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

[ShadowsPapa]

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.

There are TWO different skid plates used on Rubicon:
1. There is the skid plate that is used with the factory "plastic" bumper - that skid plate attaches to the frame using 4 brackets. Two down to the rear and two up toward the top. It does not connect to the plastic bumper.
2. Then there's the skid plate that us used only with the steel bumper. It attaches to the lower edge of the steel bumper using I believe 5 screws up through clip nuts on the edge of the bumper, and at the rear or lower portion, attaches to the frame legs using the same rear brackets, bolts and nutserts that the skid plate in #1 uses.

Both use the same rear/lower brackets to connect to the frame.
1 uses another pair of brackets to support the front or upper part of the plate, 2 uses the bumper to support the front of the skid plate.

If you keep the skid plate that is used with the plastic bumper - that is where trimming may be involved. I can't say - I have one of those skid plates but have never used it on either of my trucks.
As far as the skid plate that is made for use on Rubicons WITH the steel bumper option, no trimming is needed at all.

The factory skid plate (#2) that is used on Rubicon with the optional steel bumper will line up and bolt to the "knock-off" steel bumper as it's pretty much identical in how it goes together and where the holes are. The difference is that the knock-off bumper uses nuts on the inside for the screws that hold it all together where the factory steel bumper uses clip nuts for the screws to go into.
I bought a box of stainless steel 6mm clip nuts on Amazon and used on my bumper to get rid of the need for reaching in and putting nuts on the inside.
The fasteners are the only real difference for the most part.

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[SnazzGlad]

Waiting on an insurance check from the guy who backed into me but I’m gonna be pulling the trigger on one of these. Are they all the same on eBay? There is a lot of them that pop up. Can someone share the seller or link? Thanks. ( links from old threads no longer work)

 

[WILL1E]

Thank you for clarifying!!

Do you have a link to the nuts you bought?

So do you not use a skid at all, or did you buy some other aftermarket skid?

 

[WILL1E]

I bought this one as i didn't need the fog lights since i already have them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334115220898

I didn't see much or any differences between the different sellers. They all seem to be free shipping and the ones w/o lights are 410ish and the ones with lights are 430ish

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thank you for clarifying!!

Do you have a link to the nuts you bought?

So do you not use a skid at all, or did you buy some other aftermarket skid?

I had bought a skid plate for use with the steel bumper.
It's sort of a moot point now with my plow setup - no room for any skid plate.

These are the stainless clip nuts -
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5281JXN

The first time when I put the bumper on my 2020, I took the fog light harness out of the plastic bumper. What a PAIN.
This time I ordered the proper steel bumper fog light harness from Benny - allmoparparts and it was a heck of a lot easier plus that harness comes with the clips to go into the holes in the bumper to retain the harness in the proper place.

No room for skid plate any more -

Even with those receivers removed from the bar's brackets - no room -

 

[WILL1E]

Soooo....are you saying there's a chance you have a proper skid plate for sale?!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's been modified for a Curt receiver........... I had it on my 2020, then my 2022 for a while before putting the plow mount on.

 

[WILL1E]

Shoot.

 

[kayakr2769]

Made in China vs. Made in USA .. China IS our enemy .. WHY if we have a choice would we help China build up their military .. sincere response .. Glenn Shay

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Made in China vs. Made in USA .. China IS our enemy .. WHY if we have a choice would we help China build up their military .. sincere response .. Glenn Shay

You are kidding, right? You'd better check all of the parts installed on your truck or car.
I guess you don't do any decorating for any holidays, either, and you don't buy anything from store shelves because - again, check the country of origin. Plumbing valves? You'd better check the country of origin.
Our bet is that the MOPAR labeled steel bumper is made in China as well.

(and the quality thing is no longer an argument - many parts made there exceed the quality of parts made here. They concentrated on TRAINING tool and die makers while we concentrated on college education for white collar workers who don't like to get dirty and that's a fact)

 

[Alans17]

There are TWO different skid plates used on Rubicon:
1. There is the skid plate that is used with the factory "plastic" bumper - that skid plate attaches to the frame using 4 brackets. Two down to the rear and two up toward the top. It does not connect to the plastic bumper.
2. Then there's the skid plate that us used only with the steel bumper. It attaches to the lower edge of the steel bumper using I believe 5 screws up through clip nuts on the edge of the bumper, and at the rear or lower portion, attaches to the frame legs using the same rear brackets, bolts and nutserts that the skid plate in #1 uses.

Both use the same rear/lower brackets to connect to the frame.
1 uses another pair of brackets to support the front or upper part of the plate, 2 uses the bumper to support the front of the skid plate.

If you keep the skid plate that is used with the plastic bumper - that is where trimming may be involved. I can't say - I have one of those skid plates but have never used it on either of my trucks.
As far as the skid plate that is made for use on Rubicons WITH the steel bumper option, no trimming is needed at all.

The factory skid plate (#2) that is used on Rubicon with the optional steel bumper will line up and bolt to the "knock-off" steel bumper as it's pretty much identical in how it goes together and where the holes are. The difference is that the knock-off bumper uses nuts on the inside for the screws that hold it all together where the factory steel bumper uses clip nuts for the screws to go into.
I bought a box of stainless steel 6mm clip nuts on Amazon and used on my bumper to get rid of the need for reaching in and putting nuts on the inside.
The fasteners are the only real difference for the most part.

What he said.

 

[Alans17]

Made in China vs. Made in USA .. China IS our enemy .. WHY if we have a choice would we help China build up their military .. sincere response .. Glenn Shay

If the clone is from China, it’s likely because it was stamped from the same dies used for OEM - just fell off the truck on the way to powder coating and boxing.

 

[kayakr2769]

We have to start somewhere ... https://www.usaproductsonly.com/

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If the clone is from China, it’s likely because it was stamped from the same dies used for OEM - just fell off the truck on the way to powder coating and boxing.

LOL - yeah, that's a clever way to put it. It's happened with many products, tools, power equipment and more.
They seldom start from scratch when they have the blueprints and tooling sitting over there.

 

[Alans17]

LOL - yeah, that's a clever way to put it. It's happened with many products, tools, power equipment and more.
They seldom start from scratch when they have the blueprints and tooling sitting over there.

I can’t even call it a knock off. That would suggest it was recreated to look like the original. This bumper effectively is the original. Just went out one door instead of another.

Kind of like how my Taurus PT92AF is effectively a Beretta 92FS (except the Taurus is way more on the up and up than these bumpers).

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