I'm Ryan from extremeterrain.com, and this is my review and installation of the Aries
Automotive Full Width Bumper, fitting all 2007 and up JKs.
This bumper is available with the brush guards on it as you see it here, or without the brush
guards.
And it's also available in aluminum or steel, so you can get the lighter weight aluminum
that's a little bit more expensive if you're a little bit more conscious of the weight
of your rig.
Today, we're gonna talk through the installation of this bumper, which is going to be a one
out of three wrench install.
There is going to be more to bolt on to this bumper and assemble before you actually get
it attached to your Jeep than with some other bumpers on the market, because this does come
in a couple of different pieces, but again, it's still going to be an easy one out of
three wrenches.
Give yourself about two hours to do this.
We'll talk a little bit more about the installation in just a second.
We're also gonna talk through the construction and a few other features of this bumper.
At first look, whether it's the version of this bumper with the brush guards on top or
without, this is definitely a bumper that is different from a lot of the others on the
market.
This is going to put it in that love it or hate it realm.
Some of you will love the fact that this makes it a little bit different, it makes you a
little bit more of an individual if you're running this bumper.
Some of you are gonna say, "Uh, it's just too much for me, with all the cutouts and
all the bars, and...not my style."
And that's okay too.
But if you are somebody who's looking for a bumper that isn't the same design, isn't
the same style as a lot of the other ones on the market, that is going to be a little
bit different, I think that this is going to be a pretty nice option to take a look
at.
This is gonna have some features on it, not as many as some of the other bumpers out there
on the market, especially when we're talking about off-road specific bumpers, but this
will still drastically change the look of your Jeep, it will still offer a lot of protection,
and it will still give you some of those features, including the ability to mount a winch right
up here in the center.
Adding a big, heavy front bumper onto your Jeep can cause a little bit of frontend sag,
which is why Aries offers this bumper in both steel and aluminum.
They use a 3/16-inch material, which gives you a lot of protection, but when you have
that much steel hanging off the front of your Jeep, again, you can get a little bit of sag,
especially if you decide to go and mount a winch on your bumper as well.
So, again, if you're weight-conscious and you have a little bit of a higher budget,
there is an aluminum version of this bumper available as well.
And you can also get this with or without the brush guards.
These brush guards are the additional tubes up on the front, which is part of what gives
this bumper that distinct look.
Another part of what gives it its distinct look is all the cutouts.
This has multiple cutouts along here, here, down at the bottom, some of them functional,
some of them not as functional.
This will accept your factory fog lights in these holes up here.
It also has a lower mounting hole, so you could put an after-market right in there if
you wanted to.
It also has some holes on the outside here, which are designed more for those after-market
lights.
Some of those other cutouts are just to keep weight down a little bit and to add some additional
style.
As I said, one thing that's missing from this bumper is a D-ring mount, or even a more traditional
toe hook.
So this isn't going to have a lot of recovery options for you, unless you do go ahead and
mount a winch on it.
Even when I have a winch on my Jeep, I still like to have a D-ring mount so that I can
go to a snatch block and back to the bumper of the Jeep, essentially doubling my winch-pulling
power in those situations where I'm really stuck.
Also you can use that D-ring or snatch strap or toe-strap recoveries if you decide not
to use your winch, of if you had a patent issue with the winch.
So that is one thing that's missing from this bumper that I generally like to see, but if
it's not a big concern of yours, this is still going to be a very well-built option for your
bumper.
This also is gonna to have the bar that's up in the center here that has two additional
light mount tabs on it.
You're seeing a bit of a theme here, there are lots of places to mount lights on this
bumper, so if you're looking for a full-width bumper that has a little bit of a different
style than some of the others on the market, you want a lot of places to mount some additional
lighting, and you're okay not having those D-ring mounts, then I think this is gonna
be a pretty nice option.
Now, Aries says this is a modular design, and what they mean by that is it comes in
a few different pieces, the center section, the ends, the hoops, and then the brush guards,
if you get the bumper with the brush guards included with it.
However, this is not modular in the sense that you can purchase different ends, or different
hoops, or add and subtract pieces and really customize it.
It's simply modular in the fact that it comes in a few different pieces that require some
assembly.
So what all of that means is this is still a one out of three wrench install, because
everything bolts together, but you are gonna have to give yourself a little bit more time,
probably around two hours.
The first step is removing your factory front bumper, which you'll do by removing the fog
light sockets from the fog light housings.
Go ahead and unclip the wiring harness, you can remove the splash shield and the frame
cover, and finally remove the eight nuts that are holding that factory bumper in place,
then just giving it a tug to remove it from your Jeep.
After that, you can unbolt your fog light housings from the factory bumper, bolt them
into your new bumper here, go ahead and add the pins onto the center section and any of
the brush guards or hoops that you may have, doing a full assembly of the bumper on the
ground, and then finally, hoisting the bumper onto the frame horns of the Jeep and bolting
it in place.
Now, if you are going to be installing a winch on this bumper, I always recommend installing
the winch onto the bumper before putting the bumper on the Jeep, because it can be a little
bit difficult to get to those winch-mounting bolts.
Now, this bumper in particular does make it a little bit easier to get your hand in there
and bolt your winch down, so you could probably get away with putting your winch on afterward,
especially because you add a winch onto this big, heavy bumper and you do have a lot of
mass to move around to actually get on the front of the Jeep.
It's really up to you how you decide to go about it.
As far as the tools necessary, you're gonna just need your traditional hand tools.
You might wanna have an extra set of hands around to help you pick the bumper up when
you put it onto the Jeep, but other than that, in about two hours you can get this done in
your driveway.
This bumper comes in at right around $750, which when I look at the material that you're
getting here, that is 3/16-inch steel, that it has all of these additional tubes, it is
basically a full-width bumper, I feel like you're getting a lot for your money.
But then, again, it doesn't have some of those more standard off-road features like D-ring
mounts that we've come to expect with a lot of after-market front bumpers.
So there's a little bit of a balance there.
Overall, when you look at the rest of the bumpers that are available, $750 is not a
crazy price.
It's right around in the middle, but because the lack of one or two features, I would say
this bumper is probably priced a little bit on the higher end [inaudible 00:06:39].
So if you're looking to swap out that factory front bumper on your Jeep for one that's going
to make your Jeep look different from a lot of the other ones on the street, really having
a unique front bumper, I think this is going to be a good option for you.
You are going to miss out on one or two of those more off-road specific features and
this bumper does carry a bit of a premium price, but for the unique design, this is
going to be the right bumper for some of you.
So that's my review of the Aries Automotive Full Width Bumper, fitting all 2007 and up
JKs, that you can find right here at extremeterrain.com.
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