Hey, what's up, guys? Ryan here from ExtremeTerrain. And today, I'm here with the Mopar 3-Piece
Rubicon Front Bumper, fitting your 2018 and up Jeep Wrangler JL. Now if you've purchased
a JL that's a lower trim option but you really liked the way the Rubicon looks and you're
looking for that style, protection, and functionality then the Mopar Rubicon front bumper is a great
option to go with.
That as a full steel bumper, so you're getting that head-on protection and strength that
you're not gonna get with that factory plastic bumper. This bumper is not only gonna give
you those aggressive good looks but it's also gonna increase the capability of your Jeep.
One of the nice things I like about this bumper is it's fully customizable. It is a 3-piece
bumper and at it's finest it is a full-width bumper which is gonna provide you that flare
to play protection. If you're looking for a little more clearance and a little more
capability, you can detach these ends, it's gonna turn into a stubby bumper which is really
gonna come in handy when you're trying to traverse those tough trails.
Now along with that customizability, this has a ton of other features. It has a removable
plate up top and the in the front and that's gonna allow you to drop in a winch plate,
any winch of your choice, and mount your fairlead up front. That's gonna increase your off-roading
capability and that's a really good recovery option to have when you're off-roading.
Another nice thing I liked about this bumper is it comes with brand new LED lights just
like the Rubicon. And if you have those standard incandescent bulbs, this is gonna be a huge
improvement. Not only does it come with the lights pre-installed but it comes with its
own wiring harness making this a plug and play option directly to that factory harness.
Now, of course, with a full steel bumper, we are dealing with rust issues. However,
this bumper has been coated in a very nice textured black powder coating that's not only
gonna add to that aggressive styling but it's gonna protect your investment from the elements.
Now this bumper is really gonna up the look of your Wrangler as well as the functionality
and capability.
This is a completely bolt-on option that's gonna bolt right onto those factory frame
rails utilizing those factory nuts and is a very easy to install option. Now, this is
coming directly from Mopar, the manufacturer, so you are gonna pay a premium price for this
coming in right at around $1000. However, I think it's well worth the money, not only
for the look of the Rubicon but the fit, styling and of course that protection and functionality.
You're really getting a great deal and of course, you know it's going to last a long
time.
Now as far as installation goes, I'm gonna give this a two out of three wrenches on the
difficulty meter as you can get this installed in about two hours just using basic hand tools.
Now with that being said, let's hop into the install. Tools we used for this install: flathead
screwdriver, 3/8 drive impact, ¼-inch drive and 3/8 drive air ratchets, 18-millimeter
socket, 16-millimeter socket, 8-millimeter socket, ¼-inch drive extension, 3/8 drive
extension. And if you want to take the ends off or that winch plate panel, you need a
T45 Torx.
So the first thing, of course, is to get that front bumper off, so we're gonna start with
a splash shield underneath. You need a flathead screwdriver and an 8-millimeter socket. So
we're gonna crawl underneath and start with that. So we're gonna have a series of push
pins across the front where the splash shield connects to the bumper, can use a flathead
screwdriver just to pry up on that center section and that's gonna allow you to get
that clip out. So next you're gonna have two screws, you're gonna have one on each side,
we're gonna use an 8-millimeter socket to get those screws out. Once you get that last
screw out, you're ready to remove your splash shield.
Next thing we're gonna do is take this end panel off. So this is covering our fog lights.
This isn't a necessary step to get this bumper removed but we're gonna remove it so you can
get a better look at the nuts that we're taking off on the frame rail. So to do this, we're
gonna use a flathead screwdriver, we're gonna take these push pins out. Now depending on
your model you may have a different bumper end and this might have screws in it that
you'll need a 7-millimeter socket for. The next thing we're gonna do is unplug our fog
light harness at our frame rail on the passenger side. What we're gonna do is press this little
tab in here on the side of it and that's gonna allow us to disconnect our fog lights.
After we do that, we're gonna unbolt our bumper. So you're gonna have eight nuts, four on each
frame rail. We're gonna use an 18-millimeter socket to get all those out. So on this side,
we already have our plastic shield off, so we're just gonna go ahead and get these nuts
off. So after that we're gonna go back up top, we're gonna take these last two push
pins out. You're gonna have one on top of each frame rail. Same thing, we're gonna use
a flathead screwdriver to take these out, pry up on the center, that's gonna allow you
to pull the whole thing out. After that, you're ready to take your bumper off.
So before we get started with the installation of this brand new bumper, I want to point
out some of the differences and take a moment, talk about some of the features and benefits
that you're gonna get with this Rubicon bumper. Now obviously, this is the Rubicon bumper,
this is the bumper you get on the Rubicon model which is the epic off-roading model
that you can get your Wrangler in. If you didn't opt out for the Rubicon but you really
like that look, you're in luck because Mopar offers a bumper. Now, of course, we have a
Sahara model, just a plain Jane, and we have a plain Jane factory bumper. Now we did opt
out for LED lighting package, so we do have LED fog lights. But if you didn't opt out
for that, you're gonna have those plain incandescent bulbs, and this brand new bumper is gonna
come with some high powered LED lights.
One of the things I like about your factory bumper is it's a full-width bumper, so you're
getting that full-width protection, however, it's made of plastic. So with that being said,
you're really not getting full protection that you would with a steel bumper, and of
course, it is gonna handle light bumps and bruises, light trails and stuff like that.
But if you're looking for something that is a lot more functional, a lot more stronger
and is gonna provide a ton of more protection for you, obviously this is a really good looking
bumper and a great option to go with. Now this one is made of steel, so you're getting
a steel option versus a plastic option and this is a full-width bumper. Now one of the
nice things about this being a full-width bumper is it has a removable end. So this
is a 3-piece bumper, you can actually take these ends off and make it into a stubby that
way you give it that really aggressive off-roading, serious look and you'll get additional clearance
on the ends as well, giving you better approach angles. It's really going to shorten that,
give you room in there to drive your wheels up on any obstacles that you may come across
on the trails.
Now just like the Rubicon model, you're getting those red tow hooks. Just like the factory
bumper, you're still gonna get those, they're pre-installed, comes complete, that's a really
nice feature. And this does have LED lighting and once again, if you didn't have LED lighting,
you're gonna upgrade with this bumper and it's gonna be a lot brighter than those incandescents.
If you did have LED lighting, these are gonna be just as bright.
One of the nice things is this comes completely assembled. So we got it out of the box, this
already has the ends on it, already has the tow hooks in it, already had the lights and
it even comes with its own harness, so you don't have to pull this bumper apart. This
comes with its own wiring harness, it's already set in place and it's gonna bolt directly
onto your frame rails. So we don't really have anything to do with this bumper. Like
I said, it comes completely assembled and it's gonna reuse all of those nuts that we
took out of the frame rail to get this bumper off. So with that being said, let's show you
how this gets installed and what it looks like on the Jeep.
So at this point in time we're ready to install this bumper. Now like I said, we're gonna
be reusing all those factory nuts and it is steel, not like that plastic factory one,
so you might want to grab a friend to help you get this up. I'm gonna grip it up by the
tow hooks, gonna pick it up, slide it right on the frame rails.
So now that we have his bumper on, of course, now at this point in time we're gonna start
reinstalling those nuts. But I wanted to stop down for a second and talk about one last
feature of this bumper. So you're gonna have this plate up here and this plate is actually
removable. I'm gonna remove this plate because then the camera can get a better angle of
me getting these nuts on the inside here on those inside studs. Also, this has another
function. You can actually remove this plate up top here. That's gonna allow you to mount
a winch with a winch plate inside of this bumper.
You're gonna have this plastic section on the front, this actually pulls out, then underneath
it's gonna reveal where you're going to mount your fairlead. It's a pretty cool option,
that's something that you're not gonna get with a standard bumper. So you're getting
tow hooks, factory fog lights, allows you to put a winch in there, that's gonna really
increase the capability of your Jeep especially off-road. So, I'm gonna slap these panels
back on. I'm gonna go ahead and take this one off. We're gonna use a T45 Torx to get
all of these bolts out and then we'll start getting this thing bolted down.
So like I said, we're gonna take this panel off, you're gonna have five bolts going all
the way around here, three up front, one on each side. I'm just gonna go around and use
that T45 Torx to get these out. And of course, as you're getting that last one out, you want
to put a hand on this. Go ahead and remove this plate. Then as you can see, we've got
these studs in here, we'll go ahead and install those nuts. All right, we're just going to
take an 18-millimeter socket on a ratchet and tighten them up. Then we'll go ahead over
to the other side, do that same thing for that inside section. Then we're gonna crawl
in under the Jeep, we're gonna get the rest of the nuts installed. So we'll do these two
on the outside, tighten them up, then we'll go over to the other side, do the other two
outsides, tighten those up as well. The last thing we have to do is plug our fog lights
in. So we have our little end [inaudible 00:11:27] here on the bumper, doesn't look like it reaches
very good, so what we're gonna do is just take this off of this frame rail. So we're
gonna peel that off, plug that in, then we should be all good.
So at this point in time, we have this bumper completely installed, so you're ready to rock
and roll and hit those trails. However, that's gonna wrap up my review and install. For more
videos and products like this, check us out at extremeterrain.com.