KJ Bumpers - A look at four

OzLtd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:56 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

Oh by the way, yes, women, rich people, and the President fart too! :lol:

Bwahahahah!! Good one !

Regarding the removable hitch mounted setup, what if you are stuck in the mud (or water, whatever) and the mud is upto just below your headlights ? and its dark ? How the hell are you ging to get the winch in the hitch ? IT will be full of mud (wich you cant clean out cause your underneath the water/mud for starters, and what if you smacked the hitch earlier on in the day on a rock & bent the front square part of the reciever ?

Your screwed !!!!!

A winch mounted infront of the grill is always going to be the better option for proper offroaf enthusiasts. There's almost no such thing as a removable hitch mounted winch system in Australia, its just laughed at.............
HOWEVER, I will say one thing positive about the removable hitch system....

If anyone (referring to Australia) could be bothered for starters carrying a reciever mounted winch system, it would be of use on that EXTREMELY rare occassion when you want to put in in the rear towbar location just to pull yourself out or someone else.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:06 pm

Advantages and Disadvantages to both but with a bumper mounted winch on a good bumper you have a strong base. The other problem is like the above post said about mud or when you are stuck up against something that won't allow you to the front hitch...I know you can use the back and pull that way but the higher mounted bumper hitch is more useful for me so far.

The one BIG advantage of a hitch style is this:Suppose you have 4 KJs wheelin all with front and rear hitches (and electrical hookups). You will only need 1 winch for the whole group!

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:36 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

The one BIG advantage of a hitch style is this:Suppose you have 4 KJs wheelin all with front and rear hitches (and electrical hookups). You will only need 1 winch for the whole group!

There was talk about this at the LOST Rockies Eagle Rock run. Someone said we should all get hitches front and rear and electrical hookups, and then every KJ could have the possibility of winching from the front or back. I thought this was a great idea and figured it minimalized work needed to get anyone in the group unstuck, wherever their KJ may be. You don't need to get the one guy with the winch to do it, you can get the guy in front or behind the stuck vehicle to winch them out.
Hooray teamwork :roll:

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:52 pm

Just how strong are these recievers for winches? I read on another board that you should never really use them because you can rip the whole tow hitch out? My rear trailer hitch is rated 5K and winch FAQ's say to get 1.5xGVW, which exceeds my hitch so it kinda made sense. The front ones are probably rated even less.

OzLtd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:15 pm

DaveKJ02 wrote:

Just how strong are these recievers for winches? I read on another board that you should never really use them because you can rip the whole tow hitch out? My rear trailer hitch is rated 5K and winch FAQ's say to get 1.5xGVW, which exceeds my hitch so it kinda made sense. The front ones are probably rated even less.

I totally agree.

KW AV8R · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:41 pm

I just had to post this ... I was showing my wife the pictures of all the bumpers (since she's the approval authority for any major purchases :wink:

) and her only response was, "The ARB looks more manly." :shock:

tarkus · **Posted:** Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:41 pm

I think that the front reciever setup is very good. I witnesed Speedy winch a TJ 400 feet across a bog using a Warn 9000. We fastened 3 winch cables and every tow rope we had together. It took a couple of hours but it worked.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:14 am

Okay, sounds like two different topics moving here. Front receiver hitches and front bumpers with a receiver end on it. Let's drop the subject on front receiver hitches.

So how easy is it to access those winches inside the ARB bumper, and similar setups, if something goes wrong with the winch? Do you have to remove the bumper to get to the winch? Are we limited with the type of winch we can fit into those bumpers?

Why is this topic so much about the winches anyways? How about other aspects of each bumper?

Some of my choices (with regards to what I own and can use (an `04 Reny). Again, IMHO.

Best turn signal look
1. Trail Ready
2. AllJ
3. Rock Lizard
4. ARB
5. Aussie model (current look is for an `05)

Best approach angle (at the tires)
1. AllJ (barely beating RL - look at turn signal location and where the bumper sits in relation to the tires)
Tough call due to camera angles giving false views (Wanted to get exact same camera angles but the KJ's directly in front of the ARB and AllJ bumpers were too close.

The other four look very close.

Best Approach angle middle front area
1. Trail Ready

The others have either a bar, fair lead, or receiver that could get caught. Trail Ready doesn't have anything there but a clean steel angle.

I'd give RL #2 with the angle parts so rocks slide down the bumper and onto the Front Skid. The Fair Lead on the Aussie could get caught pretty bad and has less steel angle, the AllJ has a flat area that when you hit a rock there, you would come to a dead stop (at least it looks like it will). The ARB has that bar running across it. Not sure how to describe the negative for it.

Best Price, value, and weight ratio for me
1. RL (no shipping and great price)
2. ARB (quality to its name and the only bumper that has been out for the KJ for awhile)
3. Aussie (because I have not seen an `04 model yet)
4. AllJ (even if they don't make it anymore)
5. Trail Ready (because they have said this bumper will be out for sale, FOREVER...and it costs a ton along with its weight)

Okay, I am tired of doing this so I am stopping. Now now....don't cheer too loud. :lol:

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:16 am

The 1.5 x weight is the factor you use to guage which wench to purchase...KJ with armor and gear ~4600#s x 1.5 =6900#s...so the next normal size up from that is an 8000 rated wench. Most aftermarket bumpers use the same attachment points as most hitches...so for all practical purposes they work fine. You can always use a pull block to ease the stress.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:21 am

DarbyWalters wrote:

The 1.5 x weight is the factor you use to guage which wench to purchase...KJ with armor and gear ~4600#s x 1.5 =6900#s...so the next normal size up from that is an 8000 rated wench. Most aftermarket bumpers use the same attachment points as most hitches...so for all practical purposes they work fine. You can always use a pull block to ease the stress.

Darby.

I don't want a wench. Especially one that weighs or can lift 8000lbs. My ex was a wench and life was miserable. :lol:

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:08 am

I wonder what the shipping cost is to get that Aussie bumper over here :shock:

As Darby said, all of these bumpers attach to the frame just like hitch receivers, so if you're worried about ripping something off, the worry should be the same for both a bumper/winch setup and hitch/winch setup. I don't think many recovery points are rated up to or past the average winch's capacity, but we don't often hear of people pulling off shackles, hitches, or bumpers.

OzLtd · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:41 am

RespectMyLibertay wrote:

I wonder what the shipping cost is to get that Aussie bumper over here :shock:

As Darby said, all of these bumpers attach to the frame just like hitch receivers, so if you're worried about ripping something off, the worry should be the same for both a bumper/winch setup and hitch/winch setup.

Wrong, dead wrong. The 'Aussie' bar in prototype stage has more bolt through points & extra steel plates to distribute the load than you can poke a stick at.

(sorry to get back to reciever hitch winches tokyojoe) but front towbar mounts are weak as piss if you ask me. They are not designed to pull trailers like proper rear tow bars, they are simply accessory devices. By the way, we dont have "Frame" chassis like you mentioned.

In regards to the cost of shipping the bar over to the US ? If you were to do it before they are available in the States yes, it would probably cost $4-500 australian dollars including taxes, but if you were to wait untill they are available as an off the shelf item (like they will be) the price is built into the sale price of the product line, exactly the same as the ARB would be.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:44 am

RespectMyLibertay wrote:

I wonder what the shipping cost is to get that Aussie bumper over here :shock:

As Darby said, all of these bumpers attach to the frame just like hitch receivers, so if you're worried about ripping something off, the worry should be the same for both a bumper/winch setup and hitch/winch setup. I don't think many recovery points are rated up to or past the average winch's capacity, but we don't often hear of people pulling off shackles, hitches, or bumpers.

Ive heard they are going to bring it to the states after they get it all done over in aussie.

chrismc · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:32 am

OzLtd wrote:

Wrong, dead wrong. The 'Aussie' bar in prototype stage has more bolt through points & extra steel plates to distribute the load than you can poke a stick at.

(sorry to get back to reciever hitch winches tokyojoe) but front towbar mounts are weak as piss if you ask me. They are not designed to pull trailers like proper rear tow bars, they are simply accessory devices. By the way, we dont have "Frame" chassis like you mentioned.

In regards to the cost of shipping the bar over to the US ? If you were to do it before they are available in the States yes, it would probably cost $4-500 australian dollars including taxes, but if you were to wait untill they are available as an off the shelf item (like they will be) the price is built into the sale price of the product line, exactly the same as the ARB would be.

Historically, TJM bars have been known for their thorough and easy mounting, esp. as compared to ARB bars. Often, under a hard winch (bad angle) an ARB bar will "tweak" in its mounting, while the TJM will stay put. I've had good luck with 4x4connection.com as a vendor/importer for these products, although they don't seem to have the new KJ bar listed yet. Looking forward to seeing this option!

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:48 am

Tokyojoe wrote:

Darby.

I don't want a wench. Especially one that weighs or can lift 8000lbs. My ex was a wench and life was miserable. :lol:

My Old Bumper Mounted Wench

JFortier777 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:48 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

My Old Bumper Mounted Wench

I think I just found a mounting point for my hitch extension.

:twisted:

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:36 pm

Darby, old? Are you saying that wench is old or the wench is past tense and history?

Yes, good mounting points and nice fair lead. :lol:

Just kidding

We are getting some good choices for bumpers now. Now if we can just get a solution to lifting so a solid 4" lift can be created (along with a stronger front dif to handle it).

I like all of the bumpers. They each have something special about them.

FarmDiesel · **Joined:** Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:49 am **Posts:** 132

One thing to remember on the receiver hitch weight ratings is the force involved. If you're pulling a 5,000# load down the road and turn sharp, or slam on the brakes, you're potentially generating a great deal more force than just 5,000#. A winch which generates 8 or 9K of force is a static, solid load that is applied relatively evenly and (hopefully) without shock loading. That is far gentler on the receiver than the force applied by a heavy trailer. Also, there's a safety factor built into the receiver...if it's rated for 5K, failure is probably closer to 12 or 15K. Not that you necessarily want to eat into your safety factor...

For me, the RL bumper looks too cheesy--I don't like the stealth-esque angulation, I don't like the turn signals, and I don't like that it doesn't incorporate any winch provisions. To each his own. For me, I can't wait until the OZ unit is available!

chrismc · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:20 pm

OzLtd wrote:

Girls, quit your bickering & feast your eyes on this.

Enjoy all,
Stu

Are you calling it a TJM T17 yet?

Sorry, couldn't take it being called "The Oz Bumper" anymore.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:10 pm

I want the LightForce Lamps... :idea:

I wish the KJ bumper could be smaller like the 2nd one pictured but by design it needs to cover stuff up.

Looks like the metal needs to be a guage thicker near the corners...

KJ Bumpers - A look at four

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