Jason A W

Ahhh.. ya know what i still have my stock rims on (Waiting on my new ones to ship from Cali i think they used the Pony Express cheap bastards ) I'm hoping the back spacing on my new rims will allow me to do that.

Thanks for the picture.

joneszj

I did the install myself and although I just about dropped the bumper on my face at one point, other than that, it was a pretty easy install. Hardest part was putting it on the frame rails...thats when I was underneath the jeep pushing up to get the bolt through the hitch receiver area and the bumper slipped a bit off the frame rails, almost crashing down on top of me. Not the smartest approach I know, but I got it done nonetheless. As far as the rattles, that is really odd, I have never had a single rattle form the bumper or carrier itself. The only place I got a rattle from was the third brake light bracket bouncing around. I bought a piece of rubber seal and stuck it between the brake light and the tire carrier, not a noise since.

As far as mounting a hi-lift back there, my guess is you might not have enough clearance because of your stock wheels, and it was posted somewhere on here that SB redesigned the actual tire mount portion to be closer to the swing arm. I'm not sure how much closer it is, but from the looks of it even if its only 1" or so, that could make it too tight for the hi-lift.

On a side note, my latch rusted shut for some reason. According to SB, the handle is just billet and brass, so rust doesn't happen. Well, it did with mine. A 5 minute call to SB and I have a new handle on the way. They really do stand behind this product even though it costs less than 90% of the rear bumper/tire carriers out there. I'm sure if you give Ray a call about the rattling he can get to the bottom of it with you. Also, the rubbing may be caused if you didn't drill out the holes in the frame rail. Someone else on this forum had the same issue. Mine doesn't rub, so not an issue I am familiar with

tweba08

Your handle is probably rattling. I just used some grease on the moving parts and no more rattles.....

JK Rocker

My brake light bracket rattles. I think my handle does a little, but the bracket springs around like a diving board. I'm gonna try joneszj's idea and stuff a piece of rubber in it.

deekum1627

yea that why i didnt use the 3rd brake light bracket

Butler20

i had the same problem. i couldnt figure out what the noise was. but i found out it was actually the bumper hitting the body of the jeep when i went over a bump. i didnt fix it yet but im taking it up to my mechanic and hes going to drill new holes so it isnt as close to the jeeps body. im crossing my fingers and hope everything turns out okay

chad s

The first generation bumpers hit the body like mine did. i couldn't figure out what was hitting until i took the bumper off. contacted smittybilt and they sent me a new one.have not installed it yet due to all the snow. now i have 3 bumpers sitting in my garage.

nukeman

Installed one tonight. Yes, it mounts very close to the body around the corners of the tub, and this one has that same rattle. We're about 90% certain it's the bumper hitting the body. We adjusted it and it's much better, only on the big potholes now.

Also, it came with both styles of handles. The "beer tap" and the "pistol grip". Kind of nice if you ever want/need to swap them out.

Install was fairly easy, just had a few problems lining up the 4 bolts that mount where the hitch used to be. Other than that it wasn't bad at all.

We installed 2 screws through the 3rd brake light bracket and the carrier to stiffen up the brake light bracket. Worked great.

All in all, great bumper for $700 shipped

BuckLisa

I had to suck it up and have a truck shop install it since I did not have a hydraulic jack to wedge the damn thing on. I put the tire carrier on myself. I think the bumper is still one of the best lloking and functional bumpers out there; especially for the price.

For those of you who want a trail rack; here is a thread that a smart JK mbr did. He bought the Hard Rock trail rack carrier and cut it down and rewelded it and it fits like a champ on our bumper. It has to be cut down due to the lower height of the hard rock bumper it was originally intended for.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show....php?p=1465960

tweba08

I installed the bumper myself....all you need is a floor jack