txboggers

Hey everyone,

my brother, who has a 2012 jk with a pretty new ARB bumper recently got a smittybilt xrc bumper. Well, recently I've kinda seen his bumper look differently, the hoop of his bumper was far from the grille of the jeep... everyone said no I was wrong and the bumper was like that, but I ended up being right... well he did this by attaching straps to the hoop whenever he got stuck which caused the metal to "stretch". well my friend is telling us to sell the bumper and just buy a new one so that we can put the winch on. but we don't really want to go through all that trouble. what should we do? sell it? or just put the winch on? btw we did push the bumper in more against a tree so it's a little better. please help

jk_sea

I'm not quite sure I follow. Your brother had an ARB bumper, but then replace it with a Smitty XRC bumper, and now one of the D-rings is stretching the area where he pulls from, on the XRC?

It is possible to pull too much, so I doubt the manufacturer would do much, if anything, for you guys in terms of a warranty repair or replacement.

What happened to the ARB bumper? I'm not sure I understand the decision to swap it in the first place....ARB is expensive stuff and is usually built very well, and also well-reviewed.

You can leave the issue as-is, knowing that it's now probably a weakened point for pulling. Throwing a winch on would be fine, as long as it's done correctly because that's pulling from a different part of the bumper and the vehicle's frame. A winch is a very useful piece of recovery gear anyhow.

txboggers

sorry!! that was my mistake... I didn't mean to say smittybilt xrc bumper, I meant the xrc winch. basically what is happening is we want to put this winch on the arb bumber, but the guy that helps us with our jeeps told us that he couldn't put the winch on because the metal on the arb bumper was "stretched out". basically I just don't know if he's being lazy or if he wants us to go to a new bumper just because he doesn't like the arb but I feel like we can do something to be able to put the winch on anyways.

jk_sea

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the ARB bumper series. But I'll bet you could go to their website or look up the winch mounting instructions online to see where/ what parts are needed and if the area of damage/stretching on your bumper would affect installation. Perhaps the XRC winch is just incompatible with that bumper? I wouldn't think so, but compare specs. You'll have the upper-hand on the guy that helps you with your Jeeps and will be able to tell if he's blowing smoke.

I'd also suggest posting a pic of the damage so other folks on here can take a look and offer advice!

Good luck-

mudbug79

Unless there is something wrong with the bumper the winch should fit the bumper. I have the ARB bumper with a XRC8 winch. I had no problem what so ever installing the winch on that bumper.
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txboggers

this was the closest we could get the bumper to get to it's original place after pushing it against a tree slowly and carefully. it was a lot worse. thanks for the advice! I'll make sure to check the website

GJeep

Originally, the bull bar was upright. Here, the center of the bumper is twisted downwards.
It's a pretty strong bumper, and it looks like the top of bull bar was pulled real hard.
That's not the place to attach straps.

There are rings for attaching Shackles, underneath the bumper.
(The rings are there, and not at the front, because the ARB is made in Australia, where the law forbids anything to stick out at the bumpers front.)

The low location of the shackle rings is an advantage for most recovery situations.

Tripletsi

Wow, you've successfully destroyed a $1000 bumper! Tough lesson learned, time to pony up another grand for a new one. I wouldn't trust it due to stress and fatigue, you might not be able to see the small cracks which could end in ultimate failure at an untimely moment. Safety first bud.

CerOf

Looks like the winch plate is okay. Where the hoop is does not appear to be supported and is why it bent using a stap there.

It should not have messed with the winch plate area. If it did, the the frame would be messed up. Just my observations based on a few Internet photos.

Sent from some string and a few tin cans.

Roaddog516

I would get a new bumper that one is toast. I don't think anyone will buy it though.