China knockoff of the Mopar steel front JT bumper...is it any good?

[WILL1E]

My JTR has the standard plastic bumper and I'd like to get a steel one with the ability to take the ends off to make it a stubby. Haven't seen any on the used market locally and I don't want to pay the new Mopar price. I've seen the China knockoff version on ebay go for $350-$400. Curious where it sits quality and fit wise and if it's worth the money. If there's already a thread on this, please just point me in the right direction.

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[IslandFalconer]

I had a knockoff AEV on my JK fit was great, AEV parts even fit. Paint quality was the issue, but I just had it Line-X’d before I even installed it.

 

[WILL1E]

Yeah, i have a local powder coating source if i need to ever refinish it.

 

[dcmdon]

There's been a bunch written about it. In summary

1) it fits
2) its just as sturdy and seems just as tough
3) it comes with a winch plate, so the savings is even more than you may realize.
4) One forum member recently replaced his 2020 Gladiator with a 2022. He switched his bumper to the new truck and found some corrosion. He cleaned it up and had it powder coated and is still happy with his purchase.

I don't know if the Mopar bumper would have also corroded under the same circumstances.

I hope this helps.

 

[Hootbro]

I don't know if the Mopar bumper would have also corroded under the same circumstances.

My understanding is the factory OEM steel bumpers are zinc plated before powder coating where the Chinese knock offs are not. The OEM bumpers will hold up slightly better to any chips to the powder coat before full on rusting. The Chinese bumpers not so much.

That being said, there is more than a few who are running them and seem to be generally happy with them. The only draw back I have seen those what talked about the Chinese knock off bumpers is the exposed button head hardware screws will show rust pretty quick but getting the OEM screws seems to solve that issue.

 

[Alans17]

I have this bumper. It’s virtually indistinguishable from OEM, but it’s based on foreign models so it’s got sensor holes that US bumpers don’t have. Otherwise it’s probably from the same mold or press or whatever.

Yes, the finish is straight up garbage and I’ll probably refinish it someday when I’m not being lazy. The instructions are terrible, but I didn’t really need them. The winch plate feels a tad thin, but it’s functional. I couldn’t fit a large Smittybilt winch, but I fit a Warn EVO fine enough.

 

[WILL1E]

Thanks for the info thus far!!

 

[wchevron]

I have this bumper. It’s virtually indistinguishable from OEM, but it’s based on foreign models so it’s got sensor holes that US bumpers don’t have. Otherwise it’s probably from the same mold or press or whatever.

Yes, the finish is straight up garbage and I’ll probably refinish it someday when I’m not being lazy. The instructions are terrible, but I didn’t really need them. The winch plate feels a tad thin, but it’s functional. I could fit a large Smittybilt winch, but I fit a Warn EVO fine enough.

This is exactly my experience with my knockoff.

 

[WILL1E]

My current bumper has the fog lights already. Did you reuse yours, or can i reuse mine with the knockoff or are they specific to a knockoff fog light?

 

[Imbuere]

I bought and returned the aluminium version 3 times. Pretty bad quality.

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

I didn't like it, sold it and bought a Pritchett Canyon. It just didn't look right, stuck out weird and the nose dropped slightly, just didn't look right, didn't look OEM. My god the rust was horrific. I have over 100 inches of rain per year so there is that. It did bolt on great and seemed substantial. I just didn't like it, something was off on the look and the rust sucked big time. The Barns 4X4 bumper doesn't seem to rust nearly as fast, I rattle canned it and all is good. Some people swear by those Chinese bumpers, just wasn't my thing. As far as the fog lights mine came with led fog lights but it also came with a bracket to use factory led fog lights if desired. It was very complete with all necessary hardware. There are a bunch of posts on the Chinese bumpers if you search.

I like my Pritchett Canyon.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My JTR has the standard plastic bumper and I'd like to get a steel one with the ability to take the ends off to make it a stubby. Haven't seen any on the used market locally and I don't want to pay the new Mopar price. I've seen the China knockoff version on ebay go for $350-$400. Curious where it sits quality and fit wise and if it's worth the money. If there's already a thread on this, please just point me in the right direction.

There's a couple of threads on this very bumper.
I have one of them - it was on my 2020 for 2 years, then I traded trucks, took the bumper off the 2020 because the dealer wanted the truck put back to stock before taking it on trade.
I had the bumper powdercoated and am using it on my 2022.
The finish wasn't great but held up in Iowa winters and salt for a couple of years.
I ran stock fog lights until I changed to Diode Dynamics fog lights.

This is the bumper when I first put it on my 2020 way back when with the factory LED fog lights. The finish looked better then ->

 

[WILL1E]

Just pulled the trigger on the china bumper!! Can't wait to put it on my JTR in stubby format.

Now i just gotta get the gumption to pull the trigger on the tires!!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I ran it in "stubby mode" for a few weeks prior to the trade - I figured there'd be less to take off the 2020 when the '22 arrived. It's amazing how heavy those ends/wings are.
Have pics somewhere..

 

[WILL1E]

I found a looong thread on here about these bumpers finally. I'm still really confused about the skid plate part that mates up to the bumper on the underside. Not clear if i need to do trimming or not with my factory rubi one or not for this bumper...seemed to go back and forth between people.

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