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Bumpers.
We all take them for granted, sitting at either
end of our Jeeps ready to give it all up if
some careless motorist gets too close. Offroad
it's a whole other world - bumpers are actually
put onto and into things to assist in maneuvers.
They must shoulder-aside rocks the size of tires
and still not weigh a ton. What to do?
Well,
the CJ / YJ / TJ crowd are pretty lucky - they
have plain old, reasonably strong steel bumpers
right from the factory. Remove those silly end-caps
if you've got them. Trim back a bit of the steel
to narrow the bumper and open up the approach
angle to each tire. Slap some paint on the bare
metal and call it a day.
But
what if you simply want a different design?
More protection, mounting point for a winch,
or lights? Maybe you have a Cherokee - get ready,
those bumpers are ALUMINUM!
In
these cases, a well designed aftermarket or
custom made bumper is the answer. From your
buddy's garage to the Outback - there are designs
galor and plenty of places to buy them. One
constant remains price - the price of steel
continues to rise, so the cost of bumpers goers
up too.
Building
custom made bumpers makes a lot of sense, if
you, or someone you know, has access to the
gear and material. Get as elaborate as you want
- just remember to plan for everything you want
in advance, then build the unit to suit those
needs.
Be
certain you understand how the unit mounts,
as well. The best units use as many of the factory
mounting points as posible, and even add to
that with extra brackets. The idea is the spread
the load across as much of the vehicles frame
as possible - this is especialy important with
unit-body Jeeps like Cherokees, Grand Cherokees
and Liberty's.
If
you have a newer Jeep and want to keep the functionality
of your airbags intact (say for safety, or insurance
reasons), the one name that jumps forward is
ARB. they take the time to manufacture and have
certified, each model of bumper for the Jeep
it's designed for. This means you can safely
replace your factory bumper with a genuine rock-pounder
that will still protect you and others properly
in the event of an accident.
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