Reviews for AEV 10305055AD Front Premium Bumper for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK

Loved this bumper, the design is great. My only complaint was how fast it started to rust up. I have three dollar sized rust points I had to fix. Other than that, great fog light location, great winch placement and love that the airbag integrates so seamlessly. A far better design than their rear bumper. Highly recommend this product but only three stars because of rusting..... but hey its a Jeep.

Love the look. Bought a jeep with this bumper on it and within a year or so the corrosion is bad the paint is just peeling and rusty. It’s where the water sits in the gaps on top of the outside of the bumper. All welds are corroded. Not happy and going to get another one that’s triple coated. I have the rear bumper though and it is no problem and has held up well.

I thought this bumper looked amazing and offered strong protection for the front of the Jeep. And AEV has a whole long story about how much rust protection and galvanization treatments they put into building these bumpers. These are pricey bumpers, but it's worth spending the extra $$ if it protects the passengers and the Jeep, as well as lasts longer than cheaper alternatives. Well, I can tell you that this bumper started to rust after a few years of use. And yes, while I live in the Northeast where things do rust, had I known this $1,300+ bumper would rust, I would have gladly purchased a much more cost effective alternative which would have rusted during the same time period. Don't get me wrong; I like the design of the bumper, but for the amount of $$ that it costs, it should last longer without corroding.

I ordered this amazing bumper to install before Christmas on my GF's Wrangler. Sadly some of the critical hardware was missing. I expected better from Quadratec and AEV especially considering the price. I contacted Quadratec to request the mounting hardware but they have yet to respond.

I have this bumper on a 2007 2 door Rubicon. It was on the vehicle when I bought it, but I've installed and removed it multiple times so I am very familiar with it in detail. I wanted to share my experience for anyone considering this bumper.

The TL:DR version is that I would NOT recommend this bumper for many reasons. I was tempted to give it 2 stars because it looks outstanding and is arguably the best looking JK front bumper out there. But with all the negatives and the extremely steep price, it doesn't even earn one star.

Pros:
-Looks great
-It's relatively light if you're trying to keep weight down
-Maintains factory airbag functionality and was even used by Jeep as OEM on some models

Cons:
-Very expensive
-Thin metal provides little protection. If you clip a tree or rock with any force beyond 1-2mph, it will bend
-Winch is fully enclosed. To do ANYTHING on the winch, you have to completely pull the bumper. If you have small hands and a lot of patience you can just barely reach the tiny screw to replace the rope without pulling the bumper. That's it. You can't access all the wiring connections or do anything else.
-The finish is a joke. I don't know the exact age of my bumper, but I would guess 8 years. The finish was completely destroyed. 80% of the bumper's finish easily came off in thick, giant flakes with rust underneath when I refinished it. No collision damage whatsoever, just corrosion trapped under a very poor coating.
-Parts are exorbitant or totally unavailable. I wanted new crush cans and plastic covers since I was refinishing everything and mine were faded. The metal crush cans are totally unavailable except with a new bumper. So if you ever do have a collision, you're screwed. The two plastic can covers alone cost me $82.61.
-Possibly worst of all, and this goes along with the winch access problem, the primary thing holding this bumper on in front are 8 BUTTON HEAD 3/8" bolts that are plain steel threading into Jeep's notoriously rust prone frame metal. So imagine removing eight two inch long 3/8" diameter bolts, steel into steel, with nothing but a tiny 7/32" Allen key hole that's only 1/8" deep. Plus, they are right up against the crush cans, and are a button head so there is zero chance of getting vice grips or anything else on for grip. If this is installed for any length of time, as mine was, all of this will rust together, the allen holes will instantly strip, and you're going to be drilling out EVERY SINGLE ONE of these bolts while trying not to damage the plastic crush can right next to your drill bit. I replaced all of my bolts with stainless ones and used anti-sieze. I'd highly recommend doing the same if you ever think it might need to come off.

All of this was discovered during a refresh I did on my JK. The bumper was stripped (most of the original finish just flaked right off), sanded down (very difficult on the inside of this bumper), fully sealed with epoxy primer, then recoated with Raptor. I also cleaned and sealed my entire frame with rust coverter (POR-15) topcoated with gloss black, refinished the rear bumper, and fully rebuilt my Warn 9.5ti.

All of this other work combined was less effort than the removal and refinish of the AEV front bumper alone.

Also worth noting, the rear bumper is the same age and is a Rock Hard brand, 1/4" thick. It weighs a ton, and I think the whole Jeep could be crushed without hurting the bumper. The finish on that bumper was still in great shape and only required minor prep. Furthermore, I called Rock Hard to buy a new latch and rubber stop for the spare tire mount mechanism. They answered the phone immediately then informed me that they were send me a full rebuild kit (including bearings for the swing arm and other parts I didn't need) TOTALLY FOR FREE because the bumper had a lifetime warranty and they stand behind their product. This was no questions asked and the parts bag arrived 2 days later. Compare this to AEV who couldn't even GET the some of the parts I needed, whose bumper finish totally disintegrated, and who charged me $80 for two plastic covers.

I'll upload some photos of my final rebuild. It looks great, but I wouldn't wish this nightmare on anyone else. There are MANY bumper options out there for 1/2 the price of this one with better quality, better support, and better design.

The only reason I would consider buying this is if I was totally in love with the look, budget was no concern, and I was NOT going to install a winch. DO NOT BUY THIS if you plan to install a winch. Even minor winch service will require a full day of work.