I am not arguing or anything, and I am sure it is a great product. BUT... my SRC that I put on the front of my TJ has really heavy and solid feeling as well. Did not stop it from bending into my jeeps fender. It weighed like 100lbs. which I think is pretty hefty for a tube style bumper. Anyway, even if it has some issues and bends or dents... at that price it is worth it still IMO. I am sure it will be problem free for you, and they sure look great.

Sorry if my past experience is misunderstood. I do not in any way think that smitty makes garbage.

 

I don't think the made in china is the problem - hell 75% of the shit on my jeep was made in china, the problem is the crappy welding techniques that smittybuilt has demonstrated over and over again in their cheap chinese production facilities. China has good producers and bad ones, and Transamerica has gone the cheap route when it comes to bumpers - or at least thats how it appears to me.

Ever since I joined this forum, I've yet to see any smittybuilt product in person that I was taken back by how good the build quality is. Let me be clear though, they are still descent product for the money and designed for a budget conscious consumer - nothing wrong with that. But if its pure quality welds and rock solid designs you're looking for, I'd put smittybuilt at the bottom of the list personally. And if its not at the bottom of your list, I don't think you've looked at enough products. I've seen enough of them up close to have my mind made up about their steel quality and welding quality. You get what you pay for!

 

Agree 100% that they aren't junk. I'm one of the people who have had issues with the latest batch of XRC Bumpers and like dadgummit am very impressed with their customer service. I'm open minded and will hope that their solution works (I'm getting an American tire carrier to go with the American bumper - seems the Overseas carrier doesn't mate up).

Not sure how people can generalize and comment about a product(s) they don't have experience using. Would I have loved to buy an American made product, "yes' and I still will in the future. Looked at other American made products before deciding on the SB XRC because the others lacked the rock angles I was looking for.

As for the Rock Rails...I got a pair of the XRC not the SRC rails so my comments are about those rails. They mounted up fine but aren't perfect they don't follow the body lines as well as I would have liked but I think it's because the body is not straight and the rails are. As for the design, they look good and tuck pretty high up to maximize the clearance. Now for the function, we'll the book is still out...I've only had them for about 3 weeks, took them off once and broke a nut clip (which SB replaced no problems) and I slammed it pretty hard on a boulder which it held up nicely to. Almost looking like it wanted more Anyway I debated heavily debate with my wife about installing them (we got them for free) but she convinced me to try them and so far so good...will let you all know soon since we have a Big Bear and Tahoe trip planned in the coming weeks and it should get some heavy experience!

 

Hiiiiiidey ho!

 

I'm w/you JPTwinz. i have the SRC rockers and don't have any of the problems the OP said he did. i've bashed mine countless times and the ecoating didn't even smudge / scrape / chip you name it, it's still there and perfect! no bending or anything and i had about 1/2 the weight of the jeep on it one time. maybe i got lucky. i plan on installing the XRC front bumper when the money tree starts shakin' again...i like the look of it and for the money seems to be a decent purchase.

 

This might be a hijack, but it is related to cheap Chinese crap. In four months, I have added the following:

PJ rear bumper is rusting
PJ rockers rusting
OR-fab tire carrier rusting (not even installed, its still in storage)
Rockhard front bumper rusting
Tuffy stereo cover and cubby cover rusting
FT ultimate 3" lift with broken front swaybar links.
Smittybuilt winch, no rust, no problems.

I have had more problems with products made in the USA than anything else.

 

Glad to get some perspective! Not all oversea's products are bad and not all American made products are great.

My preference is always to buy American if both are equal and not to make sacrafices. That's JMO, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion.

 

I think that the way you use your jeep must have some to do with all of that. I have PJ stubby on the front and no rust. If you have the tuffy stuff rusting on the inside I think it must be pretty scratched up and getting really wet. JMO.

 

How is this possible can you take a picture of it and email it to me . I know the OR Fab will be very interested to see this and fix the problem if there is one.

David

 

I don't have problems some of you have had with side armor. In fact, I like them.

Didn't want to spend a lot of money on a replacement, especially since there isn't a rock within 100 miles to damage my rockers. However, I did want some basic protection.

Ended up going with the SRC Side Armor because I liked the look, they seemed fairly strong, had good feedback from a couple guys with them on the 2-door, and they were $240 shipped.

I know smittybilt doesn't have the greatest rep amongst some jeepers, but overall, I'm happy with them.

Very easy install - bolted right up to the body mounts. Start to finish, it took around 30 minutes.
The Smittybilt website photo makes it look like they have three mounting points. They don't... just two. They don't have any flex when you jump on them, and I did use them to lift one side of the jeep using a floor jack. There was a little flex, but didn't come close to touching the body.

Will they protect the body during moderate trails? Absolutely. Would I want something stronger if I was doing ridiculous over the top rock crawling? Yes I would.

But for $240, they meet my needs.

Here's some pics: