Does a winch/bumper affect a Mojave

[OldButStillJeeping]

I have the Arcus front winch bumper with a Warn M8000S. It's been on my 2021 since 2021, when I bought the truck new. First mod that I did to the truck.

Painted the Arcus tow hooks orange and never looked back. No front skid plate trimming. I bought some 1" spacers for the front springs to bring it back to stock look but I haven't installed them. Front end dropped about 3/4". It's Rubicon factory height with the winch. I don't wheel this truck hard and it's my wife's daily. I never noticed bottoming out, truck still rides like a dream. No issues at all with the original shocks. Haven't touched the suspension. We don't drive it like a desert race truck, because it isn't.

I used some kydex to cover the backside of the driving lights because they are exposed to tire splash and stones fling on the Arcus bumper.

Almost 70K miles on the truck now, and other than batteries, nothing has failed. Put new 35" Falken AT4's on it a couple months ago. No rub. Original Falken AT's lasted 66K miles. Never seen a AT tire last that long, so bigger Falken AT4's it was.

Good luck. Be well.

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[GladLad]

I really like the Rock-Hard bumpers. It is just getting past the price that I find difficult. But if I didn't consider cost, I would definitely go to Rock-hard.

I'm leaning in the direction of the Arcus bumper. Just have to decide if I can live with a stubby. We have a lot of deer in our area. I appreciate the reply with the great info.

You're fighting with two of my longtime top choices, too.

RH makes heavy duty stuff. When you account for integrated winch mount and skid plate (removing stock plate weight), it might be the lightest option available. Assuming weight is accurate, since their winch recessed and non-recessed list the same weight.

But they are expensive, and I'm not a huge fan of the looks. I'm not a fan of most aftermarket bumper's looks either, though.

Arcus, good looking aftermarket bumper, much better price. About the same weight as the oem steel, but includes winch plate. One member said after adding a winch, it was only about a 101lb increase over stock. About a 3/8" sag.

But like you, I don't exactly want a full-time stubby.

If you haven't looked yet, there are many other aluminum brands. They usually come at a premium, often stubby, and not usually my taste. But you could check out...

Barricade
Genright
Nextventure Motosports
Savvy Offroad
Evo
Rockslide Engineering

While I don't know anything about it, there's another aluminum ebay bumper I don't hate the looks of either.

And of course MP Concepts, an aluminum copy of the oem steel. Has a poor finish that scuffs easily, and the ebay/amazon aluminum oem-copy mentioned by smlobx is basically the same thing for 1/3 the price. Either, will likely require a little bumper or skid cutting, but the MPC one comes with a new, lighter skid plate you could use instead. The bumper weighs about the same as the plastic bumper at mid-30s lbs, before winch plate.

In comparison, the Mopar steel is 53lbs for the stubby portion, 17lbs for the wings, before adding a winch plate.

Any of those three give the oem look and the ability to go full-width or stubby. My true preference.

I like this bumper except for all the holes around the winch rope slot.

Mopar sells both an offset and a centerline fairlead adapter plate to cover those holes.

For use at your favorite Mopar store:
Center: 82215528ab
Off-center: 82215527ab

 

[T-Rock]

I got a Rubicon steel front bumper take-off from the dealership before I ever picked up my 21 Mojave - they fit a steel skid plate as well, not sure what it took.
After I pulled the bumper off to add a winch mount and winch the front dropped about 1/2-3/4 inch. And I did notice bottom out often. It happened enough that I eventually burst the hydraulic bumpstops so I replaced them with an ADS Race bump stop kit.
Since I have both an RSI SmartCap and Decked system the rear was still lower than the front so I ended up with a 1" spacer in back to level out the truck. works good for me.
Running 35" BFG KO2's on stack wheels, no issues for 4 years.

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