100% as we have a new set of guys that do our packaging. The TJ Signature series bumpers are tow rated the same as the Jeeps rating. We can also make the bumper to accept the Rigid Flush mount D series lights if you would like.
I'm in same boat. I'm buying American made. I've made that decision. On this project I will support American small businesses whenever possible as long as their prices are reasonable. There are enough American small businesses that make bumpers of great quality. I don't think this should be a challenge. The hardest part is deciding which one to buy from.
Thank you to jontay. I hadn't seen Keystone before. I hope that you will update or post a new thread once you install it. With any issues you might encounter.
Just installed my Barricade Classic with the tire carrier last night. Fit good. Hung my 33 on there with no problems and the tire mount is adjustable for fatter tires.
picking up Keystone Fabrication rear bumper today. Hope to have it painted and installed by this weekend. by next week at latest probably. I'll post results.
I have one sitting in my garage. The thing rattled so much that I pulled it off and bought an OR-FAB tire carrier/jerrycan carrier instead. I'm much happier with the OR-FAB.
The HighRock's hinge failed after nine months. When I took it apart and lifted the hinge off its post, one of the cylinder's bearing housings fell out in shredded pieces. Fortunately, it was still under warranty.
I'm happy with the JCR bumper/tire carrier. It can carry up to 4 gallons of extra fuel, hi lift, has d ring mounts and rear LEDs. Its rattle free, adjustable and the spare tucks in nicely. I also recommend the frame tie ins.
I bought the OR Fab carrier and had to sell it. It wont work with full corners unless you cut up the corner guards or cut up the OR Fab mount. I called both OR Fab and Metal Cloak and nether was any help with how to make the two products work together. I sold the OR Fab carrier still new in its box and ordered the JCR bumper with tire carrier.
I mounted my first ORF carrier into my previous '97 TJ's steel Warrior corner guards, then moved it onto the new Savvy aluminum corner guards that replaced the Warrior guards.
That Jeep was stolen so I bought an '04 TJ with Savvy aluminum corners and mounted a new ORF carrier onto them.
All without any cutting or any other modifications to the corner guards or ORF carrier. I have pictures if you don't believe it can be done.
The ORF bracket needed to be bolted behind the hinges and was one long plate that went from one hinge to the other. The MC corner guards do not go behind the hinges but does fit into the space between them, The ORF bracket needed to be flat on the tub in the same place that the corner guard needed to be flat on the tub. I still don't see how I would do it without cutting the section of the corner guard that fits between the hinges.
The red arrow points to one of the spacers I inserted under the top & bottom tailgate hinge-halves so that side of the hinge was level with the side of the hinge bolted on top of the aftermarket corner guards. That's all it took.
Your right Jerry. I should have said that it would not work with my Metal Cloak corner guards without mods. I'm sorry they did not work well together. I like the carrier a lot.
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