So yesterday I stopped just shy of an intersection where an emergency vehicle was approaching from the adjacent street. Needless to say, I think the driver that struck me must have been distracted.
Anyway, I can attest to the worthiness of having heavy duty aftermarket bumpers!
15' JKUR Hard Rock with 3" lift and Smittybilt Gen 1 rear bumper. As you can see below, his crumple zones worked perfectly Everyone was uninjured and I obviously got to drive away while his vehicle was towed away.

Yes, I run both front AND rear dashcams. THIS is why!

A couple things to note. I'm still waiting on a complete damage assessment from the collision/body shop. The things that immediately stand out after the accident are:

• Rear tailgate doesn't open as the rear bumper got pushed up a bit. (Spare tire didn't budge! I even have a shovel behind it and the rear glass was untouched)
• Noticeable creaking noise when accelerating from a dead stop around passenger door/windshield area.
• Noticeable wind "whistle" somewhere from passenger door window.
• Possible brake "creak" when brakes are applied.

For all intents and purposes, it drives just fine and other than the wind noise coming from the passenger window, you'd never know that someone just tried to play derby with you. The backup camera on my rear bumper even survived! Tough little bugger. The frame looked fine to the naked eye but why am I getting a whistling from the passenger window above 40 mph? That has me concerned. I will report back with an update from the collision center after their assessment.

Here's some fun pics from the incident!...










Video:

 

Dang! He hit you going fast! Glad everyone was ok and walked away uninjured.

Just a note: I don't see how a rear impact would cause the creaking/whistling noises. I hear the same creaking near the passenger side windshield/window/door/seat area sometimes when I'm accelerating. I can't pinpoint the sound since it only happens sometimes, but it sounds more like the roll bar padding, or interior plastics (chafing somewhere) are causing that noise. I never been rear ended in my Jeep, but I've had this occasional creaking for a while now. As for the brake creak, are you referring to the pedal? My pedal has a light creak for the first inch or so of travel when I push it...did some reading and realized it's nothing to be concerned about. If it bothers you a lot, you can pump some (I believe white lithium grease? May wanna double check) into the boot area. The whistling noise is weird though, not too sure about that.

You may have just noticed most of those creaks now since you're hyperaware after the accident. Just thought I'd chime in with my $0.02 so you're not too worried. Definitely go get the frame checked out to make sure it's still straight. That was a damn hard impact.

 

I hear you on the creaking coming from the roll bar padding sounds when accelerating. It just seems 'more so' now. The wind whistle however is definitely new and I noticed it immediately after leaving the scene of the accident. As for the brakes, yes, my brake pedal sounds like a groaning, dying hippo when I depress the pedal. The sound I am referring to is outside the rig, underneath. Perhaps it's always been there and I just haven't noticed it. I was driving with my window down next to a wall where the sound was more clear than would be out on the open road with traffic noise etc. The brake thing is most likely normal.

And yes... the impact got my attention!

 

Great pics. I have that same bumper and love it. Glad to see how well it held up.

 

Awesome for you, glad everyone is ok, makes me want to get my new rear bumper quicker......

 

By the way, that smittybilt bumper as far as I know is the only aftermarket Jeep bumper that certifies the tow capacity. It is rated for 5000 pounds with 500 pound tongue weight. I've towed 5000 pounds with mine. It's now about 4 yrs old and still looks good as new.

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ambarella-A...gAAOSwhzRaXWjF

 

I just purchased a Mini 0906 dual cam setup a couple weeks ago. I haven't installed them yet. I was concerned how the video quality would be through the rear tinted window, but yours looks terrific so that puts my mind at ease.

I think you may have linked the wrong one, since that is the Mini 0805 which includes just the front cam without the rear, unless you're running 2 separate 0805s?

Here's the 0906 I got which is the dual cam setup of the same model. This one includes the hard wire kit and the filter lens for the front.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-0906-Dual-HD-Car-Dash-Camera-GPS-DVR-Rear-camera-Hard-Wire-ACC-CPL-lens/263287167405?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid =p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Glad you came out on the safe side! Got me thinking about dash cams too...