This is a great thread. It is nice to see differences of opinion. Everyone is going to like something different. I of course like the support, but I can also take the rejection and criticism as well. It actually helps me in design to see what people do and do not like. Like Matt, for example, has mentioned how much he does not care for the way the bumper has all that extra material angled down, and I was seriously considering bringing that whole section up even with the bottom of the hitch. But after going up Spring Creek Trail this weekend with Ted, Dave and Joel, all three of my KJ products got put through some serious trail abuse. Spring Creek is ranked 4th in difficulty in the entire state of CO. The rear bumper, well, it has definately earned its keep after this trail. The front bumper, it is the first and only prototype right now, and I cut it by hand with a 4.5" angle grinder out of 1/8" plate and built it in 22 hours straight, start to finish, right before the Moad LOST event this past April, so it was hurried, not perfect, and the light thing was done because I just didn't have time to figure out how to make the stock lights fit right in the bumper. But anyways, the point I am getting at is after the Moab testing and especially the Spring Creek trail testing, I am going to keep that lower plating. Reason is, Ted came off a rock in Moab and put a small dent in that lower plate. If it was 3/16" plate and gussetted like my new design plans, it wouldn't have dented. The biggest thing that proved the importance of the lower plating, was Ted got high centered on a rock this Sunday in the boulder field on Spring Creek. It is the boulder that my passenger front tire is sitting on in this picture:
http://www.rocklizardfabrications.com/100_2966.jpg
The boulder under my drivers side tire in that picture rolled under the drivers side corner of the rear bumper, so he was stuck spinning all four tires in the air. I have video too, if you want to see Ted sceered.
Anyways, Ted pushed the rock out from under the rear bumper by hand, and then I lifted the jeep up by the front bumper causing the Libby to teeter backward so Ted could back up off the rock. This is when the designed proved it's worth. Ted slid off the rock, sliding down the belly skid, down the lower arms and front skid, and then right onto that lower plating of the bumper and scraped the entire way up to the hitch. If that plating was not there, he would have come off the arms/front skid right onto the radiator support, crushing all of it up several inches. The lower plate of the bumper is dented, scratched, mangled and battered really good after that trail testing, but it did it's job. If it were made of 3/16" plate like the production models will be, it would have faired a lot better.
The main point of all that is I have been taking most everyones suggestions, ideas, and criticism and taking them into serious consideration, and putting them through serious trail testing and abuse to make sure they will do their job. I'm never going to wear any of these bumpers, all they do is just put food on the table, so they have to be what most of the customers want, because if they are not, if I am not going to put them on any rig of mine, and no one buys them, then there is no point in making them. There has to be differences in competition, otherwise you are a copy cat and have no creativity. Each of the three bumpers are different and serve the purpose they were built for. I do wish AllJ continued to make their bumpers, maybe at a lower price, to offer a bumper to everyone of all incomes. ARB is expensive, but you get a winch bumper. My bumper is less than ARB because it is not a winch bumper. If there were a way to make a simpler bumper design at a lower price than mine, which, IMHO, the AllJ would be a much simpler design to build, then it would offer a wide range of choices to everyone, not just the guys with a bunch of extra $$ to spend on a bumper, when tow hooks and front hitches are much cheaper, which those two things also come into the entire front recovery scene as competition.
I have nothing but respect for my competition, which right now is only the ARB, because they have a proven track record, and AllJ, because they are an awesome shop with great support for many years to the KJ crowd, and it is too bad they are no longer offering their bumper. Everyone has different tastes, and if there are only two bumpers too chose from, and a person who really wants the most potention out of their rig on the trail doesn't like either bumper option, it is too bad they are stuck with that piece of junk plastic that every soccer mom KJ has, that really is a big obstacle in itself on the trail.
Am I egging AllJ on to produce their bumpers again? Sure. Would I lose some possible business if they did? Of course. Does it matter? No, because everyone would get what they liked best that would be best suited for their needs, and we can all go out and have a good time on the trails and not worry about plastic bumpers getting in the way whenever something challenging crossed our paths. The Colorado guys and anyone else that has wheeled with Ted, or any of the guys with the original AllJ bumper can support the fact that an after market bumper makes a big difference in what line you take on the trail.
And of course the local guys are going to be supportive of my business. I'm just a cool guy. I haven't given out any freebies. Ted has paid more than anyone will for my bumpers, and they are crappy first prototypes that I told him he had to beat the crap out of them on purpose, meaning exposing his rig to serious other trail damage.
I do appreciate everyones support, and criticism. Oh, and if anyone remembers one of my very first posts a long time ago where I drew up an MSPaint mockup of my front bumper on someones KJ, one of those original drawings had a grill guard/bull bar. My fronts are still in prototyping and trail testing, but there will be grill guards available for the production models. In fact, I may have something to test fit on Ted's jeep sometime next week.
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And the ONLY vendor to make KJ bumpers front and rear 
Wonder how it would do against a deer? Thats another thing I like about the arb, that big bar that comes up to protect the grill from deer, elk and drunk guys in the road.
