Rubicon - Plastic bumper to Steel Bumper Conversion

[bleda2002]

Meh... for as easy as the skid is to install, honestly, I'll just take it off and put the extra brackets on before putting it back.. but yeah, tourquing it too much, in my case, shouldn't be a huge deal, since I'm using a cordless ratchet that tops out at 48lbs, supposedly, with locktite on the bolts to make it a little less likely to rattle free afterwards. (Blue... not red... I don't want to deal with that hell, ever again... lol)


EDIT: Holy crap.. I just looked at that sheet that Spooled posted... they're supposed to be torqued to 26lbs only?? HTF?!?


~ Casp

I meant the wings of the warn winch plate you can just leave the carriage bolts in but just loosen the nuts holding them to the winch plate and sandwich them in. The skid plate will definitely have to be removed to get the wings in.

And yeah I had no idea on torque so I hit it with a cordless impact driver that usually tops our between 45 and 50, and then snap. Thankfully I was able to use a bolt extractor and it actually worked.

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[Caspien]

I meant the wings of the warn winch plate you can just leave the carriage bolts in but just loosen the nuts holding them to the winch plate and sandwich them in. The skid plate will definitely have to be removed to get the wings in.

And yeah I had no idea on torque so I hit it with a cordless impact driver that usually tops our between 45 and 50, and then snap. Thankfully I was able to use a bolt extractor and it actually worked.

Ahh... yeah.... good to know... just gotta be patient while I wait on the brackets to come in, now


Strangely enough, I was chatting with a couple of our dealership service techs today, (getting a price quote on the 2" lift with install.... $1271 + $589 labor) and they even said half of the time, recently, the skid kits don't even come with the brackets.... which drives them nuts.

Also, it was also pointed out that the skid plates, even the same model numbers, DO have some variance in them, recently. Showed me 2 separate plates, same model number, and they both have a slightly different back edge. They've chalked it up to potentially a part redesign, which should have a new #, but hasn't been communicated to all of their manufacturing plants..... needless to say, it didn't inspire too much confidence... lol


Last thing, and maybe this was just the shop blowing smoke, but they've been informed most parts are going to have a 20-40% markup with the coming new year, so even if folks aren't going to be doing any installs this year... perhaps buying the Mopar parts, before EoY isn't a bad idea, either.

Example that I was given: Current MSRP on the 2" lift is $1495... they've been told that's supposed to increase to either $1895 or $1995 after the first.

Being that most of their techs are Wrangler drivers, they didn't seem too ecstatic about the price jumps.

*shrug*



~ Casp

 

[Caspien]

So... parts came in.

Removed the skid, started to mount the brackets.. only to find that they're already installed on there. (literally, same part)

Here's the issue, and I'm up for any suggestions from folks on this:

When I mount the front holes of the skid plate, to just the bumper, it doesn't align with the rear mounting holes in the brackets. It's just about 3/4" off.

Considered just drilling the rear mount holes out a bit more, to offset this, and use washers to fill in the gap, or perhaps make the front holes a bit larger.

Maybe I'll loose up the silver bolts the bracket attaches to,to see if there's any wiggle room.. heck, I don't know what to do at this point.

Any suggestions?


Edit: Just found this... looks like this is common... time to get drilling.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/question-for-you-warn-winch-installers.60110/



~ Casp

 

[Caspien]

So... parts came in.

Removed the skid, started to mount the brackets.. only to find that they're already installed on there. (literally, same part)

Here's the issue, and I'm up for any suggestions from folks on this:

When I mount the front holes of the skid plate, to just the bumper, it doesn't align with the rear mounting holes in the brackets. It's just about 3/4" off.

Considered just drilling the rear mount holes out a bit more, to offset this, and use washers to fill in the gap, or perhaps make the front holes a bit larger.

Maybe I'll loose up the silver bolts the bracket attaches to,to see if there's any wiggle room.. heck, I don't know what to do at this point.

Any suggestions?


Edit: Just found this... looks like this is common... time to get drilling.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/question-for-you-warn-winch-installers.60110/



~ Casp

Dremeled out about 1/2" from the skid (horray for titanium drill bits) and it bolted right up, no issues


Sorry for the long winded drivel



~ Casp

 

[NewGladdyOWNR]

I bought a steel bumper and skid plate take off, and these are the parts that I needed to do the conversion as it did not come with this hardware. Some of you may need the U-clips, however I did not. Hopefully these part numbers help someone who needs the hardware.

 

[Darel]

Stupid question, I recently converted from plastic bumper to steel (the cheapo Amazon one, but same design / style). I have factory LED fogs and removed the "wings". Doing so leaves the backside of the fogs and the wiring plugs very exposed. For those of you who are running this bumper in "stubby mode" how did you protect the back of your fogs? I can get some sheetmetal and make a plate but if there's some sort of cover plate out there that I'm missing I'd rather go that route.

 

[Jim Dandy]

i ordered from www.allmoparparts.com/ I was lucky that it wasn't damaged though. The box looked like it had been air dropped from a C-130.

LAPES or high altitude?

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