When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Yes not a good design and you can see what happens to it. I wish some of these people would have came back and said if the repair even worked for them long term.
That flat bar on the bottom isn't doing much on the bottom for vertical loads. It will help keep it from pulling the back panel off in horizontal load like towing.
I would definitely get something taller inside the frame rail like everyone else is suggesting. If you're going to weld all that back together you should probably go ahead and overlay a piece of steel over it or replace it all together so it doesn't just crack next to the new welds.
I added these inside on mine and once I get the gas tank skid in place I'll have another 3/16" on the bottom to sandwich the frame rail.
I want to thank everyone who has shared their experience with this issue, especially Frank you have convinced me to I be pro active on this as I really want to do this once. and not have to worry about towing or recovery with my new set-up. I guess I will be out of commission wheeling for a week or so. I was going to just fish plate the stock area for added strength but I will take you guys lead and go with another reinforcement plat tied inside the frame. It will be similar to this only just a plate between the stock mount and the bumper mount. I plan on also fabricating up a solid mount to tie under the frame much larger one that comes with the bumper but made in a way that my gas tank skid plate will bolt up with them.
Last edited by JandDGreens; Sep 8, 2015 at 12:10 AM.
you don't even need the body mounts if you tie the bumper in correctly, it was solid as hell after I bolted it up thru the frame with the angle iron. I just put the body bolts back in just because, they hardly take any of the load now.
I wouldn't bother plating the factory mounts, its a tricky area, its a weird shape & its real close to the gas tank.
Frank I see your point thanks, I had no idea they had been selling that bumper like that for so long. I guess there have been quite a few dissatisfied customers over the years with that design.
I used angle iron to tie the frame rail and rear cross member together. It was tricky, and I'm not a very good welder so I had my brother in law do that part. After welding the cracks we welded angle iron on the inner frame rail to the rear cross member. That was my reinforcement for the body side. The angle iron on the bumper with inner and lower frame tie ins made it very sturdy. With the tire carrier open (33, hi lift and gas can on the swing out) my Jeep leans. No issues with opening the hatch, no creaks or odd noises from the mounts. My only concern now, with the bumper, is the spindle. But that will be another issue should anything happen.
I don't know if I posted this, but after I fixed everything I tested it on a trail run to the Grand Canyon. No issues with it bouncing around. In Moab I came down really hard several times on the bumper. No issues there either. I've even pulled a 4runner, full size Dodge and a Suburban that were all stuck in the sand, with the rear hitch on this bumper.
Here is what I came up with to prevent problems when I mount my bumper. I am hoping this brace will be sufficient enough. I am also making a stronger tie in bracket for under the frame rail. but for the time being am planning on using the one that came with the bumper.
Heck I did not trust the 8 stock bolt holes for my D-Ring bumper, so I did like above, I got a 3/16" 2x4 about 22" long each and cut is at an angle (get pass the gas filler tube inside the rail), drilled holes to match the receiver mount holes and welded a nut strip in place, (even drilled a hole where the shackle bolts feeds through the unibody frame) and welded it flat against the original plates on the new bumper that used the stock 8 bolt locations. it now holds my my HD Engineering shackle re-locators, my gas tank skid, and my rear bumper all together. If I yank that bumper off... I am screwed as it is taking my rear end and gas tank with it....
I was considering how I would get my gas tank skid plate incorporated into the tie in bracket. I bought a heavy gauge piece of angle iron. It is about 8"x4" it is heavier gauge than the trailer hitch was. I don't have the time to mess with its right now so I used the tie in brackets that came with the bumper.
It is finally mounted not bad for a C.L. find ($250), the only other thing I had to do is make the hub for the tire mount.
