Paul R

Installed my Rock hard rear bumper/tire carrier this weekend and discovered something I hadn't thought about. This bumper adds about 9 inches to the overall vehicle length by placing the tire farther out from the tailgate. The Rock hard moves the tire farther out than most aftermarket bumpers because it spaces the tire out enough to fit a highlift jack between the tire and the swingarm. I was pretty tight fitting into my garage before, but I had to move some stuff from in front of the Jeep to be able to pull in far enough to get the garage door to close now.

This is a great bumper and I am very happy with it. Just thought I would mention this consideration as it was something I had not though about before the install.

TEEJ

Another thing to consider when your ass hangs out another 9"....is your departure angle.

When you are climbing a steep ledge, etc...the butt will be more likley to hit as you go up in front/it's pivoted down in back, etc.

And coming down off of ledges, etc.



Its why I like bumpers that fit tighter to the body....for approach and departure.

The_Captain

The bumper is not the prob, it is how much the tire sticks out... It should mess with his depature angles very much....

Thanks for the heads up

0o7

That's exactly why I didn't go with body armors rear tire carrier. They have theirs so that you can have a fuel can between the tire and the vehicle. Cool idea but not for me. I imagine it would be like driving a suburban (length wise that is)

seer1

The height of the tire from the ground also needs to be taken into consideration. Had the Rock Hard 5 months now, no problems with departure angles.

BTW, even if it is 9" longer, it doesn't matter. 1/4" steel's not going to show much if you bump into anything

Rubidonn

I've got the RockHard rear bumper and I can certainly attest that you'll have ABSOLUTELY no problem w/departure angle... Just because the tire is 9" further out (if that is the case) doesn't mean your departure angle is worse... you can't forget about the fact that the RockHard puts your tire vertically up MUCH higher (as seer1 mentioned). So the end result is GREAT departure angle. In fact that was one of the reasons I personally went with RockHard (asside from it being built sturdy as hell). You won't have an issue w/departure angle w/this bumper

Paul R

I agree that I should have no problem with departure angle, as the tire is up plenty high. The only problem I had was with overall length and fitting into the garage.

BTW... I am truly impressed with this bumper. It is one of the sturdiest/ best built bumpers I have ever seen. The powdercoat was perfect, the welds were neat and clean, the holes were all drilled in exactly the right spots, and it fits extremely well.

Kudos to RockHard 4x4.

-------
Paul

TEEJ

Explain how the departure angle is NOT affected by increasing the rear overhang by 9"?

Do you mean that where you wheel, you have not had a problem, or that there is something magical about the bumper that makes it miss the ground?



IE: Slide a piece of plywood against the rear tires on the ground, then raise it as high as possible on the rear end of the plywood, until it hits something on the jeep....that's the rear departure angle.

Someone w/o the longer bumper protrusion do the same thing.

Compare.

Pretty much, that's all we need to do...any volunteers?

Rubidonn

Read a little closer in the above posts... It was NOT stated that having the tire 9" further out wouldn't affect departure angle... The context is that having a tire 9" further out is NOT the only thing that applies to departure angle. The other key attribute is how high up the tire sits... In the case of the RockHard bumper, the tire sits UP very high, so even though it is 9" further away from the rear of the Jeep, they've compensated for any departure angle concerns by putting the tire up MUCH higher... therefore the end result is NO departure angle issues. Departure angle is 2 dimentional... up and out

Here's the only photos I have... hope that helps... The tire may come into contact first (before the bumper), but since the tire is sitting upwards so much more than stock, the departure angle of the RockHard setup is much better than stock.

TEEJ

OK, so the magic is in the fact that its mounted higher than the stock position...so the bumper is at stock protrusion...no increase in over hang...and the tire alone protrudes further, but, from such a great height as to not be what could hit when the rear end is pivoted down as the front climbs, or, could catch on a ledge on the way down, etc.

Gotcha.



The pics helped...I did a quickie departure angle measurement off a pic, looks to be roughly 45 degrees, and about the same for the rear bumper's bottom as the tire....and the ledge would have to be pretty tall to have a problem coming down off it.

IIRC, the OEM departure angle is about 37-38 degrees or so....the pic jeep has a 4" lift and larger tires...and improved the angle less than 10 degrees over the OEM spec. At least its better, and not worse.