I've never done any work on autos before, and this is my first Jeep. I have a buddy that works on his TJ all the time so I can probably get him to help me. Are there any special tools that I'll need? I'm close to ordering the front and rear bumper, just want to make sure there are no suprises.

 

it seems like all the JK bumpers are a litte tougher toinstall than the older tj bumpers but with that said I still think they are pretty easy just time consuming.

No "special " tools required.

David

 

I really like the ARB but then i saw that Iron Bull has a new JK bumper that is Very Easy to install. Search for my post on it. I am unable to find it for you now but will try this weekend.

 

With the ARB bumper you keep your airbag crush cans and it's one the lightest out there not to mention also the strongest. Ease of installation should not be your #1 priority. For the front bumper you will need a grinder or some kind of powered cutting tool.

As for the rear bumper the holes didn't align properly as per ARB instructions and it took some creativity to get the install done.

In the end you will be happy...I am ;-)

 

Interesting we just did one the other day and it went on really nicely.

David

 

The rear is very straight foward but one of the holes that had to be drilled out didn't align with the nut bracket that came with the bumper, other wise it would have been stupid easy even a cave man could do it.

I don't know Go figure

No regrets.

Thanks David!

 

Just gettin ready to buy one of these. I heard you have to cut the cross bar for the install. I'm assuming the cross bar is the bar under the sway bar disco. As for cutting it, is it cutting it to remove it completely or just partially cutting it. Does the bumper come far enouch underneath the front to protect the sway bar disco or am I still going to need a skid? Thanks

 

The part that needs cutting is to make sure you have enough clearance for a big winch. After I installed my winch I noticed it wasn't necessary to cut in my case. You also have to cut and relocate the crush cans.

As for the e-disco whether you "need" a skid is up for debate as the ARB front provides 0 protection for it. You can always fab up one if you like for real cheap.

Hope this helps!

 

Scale of 1-10, 10 being the most difficult:

Factory bumper removal: 1

ARB bumper install: 2

ARB bumper indicator light wiring according to the provided directions: 9

I skipped the crush cans and so did lots of other people. I couldn't see how two 3" ultralight "cans" were going to make any difference whatsoever tucked behind a 100 lb. bumper that's bolted to the vehicle in about 10 different places, but to each his own. I guess if you do the cans you can change the 2 rating to a 3 or 4. My winch is my crush can. I didn't have to make any cuts to accomodate my winch as some suggest.

If you go with ARB think about upgrading at least your front coils as it's a heavy SOB and if you add a winch you're talking about 180-200 lb's added to your front end. Stubbies are a nice way around this.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes that helps. Speaking of installing a large winch with the ARB, I'm either going to get a powerplant or the new smittybilt xrc hd with the compressor (both big winches. If I get the smitty, it probably won't get to me till August. I'm assuming that it would be nearly impossible to install either of these after the bumper is installed? I know if I get the bumper first there's no way I can wait for a winch to come, but I really don't want to do the install twice.

I haven't been able to find a post anywhere that answered if you can install a winch in this thing after it's mounted. Thanks