Reviews for Rugged Ridge 11540.32 HD Stubby Front Bumper for 07-22 Jeep Wrangler JL, JK & Gladiator JT
Installed really easily and bought at a good price. The add on pieces such as the x stryker would have been nice to come welded on with the bumper but does allow customization. On a JL this lets the brackets that secure the plastic skid plate and sway bar that hang below the frame sit in plain view. Rugged Ridge does not yet offer a matching skid plate so keep this in mind. Obviously this is more noticeable because this is a stubby bumper.
Another thing to keep in mind is if you plan on taking this off road just know that your fog lights now sit very low. I ended up flooding my stock halogen lights.
It's a cheap steel bumper. Works as advertised, but didn't sit square on the rails, even with adjustment. Also showed up with chipped powder coat and some rust, but not enough to be an issue.
Great looking bumper and priced well for the quality of materials but be aware of needlessly frustrating install challenges.
As others have mentioned the loose mounting studs are a real pain unless your frame holes are perfect. In my case the frame ends have two layers of steel sandwiched together and they did not line up perfectly which effectively make the 4 bumper mount openings smaller- after too many failed attempts I ended up having to drill (and repaint) the frame ends to make it fit. That is more on Jeep than Rugged Ridge but I am not alone it seems.
Lastly, the winch tray brace on the passenger side comes into contact with the rubber rubicon sway bar disconnect mount- I left it off for now until I can figure out a solution to separate them. It feels strong without it but I am sure it’s included for good reason.
Please read before installing! I'll get to the review after two important tips/warnings for installers!
1. You need the brackets for incandescent JL fog lights; just the carriage bolts will not work! Don't spend 20 minutes trying to figure it out like I did. You need the brackets!
2. Where the bumper mounts to the frame, there are 4 L-shaped brackets, 2 on either side of each mounting point. Remove those before lifting the bumper onto the mounting points! They create just enough of a lip not to allow the bolts to smoothly move through the mounting points. You can re-install the L brackets after positioning the bumper on the frame.
Review
Installation: 1/5
Horrible, in part due to my warnings above. Mostly though, the bolts for the bumper are free-standing, meaning they're not welded onto the bumper, meaning they move. Rugged Ridges provides plastic washers that are supposed to hold the bolts in place for when you install the bumper onto the mounting points, but if you're off by a millimeter, the bolts are going to move and the plastic washers won't do anything to hold them in place. In my other Jeep, for example, I have a Smittybilt bumper which has the bolts welded in place, so you can finagle it and get it onto the mounting points without shifting the bolts out of place and have to put it down, reset the bolts, and try again. It took me about a dozen tries to get the bumper onto the mounting points because all 6 bolts have to enter the points at the same time, perfectly, since they are free-standing.
Price: 5/5
Hard to beat. Paid for it during install though.
Appearance: 5/5
Looks just as advertised. The shackle mounting points are easily accessible and the hooks look vicious, which is what I wanted. I was looking for a bumper that looked aggressive but not over the top since this is also my office commuter at times. Didn't want a giant stinger for example. I think this is a good compromise.
Durability: NA
I haven't really tested the bumper other than lifting the Jeep using the jack mount points, which are super convenient. Until I take it out on the trail and have to pull the Jeep out of a mud-pit, I really won't know how durable it is. I am somewhat worried about how thin the shackle points are. They're thinner than the shackle bolts, which makes me think if anything fails during extreme conditions, it'll be the bumper. I'm hoping the points don't fail during a full-weight winching. I will update this review after further testing.
All in all, 3/5.