Front
Jeeperman Single Hoop
Bumper
First
of all, thanks to JaySea
and Code3TJ for recommending Jeeperman
bumpers way back when. Thanks to 'drack, Outlaw, and JaySea again for
goading me into installing this thing during sub-arctic
conditions....my
fingers are still numb. I hope you're all happy!
I had been hearing about
Jeeperman products ever since buying my first
TJ. I had looked at many bumpers from a lot of different sources and
talked to or emailed a lot of Jeep folks asking their opinion on
different brands out there. I heard both good and bad on the different
ones, all except Jeeperman. All good comments. I was now ready to order.
That brings us to
Raingler.
Raingler
shipped out
my bumper very quickly,
considering it was the Christmas and New Years holidays, everything I
ordered was in stock and shipped right out. The front bumper I ordered
was one of there stock 46" single hoop w/black powder coat finish.
Two
things that are quite apparent
when I received the cardboard cartons from Fedex:
#1 The folks at
Jeeperman/Raingler really want the purchaser to put the first scratches
on their bumper. It came in a strapped double walled heavy duty
cardboard carton. The bumper inside is wrapped in foam shipping cloth.
#2 The folks that manufacture
these bumpers take a lot of pride in their own work and it shows in the
quality product they put out.
TOOLS
YOU
WILL NEED
- T55 star socket for the
bumper bolts
- Breaker Bar helps, the bolts are
real tight
- 13mm wrench or socket...this is if
you have fog lights mounted
- 10mm wrench or socket for removing
the swaybar trim cover
This is a real easy
swap. The OEM bolts were a little stubborn but the breaker bar and a
little elbow grease loosened them right up. Here's how it looked when I
started. It was just a matter of removing the 6 bumper bolts, the fog
lamps and the swaybar trim cover. It took about 15 minutes to remove
everything.
The Jeeperman feels like its at
least twice the weight of the stocker.
Just pick it up and set it where the stocker was. Line up the holes
with the frame and put a couple of the bolts in so that it will not
slip back off the frame. I then used some Red locktight on the threads
of all the bolts and started all 6 back in. You will re-use the OEM
bolts, so hopefully you didn't lose them. There isn't any adjusting to
do, just start tightening the bolts. I snugged them first and then
started tightening them, one side at a time. Bottom first and then the
top. Working back and forth sort of pinches the bumper onto the frame
while tightening. No torque specs come with them, so I set them at 75ft
pounds.
The
Jeeperman comes winch-ready with its own built in winch plate and
fairlead mount. Plenty of other holes and mounts for lighting systems
or Hi-Lift jack mounting are included.
When
I tried to mount the OEM bumper
mounted fog lamps, I found that
their wire leads were too short so that they didn't have enough length
to reach the new bumper. What I did for now (and will fix when the
weather gets warmer) was to pull the clip holding the wire loom up
under the fender loose and wire tied it in place for now. It's up out
of harm's way and allowed me to mount the lamps on the new bumper.
Also included
are 2 3/4" d-mounts
welded
from both sides. I took styling cues from JaySea and I coated the
shackles with yellow tool dip. Here is the finished product.
I found that it was very
difficult to locate the D-ring shackles
locally. Either I couldn't find anything larger than 1/2" or when I did
find the size I wanted, they were wayyyy too expensive (~$20 each) or
they were imported and un-rated which could lead to a dangerous
situation.
I
located the ones I wanted online
from
McMaster-Carr.
They're a national
industrial hardware company. The bumper is set up to take 3/4" pins.
Don't order 3/4" shackles, they have 7/8" pins. I ordered part #3663T43
which is a 5/8" shackle with a 3/4" pin rated at 10,000 pounds . They
were only $9.07 each and @ $10 each delivered to my door. That order
arrived in 2 days.
You can
order
these excellent
bumpers from
Raingler.
Anybody
need a bumper/snow gauge?
