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New Bumper from Hanson Enterprises: II
Installing the bumper was really a snap, because it fits like a factory part. In contrast to other stuff I've installed like my Custom 4x4 rear bumper, which required a bit of massaging to attach, and Rusty's skid plates, which didn't even line up properly and required drilling new holes and modifications to the mount bracketry, this thing was a piece of cake. As I mentioned, it mounts using the three nuts that are welded to the stock bumper bracket, and also incorporates a big bolt that runs all the way through the unibody "rail". The brackets are 1/4" plate and are attached to the inside of the bumper with about 8" of weld on either side. Should be plenty strong whether the pull is coming from directly in front of the Jeep or off to the side. Shackle tabs are laser cut and drilled out of 3/4" plate and welded all the way around to the front face of the bumper on either side of the grill guard. Grill guard is 1/2" laser cut steel plate, and extension tubes are 1.25" DOM tubing. The bumper weighs in at about 90 lbs, and combined with the winch I'm going to run, I figured I would lose at least an inch of lift in the front after everything was installed. As a preventative measure, I added another factory isolator ( 5/8" I think) and a 1" steel spacer in front, so now I'm running about 7.5" or a little more in front. It was a lot of fun trying to stuff those 4.5" ZJ coils back in after adding another 1.5"+ of spacers! Funny thing is, now the Jeep sits about level, where before it always had a slight rake from rear to front unless loaded with gear. Steering is a little sloppy now, like I'm driving a dump truck, but I figure it will settle a bit more once the winch is on. I will be redoing my steering anyway and junking the Rusty's stuff when I get a job and have money to spend. I may also have to add a 1" block in back to regain a level altitude when fully loaded I will be posting more pictures here as soon as I get the fairlead bracket from Wayne and get my XD900i installed, so check back in a couple of weeks.
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