JackD Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Since I first saw a Gladiator is person, I had wondered if the rear bumper could be modified to work on a Comanche. Well, as fate would have it, one appeared for sale on Facebook Marketplace for super cheap. I jumped on it and figured it was worth getting my hands on. Worse case, I could just sell it if I didn’t think it would work. Please note, this write up is for a Gladiator Bumper only. I do not know if a JL bumper will fit the same way. I picked it up and sat in on a sawhorse at the back of the Jeep. The width was roughly the same as the stock MJ bumper and was pretty solid (more so than a stock Comanche bumper). I would just need to trim some of the steel and plastic to fit around the harder corners of the MJ. I removed the plastic caps and started to trim small sections of metal until it it fit around the MJ to my liking. I built brackets off of the bumper using the stock studs in the bumper. I used 3/16th thick angle iron and 3/16th plate to make brackets that would bolt from the bumper and allow it to sit on and wrap around the stock bumper brackets. I then was about to drill and bolt the new brackets onto the stock frame bracket. I used bolts to hold everything together and it felt very sturdy. I will probably go back and add welds for extra strength. once I had my final fitment, I pulled the bumper back off and reinstalled the plastic caps. I then trimmed the plastic back to match the steel and covered the cut plastic in a flat black edge trim that I purchased from Orielly’s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torq_Shep Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 I read the title and thought "eww gross" but this actually looks sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 I feel a certain level of blasphemy going on here. I remember when the JT was first announced. The first thing I went and did was waited for its parts diagram to be launched into starparts, looked at the bumper and went, well that ain’t gonna mount up. But well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 23 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: I feel a certain level of blasphemy going on here. I feel like this is more of a "wearing the skin of your slain enemies" kind of thing here. No joke, I think this looks really good. Especially from the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercManche Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Finally found a use for those dumb JLs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 This turned out very well! Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 That fits nicely... Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse J Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 matches the paint really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetdjc320 Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Very clean! If my truck needed a new rear bumper I'd definitely go this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungupgrade Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Would this setup fit with a class III hitch or is the bumper too low for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 On 3/31/2022 at 12:39 AM, yungupgrade said: Would this setup fit with a class III hitch or is the bumper too low for it? good question. it does look a bit taller top-to-bottom than the factory unit. @JackD can you grab a measurement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercManche Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 On 4/6/2022 at 11:58 AM, Pete M said: good question. it does look a bit taller top-to-bottom than the factory unit. @JackD can you grab a measurement? Howdy Pete, hope you're doing good man, I hope Jack can get that info soon because it would be great to add a hitch later on. Just mocked ours up on our Comanche. Looks amazing, so Jack thank you for posting about this idea. I believe you used the gladiator "Steel" rear bumper from the higher trims, the one we picked up is off a Sport, But regardless, the procedure is the same. Time to pick up some overpriced barstock. Instead of using the factory brackets, I going to make brackets that attach to the Comanche frame but mimick the JT mounting points so really any JT bumper would work (provided its trimmed for the bed corners) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungupgrade Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 On 4/9/2022 at 7:45 PM, MercManche said: I believe you used the gladiator "Steel" rear bumper from the higher trims, the one we picked up is off a Sport, But regardless, the procedure is the same. up Is the bumper from the sport a different material than the one OP used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercManche Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 1:43 PM, yungupgrade said: Is the bumper from the sport a different material than the one OP used? Sorry for the massively late reply, but yea it appears to be basically plastic on the outside with a sheet-metal interior, which is fine, because its still stronger than the original Comanche bumper which is made of bend-ium. Also we did get the stock hitch with this one, the hitch interferes DIRECTLY with the rear crossmember so I don't think its possible to fit it without alot more headache than its worth, I was looking to build our brackets off of something like this https://dirtboundoffroad.com/products/mj-rear-bumper-hitch-jeep-comanche-mj Which all it would need are some nice 1/4" plates and gussets to fit the gladiator bumper too. We have been busy with other projects and this kinda fell off the radar for now. Just should be noted that yes, there are at least 2 variants of the JT bumper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungupgrade Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 On 7/2/2022 at 11:16 PM, MercManche said: Sorry for the massively late reply, but yea it appears to be basically plastic on the outside with a sheet-metal interior, which is fine, because its still stronger than the original Comanche bumper which is made of bend-ium. Also we did get the stock hitch with this one, the hitch interferes DIRECTLY with the rear crossmember so I don't think its possible to fit it without alot more headache than its worth, I was looking to build our brackets off of something like this https://dirtboundoffroad.com/products/mj-rear-bumper-hitch-jeep-comanche-mj Which all it would need are some nice 1/4" plates and gussets to fit the gladiator bumper too. We have been busy with other projects and this kinda fell off the radar for now. Just should be noted that yes, there are at least 2 variants of the JT bumper. When you say the stock hitch do you mean the ball hitch on the original MJ bumper or the one that came with the gladiator? I was looking to get a class III hitch which bolts to the frame and sits a little lower. From my measurements, the stock bumper is about 8 and 1/4 inches from it's highest point to lowest. If your gladiator bumper has the same height I don't see why it wouldn't fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acfortier Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Bumping this again, does anyone know if one of krusty's hitches will fit underneath a Gladiator bumper? Can someone with one get some measurements from the highest to lowest point? @MercManche @JackD @shelbyluvv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Wow! Looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdJarHead Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Working on this "mod" for my 88 Comanche now. For anyone looking for a clean hookup with the LED license plate lamps; after searching to the ends of the internet, I did find the plugs that fit these lights exactly. Inexpensive, and you can buy just a couple as there is no minimum quantity required (I got 4 because my first attempts at these things doesn't always go as planned). Shipping was reasonable as well. However, these are only the plastic plugs and the metal connection pins are not included. Found a small package of those on Amazon. Now I only need to figure out if polarity matters in wiring these into my harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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