Alright, I'll be first to say it.. Dave will you sell me your bumper then?

 

haha there might be a buddy out here who wants it. but If you were to take it I'd have to ship it back out to BC from here since i'll have to put my new bumper on to get back to BC...i dont know if that would be worth it for you since its pretty massive...

 

DOH! Well if by any chance you return to BC with it on, Ill take it off you! Thanks!

 

Just have to order from Stan at Northridge...he gave me a decent deal on both bumpers and I love the free shipping!!! Now it's just a waiting game...commence the Jeopardy tune....do, do, do, do, do, do....do

 

congrats.. This spring... This spring..

 

Drove down to Vancouver today to pick up my new XRC rear bumper from Northshore Offroad....can't wait to install it tomorrow....will post pics when done.

 

you've had a day steve, come on where are the pics!

ps. i hear your lookin like your gonna come down to moab better make sure you can book off work! its gonna be amazing.

 

Where are the photo's of the bumper?

 

Ok ok boyz it's comin....I had quite the day doing the install....

First I tare off the OEM bumper and tow hitch in literally less than 10 minutes, super simple to do. Then I take off the spare, no big deal....Take the spare tire OEM support bracket off the rear door and disassemble the 3rd brake light, easy.....

I get to installing the bumper....Attempt with a co-workers help to lift this in place...so close, but no cigar, way too tight.....part of the bumper that bolts into the frame where the hitch was mounted is probably 1/16th too tight to physically force it up over the frame...so much for all my years of body building.....So I go over to the local tire shop, literally 50 yards from the garage I was in, which I know very well, and ask to borrow a huge industrial floor jack and block of wood.....get it, jack the bumper up to the frame where it was catching....and jack, and jack, and jack........still no luck.....starting to lift the whole rear of the jeep up off the ground....so I am thinking that either I slightly grind away the lip of the bumper, or the frame.....call over the owner of the tire shop for a second opinion....we try and try again, but no cigar.. He says, bring it over to the shop and I'll put it up on the hoist and strap down the frame...then we'll use the hydraulic jack to force it in....so we do this, and it still won't spread around the frame..talk about freakin tough ass steal this bumper is made of....my buddy says that when the factory welded it that the heat probably curled this part just enough to cause this.

So we drop it again, take the grinder to the edge that needs to go around the frame, and just grind a tinny bit off, then grease it up.......again we try with the
hydraulic jack on the hoist, and success ...The bumper is super close to the body though, but works no problem, looks stellar Without the bolts this thing wasn't moving....bolted everything up, leveled it, and torqued to spec.....

Then I added the tire carrier and bolt everything up, test fitted the spare a few times to get the height I wanted.....final decsion was to put on the spare on the lowest position, thus keep my field of vision from seat as clear as possible in rear view mirror....even at it's lowest possition, I still ahd tons of room between the bumper and the tire The wheel studs on the spare tire carrier were too long though for the lug nuts to tighten up, and thus had to be grinded down, but after that I got everything all snugged up it sure is tough.

When I put the handle on, I think I either lost the two bolts which I don't think happened, or Smitty forgot to add them in my package, so I bought a couple and tightened it up......Everything mount up, looks awesome, I am super happy..

The bumper is pretty much a shorty, and you can really see it.....So much more clearance now, specially on approach and departure angles.. When you guys see this thing, you will love it....I have no issues with the tire carrier, or the handle, everything is awesome, just had a couple hiccups...but the over all result is

I still have to install the 3 rd brake light, and am still deciding if want to....all I have to do and get the extended wiring harness, and it will be good to go.....enough talk.....here it is.....I will get some day light pics tomorrow during my work day...hehe...

Before



After

 

Looking sharp Buddy!!! I hope I don't run into that sort of install issues with my LOD...when it arrives...

You are gonna be flinging muddy rooster tails for sure with thata shorty rear bumper!!! I will make sure someone else like Sam or Dave is following you at the next spring Whipsaw Tour..

Great stuff enjoy your new accessories....your JK is looking BADASS 4 sure!

Let me know how that 3rd brake light install goes!