east tn 1st jeep

I definitely love the smittybilt rear bumper and tire carrier. It is by far my favorite of all. I really like the stubby rear bumper. I would just have to do a little bit of work to sell my factory hitch receiver.


JPtwinz:
I viewed your write up of the front smitty bumper. How difficult was it to splice your lights into the factory fogs. Losing my fog lights would definitely be a minus with the smitty. Since I am a little bit pushed for time. i never adjusted my headlights after my lift. What brand are your lights and what about the price?

JPTwinz

I sold my factory hitch reciever on this forum, twice, in less than a week or so for $100.

I first bought a Bulldog front stubby winch mount bumper because I wanted to re-use my factory fogs. But I also wanted the front pre-runner hoop so I sold it for the Smittybilt XRC. At first I was questioning the hoop design in pictures but trust me, once you see it in person you will love it.

The splice job for the lights was literraly less than 5 minutes. Use the connectors I have in the pic since with those, you don't have to strip any wires. When you close the connector, a piece of metal pierces the wire and makes the electrical contact. I then wrapped everything up in electrical tape. I'm sure there's a better water-proof solution to buttoning it all up but I drove through water past my bumper and never had any problems.

The lights I used.....In my opinion these are the best HID lights out there right now for the money. They come in 4" and 7" sizes with the ballasts all tucked inside a sealed housing. the 4" retail for $94.99 ea and the 7" for $99.99 ea. I suggest the 4" for the top of a pre-runner hoop (you would have to weld 2 tabs on) and the 7" for the bottom near the winch (the holes are already there).

Available at any O'Reilly Auto Parts store (Checker is my local store) hxxp://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=CSM&MfrPartNumber=99004 &CategoryCode=3151

east tn 1st jeep

JP,

Thanks for all the info. You and your write-ups have been a big help. I am so torn. I do feel that your lights really set off your front bumper and if I go the smittybilt route then lights are a must.

jeepnick

love the rugged ridge, but go with the stinger! way cooler




and as you can see my girlfriend helped alot

but i will say it was alittle more work then i originally anticpated, but in the end im lucky my girlfriends dad owns a body shop so i had all needed tools at my disposal

overmanjh

I really like them both, I'm leaning tward the RR for mine though.

Josephus

I have teh Smittybilt XRS 10,000 lb winch, but need a bumper to install it in.
After looking at all the combos for the Rugged Ridge I'm going to pass on teh Smittybuilt.
I will be going with the black, with ends, and no hoop or stinger.
I like the low profile sleeper effect.

east tn 1st jeep

More votes.....somebody has to win. I wish I could see both of them up close in real life. That would definitely help in the decision. This is tougher than I thought it would be. Keep 'em coming

rjhoop

i vote!

09JKX

I went with the XRC I have my front on but the rear should be here tomorrow. The front is a very stout bumper. Bolted on with no problems at all.I was worried about the giant looking hoop too,. but in person its not bad at all and also when you fill it with a winch and lights it looks even smaller.. Proof is in this pic

nangulator

I didnt vote, I went with a trex front bumper.