My 88 xj has no rear bumper as of this point and i have yet to find any kind of regulations and laws defining anything about what a bumper is, so im curious if i can bolt a piece of wood to the back of it or maybe weld a 6in pipe to the back? I more or less just need to know what the bare minimum is to pass inspection. also links to nice looking bumper builds would be good cause ive been looking to build a bumper for it.

 

I live in NY so dont know about MA but here I have seen all kinds of silly contraptions.

 

I dont know about laws but it could cause some liability issues for you if you are in a wreck. I would be careful strapping a piece of wood to the back of a road use vehicle. It wont absorb the same way a standard bumper is supposed to. It could cause more damage than it should. Besides, why wouldnt you want to use a normal bumber anyway. They are not that expensive or just go to the JY and pick one up.

 

the reason why is because the bumpers for my jeep are more expensive than something i can make, and because the fact that the previous owner had to torch the brackets to get the bumper he had on because he got rear ended and it screwed the mounting bolts for the bumper up so the bracket's are still on the vehicle but the bumper isn't.

edit: the same price for a stock bumper on my jeep could make a really nice looking, custom metal bumper

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JEEP-...Q5fAccessories

$31.50 free shipping. You can buy the brackets if you need them also. Or just buy the replacement brackets and use the old bumper. Unless I just dont understand your post and you cant replace the bumper brackets...

 

thanks ill be sure to look into that