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Installation
date: 1/3/01
When
it came time to put new bumpers on the Yellow Mud Machine, I started
looking at my options for the front and rear. The front bumper had to
have a winch mount and the rear bumper had to have a tire carrier, and
the budget was somewhat limited, so that narrowed down the choices a
bit. I've been extremely happy with the Custom 4x4 bumpers on my XJ,
so when I heard they'd come out with bumpers for TJ's I had to check
them out. The bumpers looked good and the prices were right so it wasn't
long until I had a set on order.
The front
bumper is made of two pieces: the main section that sits above
the frame rails and a "cover plate" that sits where
the OEM bumper does to cover the frame rails. I asked Mike Houlette
why he put the main section above the frame rails, and he told
me that he did it to give better ground clearance like stubby
bumpers do, but retain protection for the fenders like regular
full-width bumpers. The first steps to installing the front
bumper are to remove the OEM bumper of course and unbolt the
swaybar mounts from the frame rails.
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If you've
got a winch you'll need to bolt the fairlead on first, then bolt
the winch to the bumper before bolting everything to the Jeep.
This also means if you've already installed their bumper and want
to add a winch, you'll have to take the bumper off in order to
install the winch. You'll probably want to have someone help you
with the install here as the bumper and winch aren't the lightest
things in the world, especially when you're trying to hold up
both! The bumper bolts under the swaybar mounts and to one of
the holes that are used for tow hooks.
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Now bolt
the cover plate to the bottom of the bumper and to the bottom
of the frame rails where the OEM bumper bolted up. The cover plate
ties the bumper into the bottom of the frame rails, adding strength
to the mounting system. It's a bit of a trick to get to the bolts
that hold the bumper and cover plate together, but nothing too
bad. Once you've got it all bolted up and torqued down, it's time
to hook up your lights, get a set of shackles, and hit the trails.
Or, if you've got their rear bumper to install as well, it's time
to install that!
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The rear
starts out much like the front... removing the factory bumper.
Custom 4x4's rear bumper bolts to the rear crossmember exactly
how the factory bumper does, with the exception of an "L"-shaped
reinforcement bracket that ties the bumper into the frame itself.
This added strength is important because the bumper has an integral
2" receiver hitch.
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Now it's time
to get the tire carrier assembled. First thing to do is setup
the hinge. You'll need to grease the taper bearings and set them
in the hinge, then hammer or press the grease seal into the bottom
of the hinge. Now bolt the tire mount to the swing arm. If you
got the optional Hi-Lift jack mount you'll want to bolt this to
the swing arm as well. The latch is already assembled on the swing
arm, so no worries there. Now slip the swing arm onto the hinge
stud on the top of the bumper, tighten down the castle nut, and
tap the bearing cap onto the hinge to keep out the crud.
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That's all
there is, the installs are really pretty easy, just set aside
an afternoon and invite a buddy over to help out. The tire carrier
doesn't seem to rattle or wobble, and it opens and closes easily
with one hand thanks to the great latch design and taper bearings
in the hinge. So far the front bumper has held up to some hard
winching and the extra ground clearance at the corners has come
in handy, but I haven't tried out the rear receiver yet though.
All in all I highly recommend the bumpers, and considering their
prices, its pretty hard to beat.
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For more information,
contact:
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