Jeeptang

So what's up with this company. I've been seeing mixed reviews on this stuff for a long time. I like the design/look of there xrc stuff for tire carriers but I don't want junk on my jeep.
Feeling guilty for considering them. I have a complex buying made in China. How do you sell a similar product for half of what the in state bumper companies do.

Looking at JCR and Ace right now.

tarpon4me

Not a thing wrong with smittybilt products. I'm running their fenders at the moment and really like them. Like any product, you have to be mindful of the bad reviews and wonder "why?" For instance...

I just installed a Warn stubby bumper on my JK. It had a lot of good reviews, but also had bad reviews because of fitment/ installation issues. I rolled the dice and ran into the issues described in the bad reviews, however, those issues were resolved by having the right tools and following the instructions. There are 4 bolts on that bumper that you absolutely will be there all day trying to tighten with a ratchet and open end wrench. With an impact ratchet, took seconds. The other thing is if you tighten things out of sequence, the frame side brackets won't tighten into place. I scoped that out before I made the mistake, followed the instructions, and the bumper install went very smooth.

So, take the "installation problem" reviews out of most all bad reviews, they don't count with the very small exception where the holes really just don't line up or there is a manufacturing or packing error where you are missing parts of you get a duplicate of the same thing. This happens with ALL products from all manufacturers and all vendors. Why? Because we are human and humans make mistakes.

The next set of reviews you can dismiss are the super picky perfectionist that irons their underpants and armorals their chainsaw. They expect EVERYTHING to be tip top, off the show room floor perfect. Not a single ding. Well, that's all fine and all, but no matter how well you pack a 120 pound bumper, no matter how high quality the powder coat is, if you look hard enough, you're going to find some kind of little blemish. This crowd will give a 2 star rating because the finish doesn't match their flat fenders, despite it not being the manufacturers fault. Or because the D ring tabs on the bumper busted through the box during shipping and UPS delivered it with a tiny scratch on the end 1 cm long, they will give the manufacturer a 2 star rating despite that being UPS's fault.

Then, there's the guy that gives a bad rating on a product when it breaks despite them using it beyond it's specified limits or used the product the wrong way or for purposes that it was not intended for.

In the end, you've got to be able to determine what is a legit gripe and what's operator error or the fault of the shipper, not the shipee. Beyond that, you need to use the manufacturers specifications to determine if the product fits the bill for what you're doing with your vehicle. Sorry about my rant, but I think too many times the manufacturer or the vendor take the heat when in the end it's the individuals fault it didn't install properly, didn't work the way they wanted, or they broke it.

Chuck-The-Ripper

I've had the xrc bumpers on mine since I bought it 3 years ago. Not sure how long they were on before that. They still have the original powder coat on them in great shape other than where I've banged/scraped them up rocks. Quality seems good to me but if I were going to buy them I would get the knockoff versions like ( tuffstuff I think is one ). They're like 1/2 the price.

Jeeptang

Half price of Smitty. Geesh. That's cheap

RubiKing

That's one of the smartest comments I have ever read on this site.

Chuck-The-Ripper

I haven't looked at the prices in a while but the front bumper used to be $700+ and the rear bumper/tire carrier was over $900. I wouldn't call that cheap but whatever lol.

Jeeptang

JCR is around 650 for front and 1200 rear with carrier. I thought the rear xrc was about 6-700

Chuck-The-Ripper

Yes the bumper is $6-700 but the tire carrier is another $500.

tarpon4me

And i'm good looking. That's very rare.

ShutterBug

I have absolutely ZERO complaints about my JCR stuff as is relates to the quality of the construction and its toughness.

I have these products on my Jeep, not just because the look good, but because they are tough as nails on the trail. I prefer rock crawling, and that means I'm going to make contact with rocks and boulders. They are going to get scratched. They're going to rust (around here, they pave the roads in salt for the winter).

I've seen cheap bumpers bend and twist under load (winching) - probably due to a combination of excessive load, bad angles, cheap quality steel and bad design.

I do wish, however, that the powder coat would have held up a LITTLE bit better. But I won't give JCR a bad review because of it since I feel the good far outweighs this cosmetic issue.