This is more of a review, but started life as a "hey did anyone else have this issue?". Wanted to spread the good word. So, here it is, my review of the jcr rear dagger bumper!

So before I get into my long winded posted about why I'm unhappy with this bumper, lets start with the good stuff. It's sexy. No getting around that! Too bad I suck at painting since apperently after one rain storm its got tons of surface rust, but hey, at least I saved money going with JCR! :mad-new: I ordered this through Jason at Krawl Offroad, and it comes in a bit over 400 shipped with the hitch and d ring mounts. It ships bare, so its up to you to get it painted. I went with the rustoleum self etching primer for the base, and then rustoleum hammered metallic finish for the top. Looks great IMO. (I will apologize now, my phone is being weird, and i can only take pictures with the front facing camera, so quality is crappy.)





Now, the bumper gives me the look I was going for. I wanted sleek, and buggyish. I think I nailed the look. Now, lets get onto the shitty stuff.

This bumper style is offered by JCR and PSC. Both require cutting the frame, and removing the cross member. The only difference is the hitch. I wanted a hitch to carry bikes when I go up to NH or head to Cape Cod. I mean, it doesn't matter why I want it, I use it, so I need it. First things first, the hitch contacts the body.





The bumper itself cant move any further from the body, as the slots for the holes are at the max distance. On top of that, I'm sure you eagle eyed folks notice how close the cross pin hole is to the end. Yeah, thats right. You can't actually use the cross pin. This makes the hitch completely useless. Even if I got in there with an angle grinder to make a bit of a gap between the hitch and the body, it wouldnt matter, because I can't use it.

So that blows.

Beyond that, the hardware I was sent was the wrong size. Kinda annoyed about that, because it means a run to the hardware store. Speaking of having to buy extra stuff, I wish JCR had sent washers, because I crushed the mounting brackets with the big bolt just tightening it with a ratchet



The bolt head is barely larger than the slot that is cut for it, so without a washer, it is pretty useless.

The other issue I had, which I wish I had pictures of, are the internal brackets themselves. JCR says they use a jig to form their parts, so that its unlikely for errors. However, of the 6 welded nuts on my 2 brackets, only 2 of them were centered in the holes drilled for them. This means that even installing the bracket, without the bumper, on the drivers side (the drivers side uses all factory holes) the bolts are all cocked when threaded in. With the bumper on it makes it even harder to line up the holes and bolts. And speaking of being unable to line up anything, check out the video I shot. It shows all the issues, including the fact that there are still 2 holes I can't get bolts into! (Again, phone being weird, seems to be no sound so sorry about that)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnEL9nDFRKM&list=UUVCNxUNgrVZmUYtu0Ulyz8g&index=1
Now, I don't want to sound overly whiny, but this really sucks. You can't test fit the bumper without cutting off the frame. And at this point, I'm pretty much stuck with it, as I'm not about to take a loss just to buy the PSC. I mentioned these issues to JCR (the hitch, the hardware not fitting, the poor QC on the brackets), and my only request had been for new internal brackets. JCR messaged me back saying to grind off a bit of the hitch, and that their brackets are perfect.

So I don't recommend buying this bumper. In general, I wouldn't buy anything from JCR after the way they didn't seem to care about the fact that the only reason I bought their bumper is pretty much the only thing that doesn't work with it. I head read on another forum about a 4door owner who bought the rock rails, and nothing fit because they had never test fitted the rails to a 4 door. I feel the same way about the hitch, it blows my mind that they never bothered sticking something in the hitch receiver to see if it was even usable. Not very happy, and even less happy that they don't seem to care.

 

Thanks for writing this up for everyone. I was considering the jcr front and rear but I'm not chancing having these same issues. Glad you could at least save me the headaches.

 

Bummer man. I love the look of this bumper too and came very close to purchasing. They hadn't tried that bumper w/ a TF carrier and large tire (37). Since there isnt a recess in the middle of the bumper i wasnt sure if it would fit and i wasnt willing to cut my frame to be a guinea pig. Kinda make me feel better about my decision. Sorry that it hasnt worked out well for you but it does look badass.

 

Dang. I liked the hitch functionality versus PSC's BFH bumper. I guess I will hold off on replacing the stock one.

 

That's about the total opposite experience I had with my JCR crusader front/ rear bumper. I have the factory hitch, which the bumper slides over. The only problem I had with the front is two of the bolts were too short. Everything lined up perfect. You don't have to cut the frame (just the vacuum pump holder) with the crusader series--just move the vacuum pump which they gave me a bracket for.

 

I also was very impressed with the JCR front Dagger bumper I purchased and installed. Well built, beefy, and bolted right in,, after modifying the vacuum. Even the stock fog lights bolted in perfectly. It's a bummer you didn't have an equally good experience.
On the other hand, maybe rears are just a little bit trickier. I went with a M.O.R.E. rear, and even though I'm 100% in love with it,, I had to grind on the flanges to get them to slide all the way up the exterior of the frame rails, and I had to oblong the holes drilled into the center brace ( as it looks like you need to). Good luck making it work! Remember the Jeep moto,, Anything can be modified!

 

I love my JCR front bumper and had a very positive experience with fit and finish. Sorry to hear about your negative experience.

 

Sorry to here about your experience. My bumpers fit great when I installed them. My issue was the skid plate was a huge PITA. The bottom mounting holes didnt line up so I made my own. The one thing I was suprised about was JCR called me a few weeks after I recieved my bumbers, inquiring about their product. I explained their skid took longer to install than both bumpers combined. They said they were looking for feedback to better serve their customers. I have a feeling they have not made the skid any easier to install for future cutomers. But at least they call to see if your satisfied.

 

Sneck,

Fitting a receiver into our receiver is a simple one; many hitches are different and because of the slim tight fitting nature of this bumper you will need to trim your hitch and possibly re-drill to slide it in and use the pin behind the bumper.

It was hard for me to tell from your video what additional issues you were having, was there supposed to be audio? from your video it looks like you still have about 1/8-3/6" of adjustment out away from the tub is there something else keeping it from being moved away? do you have the other 3 bolts tight or are they loose? I saw the problems about the internal brackets If you want I can have another set sent out to you and Ill personally verify that they are not welded off center.

Checked with our shipping manager and verified the bolt pack to be 4 bolts and 4 washers along with the hardware included already installed on the internal brackets. If you didnt get those I can have those sent out also if you want new internal brackets.

Regards,
Mike M.

 

TF is a MUCH larger company than us, If only they could try our bumper with their TC . We get lots of questions like these unfortunately we can't try every combination, we would love to be able give you a solid answer on that but can't.