JL Wrangler Bumper Upgrade Adds Much-needed Toughness
A mangled license plate and beat-up rear quarter panels were the last straw for YouTuber Brittany Williams’ stock Rubicon.
Every brand new model has a few kinks to be worked out for the first couple of years on the lot. Perhaps it’s an issue with panel gaps not being as tight as they should be. It could be the wrong engine was chosen for the job. Or maybe the new infotainment system has a few bugs from the factory. Whatever the issue, there’s usually a fix for it.
For Brittany Williams (known for her Lite Brite YouTube channel), the issue was the stock rear bumper and license plate bracket of her 2018 JL Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. Turns out the setup wasn’t as Trail Rated as it should have been for her; thus, an aftermarket upgrade was needed, and obtained.
“Ta-da! Not only after all these months and all this complaining, Kevin [Williams] and I got a new rear bumper from Motobilt,” says Williams, “we also got Motobilt’s license plate relocation bracket.” The new setup, made from heavy-duty steel that will need painting before installation, will not only protect her Wrangler from the tough off-road trails, but will ensure she and her husband won’t have to have awkward conversations with the local and state police.
As for why she needed help from the aftermarket in the first place, you only need to see what the stock setup has done to her Wrangler.
“That is ridiculous,” Williams says. “That is honestly bad enough to move it from the top five things I hate about our JL to the number one thing that sucks on the brand new JL, and it’s the rear OEM factory steel bumper. It’s useless. As far as protecting the rear end of your Jeep, it’s useless. If anything, it does more damage than it does good.”
According to Williams, the stock bumper has rubbed off some paint from the corner of the left rear quarter panel, as well as some of the paint from directly under the tailgate. As can be seen above, the stock bumper also failed to protect the corners of the left and right quarter panels from off-road damage. Not a good look, to say the least.
After hammering out and spray-painting over the damaged corners, the new rear bumper is attached with the supplied hardware, including a mounting bracket for the passenger-side bolts, which the stock mounting point lacks.
The license plate relocation bracket takes a bit more effort to install, as it requires the removal of the spare tire mount, CHMSL, and relocation of the rear backup camera. The end result, though, is a major improvement over the stock setup.
“Everyone who’s seen any of our videos knows all of the trouble and all the hassle we’ve had with that OEM license plate mounting bracket,” says Williams. “How many times we’ve ripped it off. How many times our poor license plate has been mangled. The bumper itself, if you’re familiar to off-roading, it’s pretty easy to see why we chose it as well. Obviously, the corner panels were our biggest issues. You guys saw just how badly damaged our quarters were due to the stock steel bumper.”
As for the spare tire, Williams says she’ll keep it in the back of the Wrangler, wanting to avoid more damage to her ride from OEM parts. As a bonus, though, her Wrangler just got tougher.
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