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

[wachuko]

On the skid plate… I jumped the gun and bought a Rubicon steel skid plate… I know now that I could have saved that money…

Only reason that I mentioned using it is because I have it and thought about just using it to avoid modifying the stock plate…

Of course it makes More sense to use the lighter skid plate that comes with the bumper…duh…

Hurts to make mistakes like this for not waiting until I had the bumper before buying anything else…. Before, I could blame it on being young and clueless…. No excuse now ??

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[ShadowsPapa]

Before, I could blame it on being young and clueless…. No excuse now ??

Old and clueless? JUST KIDDING!

 

[Rockabillyroy]

I was planning to relocate the control box on my superwinch and use the top cover plate that came with this bumper. But the screws that hold it down are fused in there and I never got around to it.
So I've been waiting for some cardboard to template a cutout for the control box and clutch.
Will see it is worth the effort depending on what the cardboard coverage reveals.

 

[wachuko]

Old and clueless? JUST KIDDING!

Spot on man… spot on!?

 

[Camaroboi13]

@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…

Can confirm that’s a plastic cover, same one comes with the steel knock off bumpers. Mines in powder coat right now, I chose to go white but I removed all the bolts so I could keep them black. Should have it back next week.

 

[Hristo]

@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??

As noted, it is the same plastic cover that comes with the bumper. I lined it up, scratched in some holes for the bolts and fairhead and then cut them out. If you aren't putting a winch on it works fine as well.

That Rubicon skid plate might be a good pick up for someone who has a Sport JL/JT, so who knows, maybe you could recoup something?

As for the paint, I tested out a few cans I had in the garage and settled on the pic below. I am not a paint guy but it seems like it might be similar to rust oleum. I used to use this gloss black to touch up my steel LJ rims, but it finished differently on the aluminum bumper. It doesn't scratch near as easy now and will be simple to touch up

 

[wachuko]

Bumper arrived.

As has happened to others, plastic covers arrived cracked.

Still going through it... Need to inspect the ends of the bumper to make sure those are fine...

 

[wachuko]

Reached out to Extreme Terrain to report the broken parts... They are asking me to return the complete bumper and they will send another one... This is insane!

I now have an RMA label... But I will call them tomorrow and speak with someone... Can't believe that they rather have it all shipped back than to just replaced these two plastic Fog Light Bezels.... wow!

 

[Hristo]

Reached out to Extreme Terrain to report the broken parts... They are asking me to return the complete bumper and they will send another one... This is insane!

I now have an RMA label... But I will call them tomorrow and speak with someone... Can't believe that they rather have it all shipped back than to just replaced these two plastic Fog Light Bezels.... wow!

Sorry to hear that. A broken part would have been a lot of hassle and a 2 week turn around at minimum for me in Canada then. Too bad they can't replace such a small part.

 

[wachuko]

Well... I will try to get them to just send me the plastic fog light bezels...

Yeah, could not wait to start disassembly.... drove over to the house in Ocala since we were moving a few things over there... and started to tear down the stock bumper to remove fog lights, wiring, and orange tow hooks...

All now on the new bumper...

Cracked fog light bezels in place for the photo... not snapped in place, just resting on where they go... only the center cover is snapped into place.

Thought I could get away using the spare tow hooks to install and align the winch plate.... nah... I was just fooling myself... could not do it...

That is all for today... will follow the instructions and mount everything (bumper with winch plate) at the same time. I will get help from my father-in-law and a lift jack to hold things while we put it in....

 

[Rockabillyroy]

Reached out to Extreme Terrain to report the broken parts... They are asking me to return the complete bumper and they will send another one... This is insane!

I now have an RMA label... But I will call them tomorrow and speak with someone... Can't believe that they rather have it all shipped back than to just replaced these two plastic Fog Light Bezels.... wow!

I had the same cracked problem. I asked them to partial refund the value of those plastic pieces which I bought off of ebay.
68295559AA
68295558AA
Those pieces were pretty inexpensive at the time.
Good luck

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Reached out to Extreme Terrain to report the broken parts... They are asking me to return the complete bumper and they will send another one... This is insane!

I now have an RMA label... But I will call them tomorrow and speak with someone... Can't believe that they rather have it all shipped back than to just replaced these two plastic Fog Light Bezels.... wow!

That's sad - at least with the steel knock-off from eBay, all you had to do was tell them something arrives messed up and they sent out new parts.
I bought the MOPAR fog light bezels for mine since they don't have the sensor holes like the eBay bumper bezels had.
I think I paid something like $16 each for MOPAR bezels back in 2020.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If we get my wife a Wrangler, I may move my steel bumper over to that and get an aluminum one for me. Maybe not - she may not let me touch it LOL

 

[wachuko]

Goes to show me again that I need to stop when I am tired... Got up early and installed it before going to work...

The trick, and I had forgotten about that detail, was to remove the side brackets... these... four in total... once I did that, placed the winch plate in place and loosely held with the bolts. Jack under the winch plate to hold it up in place... and installed the bumper. Easy peasy...

Only need to install the skid plate. Decided to go with the one that comes with the kit. It is a copy of the Rubicon but much, much lighter. Photo, again with the cracked fog light bezels...

Very glad to have gone this route. It is impressive how light this thing is. I was also surprised to see how thin is the stock bumper... the inner skeleton that it has...

Also, based on other folks' feedback, I know I will have to remove it at a later time to repaint. It was too cold here in Ocala to give it a coat of paint.... Well, let's be honest... I wanted to mount this thing right away, lol. But yeah, it was too cold for painting. Fortunate that it arrived without any blemishes.

Another photo later... after installing the skid plate.

 

[wachuko]

If we get my wife a Wrangler, I may move my steel bumper over to that and get an aluminum one for me. Maybe not - she may not let me touch it LOL

It is worth trying... the weight savings along is worth it... you said so yourself!!

Anyway... Just got off the phone with Extreme Terrain. Great folks to deal with. Got a refund and ordered new Mopar bezels.

Photo... I like it!! Winch in a few months... need some wallet healing...

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