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Warrior Products Front Bumper


87Warrior
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This evening I really tested the MJ's stopping distance. I was driving down a busy collector street in the left lane (4 lanes, 2 in each direction) when a car shot out from a gas station. The red caviler made it through the right hand lane traffic but stopped directly in front of me because she could not cross the center line. :shake: I stood on the brake with both feet, somehow managing to keep it in my lane. Squealing tires, smoke, and the smell of burnt rubber surrounded me when the truck stopped, inches from the cavalier's drivers side door. (thank goodness the vehicles following me could stop too!)

 

That situation got me wanting to pick up a heavier duty front bumper for the truck. I have looked at XJ/MJ bumpers in the past, but have always felt the front bumpers looked out of place. The ARB has truly been the only front bumper on an XJ/MJ I could see myself using, but it costs well more than an arm-and-a-leg.

 

I am looking for something that follows the lines on our trucks, does not have a brush guard or the like and is stronger than the tinfoil stocker. Also do not need any winch provisions for this DD truck. Light tabs and d-rings are not really necessary either.

 

I have found one, the Warrior Products Rock Crawler Front Bumper. It comes in many forms, but I just want the basic front bumper. It is only 1/8" but should be stronger than the factory and keep the weight down. I could also see myself incorporating some extra frame tie-ins to keep it snug on the unibody rails.

 

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/warrior-pr ... kee-xj.htm

 

 

Some clicky pictures with the brush guard thing that I would not have.

http://web.mac.com/kyjd75/iWeb/Site/War ... hotos.html

 

Does anybody have experience with this product? Have a suggestion for me to check out another one? Or do you just want to make fun of me for finding one of the only XJ/MJ bumpers with no light tabs, brush guard, or winch plate :rotfl2:

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The JCR Stage 3 is a close contender for me. It looks pretty good on the original style front end. I will be going to the +97 style. I have no doubt the JCR is a much more utilitarian bumper and worlds tougher than the Warrior Products. The shape of the WP is what really grabbed my eye.

 

At this point, I am trying not to dwell on price a whole lot. Might end up nixing a good option early! I did notice the JCR ads some $60 to ship, Warrior $10.

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The JCR Stage 3 is a close contender for me. It looks pretty good on the original style front end. I will be going to the +97 style. I have no doubt the JCR is a much more utilitarian bumper and worlds tougher than the Warrior Products. The shape of the WP is what really grabbed my eye.

 

At this point, I am trying not to dwell on price a whole lot. Might end up nixing a good option early! I did notice the JCR ads some $60 to ship, Warrior $10.

 

If price were NO object, I like the Hanson Offoard winch bumper to match my TJ Hanson Front (although I'm going to be changing fronts on my TJ Eventually)... but ~$800 is a big price tag to swallow...

 

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Good call on the Hanson. They make beautiful bumpers. The basic is "only" $650 (never been a big fan of the winch guard type tubing). Might look silly with the winch mount empty...

 

You can do alot better than that Warrior Bumper.

Hey now, thats cheating. Gotta throw out some better options for me to ponder :waving: Got to keep in mind, this is not a going to be dedicated wheeling truck, just a tough DD.

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I'm running a Tomken front bumper that's only 1/8", and I have absolutely zero faith in it's ability to not crush like a soda can if I ever ran into something with it. I only got it because a guy was selling it for cheap (he needed cash) and it has a receiver in it.

 

If you are looking for protection, go thicker than 1/8"

 

Jeff

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Maybe its the automotive engineer in me, but unlike the rest of you (from the sounds of it) I would want my front bumper to buckle if I hit something. I'd much rather have the front bumper crush instead of being a solid hit and me taking all of the abuse, or even the front frame rails right behind where the bumper mounts. Is cheaper to buy another ~$400 bumper than have to fix buckled frame rails, or busted up knee caps when you slide into the dash.

 

just my $.02

 

 

and I do like the look of that bumper, it reminds me of the old BPI front bumper, but I don't think they are around anymore.

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ts the automotive engineer in me, but unlike the rest of you (from the sounds of it) I would want my front bumper to buckle if I hit something. I'd much rather have the front bumper crush instead of being a solid hit and me taking all of the abuse, or even the front frame rails right behind where the bumper mounts. Is cheaper to buy another ~$400 bumper than have to fix buckled frame rails, or busted up knee caps when you slide into the dash.

 

i would rather fix the bumper then anything behind it! :yes:

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problem is that almost any impact will deform the frame. Before it came to me, my 89 suffered the most minor of impacts on the passenger side with the stock bumper. Mangled the crap outta the corner of the uniframe. :dunno: The uniframe is very fragile. If you don't want to repair it, you need to strengthen it. I just can't see a crumple-able bumper saving the uniframe for anything over 5mph.

 

If you want to save your skin in a high speed impact, then the front needs to be crumple-able, bumper included.

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i agree with you pete, but, i would still want to repair the bumper before any other damage.

my wife grazed a pole in a parking garage with my car. it bent everything to the side. if i hadn't made it so it would deform on impact, the frame would have bent severely. :brows:

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I overbuilt a ft bumper years ago,

connected the outer 'wings' (bumper section beyond the frame rail width) to the bumper mounts with 1/2" plate, mounted flat,

parallel with the ground.

 

When I had strong guardrail hit (don't ask :D ), the 'wing' still folded in, but instead of deforming the mount to absorb the hit,

the 1/2" plate stayed intact (duh :) ), and forced my 'framerail' into the side of the engine.

(passengers side, 'frame' rail contacted the alternator, and broke it right off the side of the engine.)

 

On my next bumper, I left the 'wings' to be sacrificial steel in the event of a hard side hit.

 

As far as that Warrior stuff,

there was a SMOKING sale on it last week (Black Friday weekend).

I don't remember what the front went for, but the basic rear was ~ $230.

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I'm not really a fan of the Warrior Products bumpers. But that is more of a styling idea, than any sort of gripe against them.....

 

You could always go real old school.....

 

 

:doh:

 

Rob...post those pics of the front bumper we saw at LKQ.

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i know a guy who mabe a rear bumper of of 1/2 I beam. that was for the back though. he now has a piece of large tubing on it . but imagine hitting an i beam....

I-Beam is a bit much :rotf:

 

Maybe its the automotive engineer in me, but unlike the rest of you (from the sounds of it) I would want my front bumper to buckle if I hit something. I'd much rather have the front bumper crush instead of being a solid hit and me taking all of the abuse, or even the front frame rails right behind where the bumper mounts. Is cheaper to buy another ~$400 bumper than have to fix buckled frame rails, or busted up knee caps when you slide into the dash.

 

just my $.02

 

and I do like the look of that bumper, it reminds me of the old BPI front bumper, but I don't think they are around anymore.

You know, I was thinking of that too. This will be going on a daily driver, so safety is a concern for me. I have been unsuccessful at finding an image of the backside of the WP bumper to see how it is built. My gut tells me that the 1/8" steel would deform during a hard hit but probably not in a minor bump. I will not be using the bumper as a rock slider to get up and over ledges or the like.

 

As far as that Warrior stuff,

there was a SMOKING sale on it last week (Black Friday weekend).

I don't remember what the front went for, but the basic rear was ~ $230.

Gah, just pour salt in the wound :dunce: I have seen reports of $50-$100 off WP Jeep stuff last weekend :ack:

 

I'm not really a fan of the Warrior Products bumpers. But that is more of a styling idea, than any sort of gripe against them.....

 

You could always go real old school.....

Thats what makes this such a great country :yes: I actually turned away from the WP bumpers for a while since they typically had the tacky brush guard stuck on there. I find the basic bumper smooth and clean.

 

Classy bumper :rotfl2: That one follows the vehicle lines.

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beefy bumper or not if the frame rails are not reinforced the truck will crumple in a hi speed impact. but, these trucks do crumple just rite to keep you safe (first hand knowledge) I'm betting a reinforced truck would hurt!

 

this is what happens when you t-bone a '94 honda at 50mph w/o a front bumper... but i walked away with only a skuffed fore arm (steering wheel)

 

 

my '87 will get the carpenters special front and rear bumper treatment!

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beefy bumper or not if the frame rails are not reinforced the truck will crumple in a hi speed impact.

 

For bumper mounts, I ran maybe 14" long brackets along the frame, out of 4" channel (I cut the webs out for tire clearance towards the back.)

The bumper itself was also 4" channel,

so I burned in a triangular hunk of 1/2" plate between the webs of the brackets, and the webs of the bumper face to reinforce the bumper ends.

The 1/2" plate was then well placed to drill & tap for (downfacing) towhooks.

 

The long bumper mounts + sheetmetal 'frame' didn't stand a chance against the 1/2 plate when the bumper ends folded in. :(

 

This was the replacement bumper (similar style):

notice I did not reinforce the bumper ends,

& moved the tow hooks to the 4" channel/bumper brackets.

 

 

(FWIW: Tow strap would go straight through the D-ring, and grab the hook,

I really liked this setup, since the D-ring captured the strap, and it would not fall off of the down facing hook.)

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