What the heck is this? Is this real? Aluminum Rubicon 3 piece bumper...

[ShadowsPapa]

An Iowa buck ; )

Like this 211" inch beast?
WI shares these big beasts with Iowa. Some of the biggest ever taken were in the NE part of Iowa and WI has the same thing I'm sure.
Your WI landscape is perfect for them.
These things have all the food they want around here. Some farmers even leave a couple of rows in a section unharvested to feed the deer in the winter.

Also the aluminum skid is much stronger than the plastic thing the JT came with.

the fake skid got scratched from doing this.

That "plastic thing" is an air dam, not a skid plate (not even a fake one )
It isn't intended to be a skid plate nor is it marketed or advertised as one.
It's to direct air.
The funny thing is - it says "air dam" right on it.


I've been considering one of those aluminum bumpers - first thing I'd do is test fit things, then take it to the local powder coating shop and have it powder coated, and I'd plate the screws in black zinc and replace the nuts with stainless steel clip nuts and be done with it. Still less than the cost of a MOPAR bumper, plus much lighter.
I could then sell my steel bumper fairly cheap to recoup some of the money I have in it while someone would be getting a bargain steel bumper with a nice quality powder coat finish on it. (and properly plated bolts)

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[jensjer]

I bought this bumper two months ago because I drive through brush and tall weeds, wild roses, and raspberries to get to my camp. My plastic bumper and the fake skid got scratched from doing this.
I'm not using the JT as a real off-road vehicle, I have a JK for that. I just figure that this bumper is light and I can easily paint it. Also the aluminum skid is much stronger than the plastic thing the JT came with.
I did have to modify the skid because I have a front mounted receiver but everything was easy.
The bumper seems to be well made but some of the screws already need to be painted.
Just an FYI I didn't use the winch mount to save a few pounds

Do you think you'd be able to paint over the factory coating? Looks a few shades lighter than any of the factory black paint.. I may be wrong. is it a true powerder coat..? ideally not, that would make things easier to paint in the future.

 

[jensjer]

Like this 211" inch beast?
WI shares these big beasts with Iowa. Some of the biggest ever taken were in the NE part of Iowa and WI has the same thing I'm sure.
Your WI landscape is perfect for them.
These things have all the food they want around here. Some farmers even leave a couple of rows in a section unharvested to feed the deer in the winter.

That "plastic thing" is an air dam, not a skid plate (not even a fake one )
It isn't intended to be a skid plate nor is it marketed or advertised as one.
It's to direct air.
The funny thing is - it says "air dam" right on it.


I've been considering one of those aluminum bumpers - first thing I'd do is test fit things, then take it to the local powder coating shop and have it powder coated, and I'd plate the screws in black zinc and replace the nuts with stainless steel clip nuts and be done with it. Still less than the cost of a MOPAR bumper, plus much lighter.
I could then sell my steel bumper fairly cheap to recoup some of the money I have in it while someone would be getting a bargain steel bumper with a nice quality powder coat finish on it. (and properly plated bolts)

That's a bull, Nice.. yeah we have those wide fender bulls ; ).. currently 1's pounding my bird feeder.. but I'm in an area I can't take them from the kitchen window.
That bumper is over 800.00 maybe that price is new? The factory steel seems about the same price? but not 100% sure as Bamwholesale is broken out by individual parts.. I have zero need for a winch.

 

[insanitize]

Do you think you'd be able to paint over the factory coating? Looks a few shades lighter than any of the factory black paint.. I may be wrong. is it a true powerder coat..? ideally not, that would make things easier to paint in the future.

I would try but I'm not the person to ask as I tend to not listen or follow protocol

 

[wachuko]

@Dewyaw - how is the bumper after all this time? Still happy with it?

Got my Gladiator Mojave a few weeks back and now trying to decide on the cheaper steel or this aluminum bumper...

Question is just to double check that it fits the Gladiator Mojave...

Also, I went ahead and ordered the Rubicon skid plate as it was mentioned in other forums that the stock one that came with the Mojave would not fit... So I have that...

Is it worth spending double the $$ for the aluminum option (840.00) or just go with the steel unit for the 440.00 that is going for??

 

[ShadowsPapa]

"worth" is up to you. Do you prefer to save weight, or save money?

In either case, a refinish is in your future - paint or powder coat after a couple of years or so.

For me, had the aluminum bumper even been an option when I bought my steel bumper, and knowing what I know now - I'd have gone aluminum. That's because with the steel bumper, the heavy winch, the front receiver and the snow plow mounting, I've added a ton of weight up front. Saving even 40 pounds would have been nice.

I guess I could buy an aluminum one and sell my steel bumper ............ when I save some pennies up.

 

[wachuko]

"worth" is up to you. Do you prefer to save weight, or save money?

In either case, a refinish is in your future - paint or powder coat after a couple of years or so.

For me, had the aluminum bumper even been an option when I bought my steel bumper, and knowing what I know now - I'd have gone aluminum. That's because with the steel bumper, the heavy winch, the front receiver and the snow plow mounting, I've added a ton of weight up front. Saving even 40 pounds would have been nice.

I guess I could buy an aluminum one and sell my steel bumper ............ when I save some pennies up.

Thanks… I just keep going back and forth between price and weight…. I can buy a budget winch with the difference…. Or get the lighter bumper and get the winch later…

 

[Dewyaw]

@Dewyaw - how is the bumper after all this time? Still happy with it?

Got my Gladiator Mojave a few weeks back and now trying to decide on the cheaper steel or this aluminum bumper...

Question is just to double check that it fits the Gladiator Mojave...

Also, I went ahead and ordered the Rubicon skid plate as it was mentioned in other forums that the stock one that came with the Mojave would not fit... So I have that...

Is it worth spending double the $$ for the aluminum option (840.00) or just go with the steel unit for the 440.00 that is going for??

I’m happy with it still, glad I got it. Weight savings is substantial. It scuffs really easy, hard to keep clean, but I don’t care about that. It’s a Jeep, not a Bentley.

 

[wachuko]

I’m happy with it still, glad I got it. Weight savings is substantial. It scuffs really easy, hard to keep clean, but I don’t care about that. It’s a Jeep, not a Bentley.

Thank you. I will go that route and just save up for the which to install later.

 

[wachuko]

Ok, got the bumper yesterday and installed it.

First impressions was the packaging wasn’t terrible. It’s not Front Runner, but no one is.


The bumper itself….it’s cheap. No other way to say it. It’s built to be “good enough.” Barely. I’ve had a Mopar 3 piece on my JK Hard Rock so I can compare, and there is no comparison. Some guys have said they think these bumpers come from the same factory, just sold unbranded, that is false. Not even close. If fit and finish are paramount to you, this isn’t the bumper for you.

Installation was pretty straightforward, nothing too challenging.

The bumper is very light, the winch plate almost weighs as much. I don’t have or want a winch so I didn’t install it.

The Mojave skid didn’t fit of course, so I improvised.

Things I’m not happy with is the fog lights are exposed in the back, and the power coating is SO thin. The skid plate came out of the box very scuffed.

I wish the wings would ship not installed, that way they could avoid scuffing.

Well... I ordered one today.

Did you have to buy any additional hardware for the install?

EDIT: Went back and read all the posts again... Looks like it comes with everything needed, hardware wise. So no need to buy anything else to get it installed.

Also looks like there was no need for me to buy the Rubicon skid plate... oh well... I will place it on the wall as decoration... lol

 

[wachuko]

I knew I was not that crazy.... this is the thread I had read where someone mentioned using a Rubicon skidplate with perfect fit and no modification to it...

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...per-with-the-mopar-steel-bumper.32427/page-13

So I guess that the Rubicon skidplate I ordered last month will be used after all! It is the Mojave skidplate that will go up on the garage wall as a decoration. Cool!

Aluminum bumper is scheduled to arrive tomorrow...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I knew I was not that crazy.... this is the thread I had read where someone mentioned using a Rubicon skidplate with perfect fit and no modification to it...

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...per-with-the-mopar-steel-bumper.32427/page-13

So I guess that the Rubicon skidplate I ordered last month will be used after all! It is the Mojave skidplate that will go up on the garage wall as a decoration. Cool!

Aluminum bumper is scheduled to arrive tomorrow...

This is my UNDERSTANDING - take it as that and not fact or proof...........
I believe this aluminum bumper is made in the image of the steel Rubicon front bumper.
If that is the case, it likely assembles in the same or similar way, and all holes should line up for skid plate, and mounting of the fog lights should be the same.
I also believe it may come with an aluminum version of the MOPAR steel skid plate......
That bumper is awfully tempting! Especially with the weight I have burdened my poor JT with up front.
I can't run a skid plate because the plow mounting bar and brackets totally remove any such possibility. However, if I hit a rock with that plow bar, the rock will end up being gravel LOL

 

[wachuko]

This is my UNDERSTANDING - take it as that and not fact or proof...........
I believe this aluminum bumper is made in the image of the steel Rubicon front bumper.
If that is the case, it likely assembles in the same or similar way, and all holes should line up for skid plate, and mounting of the fog lights should be the same.
I also believe it may come with an aluminum version of the MOPAR steel skid plate......
That bumper is awfully tempting! Especially with the weight I have burdened my poor JT with up front.
I can't run a skid plate because the plow mounting bar and brackets totally remove any such possibility. However, if I hit a rock with that plow bar, the rock will end up being gravel LOL

Using the write ups in this thread and also these two videos to help me along the install...

Video 1




Video 2




Second video calls out the winch mounting plate being steel... I will confirm once it gets here.

I still do not have a winch... I was going to go with the knock-off steel version, due to price, to be able to buy the winch... but your comments influenced my decision to hold off on the winch and get the lighter bumper. Not blaming you for my decision . But thank you! hehehehe

 

[Hristo]

I just installed this bumper on my Mojave last weekend. I can confirm it does come with a steel winch plate, and an aluminum skid plate, which I installed for the weight savings, as I also added a winch.

If using the included skid, you will need to remove 2 small brackets on the front of the frame that the Mojave uses for its stock skid plate. Once those are off it lines up properly, though you will only attach the skid to the frame with 2 bolts instead of 4, and then 5 to the bumper. The other option is to use and cut the Mojave skid plate to fit. There are directions for that mentioned in the thread you referenced.

*Some people in that thread had luck cutting small sections off of the bumper to allow the Mojave skid to fit. Those people were using the knock off steel bumper. I believe this aluminum version fits like the OEM. I did not see any way to fit the Mojave skid without cutting it, or large portions of the aluminum bumper.

Those two videos you linked are very helpful. I wanted to re use the Mojave tow hooks, so both bumpers had to be taken apart. This was tedious, but also provided an opportunity to rattle can the aluminum bumper, as the finish on it is not great. I really like how it turned out though.

 

[wachuko]

@Hristo - is that the plastic cover modified to accommodate the fairlead??

I was looking at what cover I would need to buy to cover that area…

I had seen plates on other installs and was going to search for one of those to buy…

Oh, and yes, I plan to use the tow hooks that came with my Mojave as well ?

Did you use the Rust Oleum bed spray that was recommended in the thread or something else??

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