Rugged Ridge Arcus shell only install?

[Shift Happens]

I had a crazy thought, and I'm curious how horrible of an idea it is.
I got a deal on a RR Arcus bumper, but can't get a winch for some time so I was wondering what the difference would be between the plastic bumper and the Arcus shell.
The OEM plastic bumper is basically a thin piece of sheet metal, and the Arcus is really just a strong winch plate with a steel shell and heavy duty tow hooks.
My curiosity is if the Arcus shell would function in a similar way or better than the front bumper in the event of a collision, and if it's even possible to install without the winch mount. It looks like it should be from the videos I've seen. Might need some spacers.

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[DarthAWM]

If you're worried about crash performance stock is the way yo go. The steel bumper under the plastic is a 3/16" piece. I know I just moved mine to the back yard. However if you want the Arcus style until you get the winch put it on. I did that with my RC bumper.

 

[Animal]

I ran the arcus for a couple weeks without a winch until I could purchase one

You'll have a big winch sized hole that looks ugly and if the winch plate is installed without a winch you'll collect rain and debris. As I recall there are no shared bolts or bolt holes between the winch plate and the horns/shell.

There is a post here somewhere of a member that made a plate to cover the winch hole, might be in the arcus bumper thread. A flat plate won't look great covering the hole, the shell has contours and you'd have gaps. But I think a flat plate still might look better than the gaping hole without a winch.

Crash performance, couldn't tell you, I try it to do that.

 

[whiteglad]

The Arcus can be a good choice for a Mojave, because a lot of weight on the front end will cause not only sag but bottoming out on some bumps. Here are the weights:
stock plastic bumper with fogs, hooks, frame reinforcements, 36 lb
arcus winch plate, 22
arcus face 16 lb
arcus hooks 20; I replaced with Rugged Ridge XHD shackle mounts for Jeep JK, 9 lb
Harbor Freight 12k winch about 81 lb with roller fairlead, 65 ft steel cable

you could cut off a lot of the Arcus hooks which are 1" thick to save most of the 11 lb that I saved with the XHD shackle mounts, but it would be a lot of work.
You can save weight on the winch with synthetic rope (you can fit 92' for 14 lb less), and an aluminum fairlead (about 7 lb less). The hook or shackle mount you put on the synnthetic rope is another place where weight varies from 1.2 to 3.5 lb depending on your choice. I finally settled on the Agency 6 aluminum mount at a bit under 2 lb.

When you are done, you will have added 70-75 lb which seems OK for the Mojave suspension, and minimal sag--about 1/8" on mine. Adding the 105 lb you get with a winch and not paying attention to the weight adding up will negatively impact the suspension, in my experience.

As above you can install the Arcus without the winch plate but it will look "empty" where the winch would go. The facing isn't much for collision protection; the winch plate should help there. The Arcus hooks/shackle mounts look impressive but I consider them to be undesirable weight with their 1" thickness welded to the 0.46" plate that mounts to the frame horns. The XHD shackle mounts don't protrude much but are still 1" thick with .46" backing plates. However, you will have to trim off the Arcus facing bulges next to them so a shackle will fit easily.

Overall, you will have to be willing to do some careful selections and work to keep your Mojave suspension happy, but I found the end result to be worth it. The only really good alternative I found would probably be the Rock Hard aluminum front bumper with a winch having synthetic rope, at a lot more money.

 

[JustinLentz]

As Darth stated, the steel bumper will not be the best for vehicle protection in the event of a crash. We learned that the hard way. We had someone run a redlight in front of us and we hit the side of a honda fit. We completely destroyed the honda and the gladiator seemed ok until it got to the shop. The frame received quite a bit of bend because of the steel bumper not crumpling and had to be totaled out. The steel bumper protected the occupants more so than stock but not the Jeep. That being said, I still went with another steel bumper on my new JT. The cargo in the cab means more to me than the jeep.

If you're worried about crash performance stock is the way yo go. The steel bumper under the plastic is a 3/16" piece. I know I just moved mine to the back yard. However if you want the Arcus style until you get the winch put it on. I did that with my RC bumper.

 

[GI Grandpa]

The Arcus can be a good choice for a Mojave, because a lot of weight on the front end will cause not only sag but bottoming out on some bumps. Here are the weights:
stock plastic bumper with fogs, hooks, frame reinforcements, 36 lb
arcus winch plate, 22
arcus face 16 lb
arcus hooks 20; I replaced with Rugged Ridge XHD shackle mounts for Jeep JK, 9 lb
Harbor Freight 12k winch about 81 lb with roller fairlead, 65 ft steel cable

you could cut off a lot of the Arcus hooks which are 1" thick to save most of the 11 lb that I saved with the XHD shackle mounts, but it would be a lot of work.
You can save weight on the winch with synthetic rope (you can fit 92' for 14 lb less), and an aluminum fairlead (about 7 lb less). The hook or shackle mount you put on the synnthetic rope is another place where weight varies from 1.2 to 3.5 lb depending on your choice. I finally settled on the Agency 6 aluminum mount at a bit under 2 lb.

When you are done, you will have added 70-75 lb which seems OK for the Mojave suspension, and minimal sag--about 1/8" on mine. Adding the 105 lb you get with a winch and not paying attention to the weight adding up will negatively impact the suspension, in my experience.

As above you can install the Arcus without the winch plate but it will look "empty" where the winch would go. The facing isn't much for collision protection; the winch plate should help there. The Arcus hooks/shackle mounts look impressive but I consider them to be undesirable weight with their 1" thickness welded to the 0.46" plate that mounts to the frame horns. The XHD shackle mounts don't protrude much but are still 1" thick with .46" backing plates. However, you will have to trim off the Arcus facing bulges next to them so a shackle will fit easily.

Overall, you will have to be willing to do some careful selections and work to keep your Mojave suspension happy, but I found the end result to be worth it. The only really good alternative I found would probably be the Rock Hard aluminum front bumper with a winch having synthetic rope, at a lot more money.

Weight consideration is why I used a Rock Hard Aluminum bumper front and rear and I have a Warn Zeon10 winch up front and no issues with suspension sag or bottoming out the hydraulic bump stops...since I use my winch mostly for trail maintenance projects I stayed with steel cable as synthetic just stand up to dragging rocks and logs very well.

 

[Splenda]

Weight was the reason I went with the smittybilt Stryker.

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