I was looking at the smittybilt XRC and a few others. Basically would like a bumper that is high quality, will fit around a current hitch (or replace) and has the ability to hold a spare 31" tire. Suggestions please!

 

JCR bumpers

I just put one of their front bumpers on my XJ.
Very pleased with it.

They are expensive though...

 

How does the quality/price seem?

 

I just installed the Smittybuilt XRC.

The bumper it's self is pretty nice, however the quality of the hardware that comes with it is horrible. I had to re-tap ALL the welded nuts on the bumper, and the nutsert strips that go in the rear frame rails. I also bought new nuts and bolts from a fastner store, as the ones that come with the bumper are not very good quality "Chinese nuts and bolts".
The other problem is the tire carrier hinge is impossible to align properly. It works OK, but you will find yourself having to lift up on the tire carrier to latch it.
Smittybuilt knows there is a problem with it, but after two phone calls in to them, they still have not been able to give any help. They tried.
They have sent two different cam plates, but neither of them fixed it.
Also the instructions they send are no good for measurements. The instructions say to make the space between the two bumper mounts "Just Under" a certain amount, but at some point they changed where the Chinese were to weld the nuts on the bumper. That made their instructions obsolete. Now the measurement needs to be "just over" a certain amount.

As far as price goes, it is a really nice bumper for the money. I got it for a bit under the going amount. I have yet to try to tow something, or use the rear recovery points.

I will say this as a caveat.
The JCR bumper is AMAZING!
It will be double what you pay for the XRC, but it is built with American pride.
If I was in the market for another rear bumper I would buy the JCR.

 

I saw one of these on an XJ that looked like it was well made, I think I am going to get my front bumper from these guys, and If putting a 35" spare on the roof doesn't work out like I want I may get this rear bumper also.
http://www.dndoffroad.com/XJ-Rear-Sq...-Out_p_63.html

 

I love my dirtbound mojave tire carrier. I got their DIY kit and welded it up over a weekend.
Has accommendations for a highlift jack and I added a cb antenna mount.

 

 

Personally if I was getting a rear tire carrier I'd go with Ares Fab, JCR, or Dirtbound Offroad. They seems to be the ones with the highest quality. My front and rear bumpers are from ares fab and they've done well for me. I wish I would've gotten the cut and fold rear bumper, but that's on me not on them. I have no personally experience with the other two companies, but from the pictures of their products I've seen they appear to be good quality. Most of the stuff I've seen and heard of smittybilt really didn't impress me, but that is just my $.02

 

Good Luck!
You should check out a company before you offer your advice, BBB gave them an "F"
https://www.bbb.org/us/pa/hamburg/pr...0241-236007969

 

Do you have any experience with them personally? Many small companies will have bad reviews on there because people will only get on there when they have a negative complaint.

 

Sorry, I don't gamble.

Exactly, that is what the site is for...you don't have to be the next victim.

 

I think you are missing the point, there could be thousands of satisfied customers, but only a few have a bad experience and they get on there to complain about it, that's what the site is for is complaints. Pretty much every site you order from will have some negative complaints.

 

 

unless i am seeing wrong, i see 6 complaints out of what are probably thousands of customer's.

 

Sorry but BBB is a pretty well known joke anymore.

You can literally pay them for an A.

I've known several shop owners who have been contacted by them about their "rating" and what they "can do" to improve it...