It's been two months and three weeks of waiting from a lesser website but after cancelling and reordering with Northridge4x4, finally got the ACE rear bumper and tire carrier in just THREE days. Now I don't have to be ashamed with the little factory spare on my rig. Started by removing the stock bumper and tailgate mounted tire carrier. They'll no longer be needed.

 

Had two issues with the back-up light mounting tabs. For one, they are way too far apart for the lifetime LED lights that they sell to go along with the bumper. The studs on the lights are just barely long enough to thread the nuts on there. Way too close for comfort. I had to machine extensions for the studs and unfortunately my phone did not save the pic. Second issue was the passenger inner tab was bent way in. Had to take a brass drift and a mallet to bend it to where the light would fit. Unfortunately, this knocked the powdercoating off the whole upper section of the tab. Took sone rust-oleum to try and prevent rust



I had previously ran a Mopar 7 pin trailer wiring harness and needed to mount the plug somewhere out of danger. Fortunately, there was ample room behind the bumper to accommodate the plug so after careful measuring and marking, a 2" hole saw cut a perfect hole for the plug



After drilling and tapping the bumper for the attachment bolts, the bare steel was hit with rust-oleum to help protect from future rust. Using the supplied mounting bolts that came with the lifetime LED lights, the plug was then bolted on. Never hurts to recycle unused hardware



Following the instructional video provided on ACE's website, the install proceeded until I hit another hiccup. The spacers used to mount the heim joint to the tire carrier were too long to fit in the mounting location. A 32nd of an inch had to be turned down on the shorter of the sleeves in order for them to fit and even then, it was a VERY tight squeeze.



The bronze bushings in the bumper seemed to be a bit oversized for the tire carrier spindle so I took the telescoping gauge and micrometer to measure the parts. There are two bushings. One pressed in from the top and one from the bottom. The upper bushing was.005" over the size of the spindle and the lower bushing was .006" over. This seemed a bit excessive to me but it might just be because I work with 0 to .001" tolerances all day. Once the nut is installed and tightened down, the slop goes away considerably but there is still some up and down play on the tire carrier. If this becomes a problem, I'll make a new set of bushings to press in there with tighter tolerance. Overall, the tire carrier is a beautiful piece. It is secured to the frame on the horns from both sides then on the rear crossmember both from the front of the vehicle and from the bottom, with all attachment points using grade 8 hardware. The finish is down right amazing and it fits the look of the jeep as if it were there from the factory. The extensions that fit into the frame went in super snug and left no room for slop anywhere, inspiring confidence that it will stay solid for many years to come. The bumper fits the body of the jeep perfectly, leaving just enough gap to know that you'll never have interference issues, yet close enough to make everything flow together just right. Once properly adjusted, the tailgate opens and closes flawlessly. The D-ring mounts appear to only be welded on the outside but from the welds on them and the rest of the bumper, it does not appear that it will be a strength issue. Speaking about the welds, they are as nice as any. They really took their time at ACE to make sure you got top notch quality fabrication. I'm a machinist and welder and I could not find a single spot on the whole assembly where I could criticize any of their welds. Would I recommend this to anyone just off my initial impression after installing it and having it on my rig for just a few hours.....heck yes! ! Good job ACE and a big thank you to the folks at Northridge4x4 for the great service.

 

Here's a shot of the final install!!!

 

looks great! I was planning on ordering this in the next week. I put the ACE front bumper/stinger on last week and love it so far. Did you wire the lights to the reverse lights or do them separately ?

 

Nice looking install! The ACE bumper and tire carrier is a nice package. I saw one on a trail a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed

 

The lights are wired into my S-pod so I won't blind the crud out of people during city driving.