First BooBoo means possible upgrades

tumanator · **Posted:** Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:41 pm

Well the first ding happened....actually it happened a few weeks ago. Icy roads, caught a drift, and pulled me down into a tree. I wasn't going fast for obvious reason so the damage isn't bad, in fact at first I didn't see anything wrong. Anyway a little while later probably a square foot chunk of the fiberglass from the plastic bumper flies off while I'm going down the highway. Now i see part of the grill is cracked and at further inspection the plastic on the top of the headlight housing is broken so my headlight wobbles a bit. Gee, for a jeep it sure seems like I'm saying plastic a lot.

Well that's the bad part, I refuse to pay the deductible for insurance to fix my bumper when an "real" bumper is only a little more ($500 deductible.) I'm kinda broke right now (still a college student) however I got a raise effective on my next paycheck :wink:

so I'm starting to think of a new bumper. I'm not sure if i can spring for the 1000+ bucks it costs for an 05 Arb however I'd like to ask for any other recommendations.

Next my description might be vague but I don't know if that housing can be replaced separately from the entire light, or if maybe i can jerry rig something together. Here's a couple pics to see what i'm talking about...i don't really care about the grill, maybe if it get's bad enough i'll spring for a new one.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:55 pm

get ya a piece of flashing or thin sheet metal, drill a hole, back that bolt out and bolt the piece in, then JB Weld the flashing to the headlight framing and trim off the excess once it's cured

501 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:28 am

Get a Rock Lizard Budget bumper around $500 + shipping. Go here http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=47952 for some pictures.

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:54 am

Replacement headlights are cheap on eBay.

Here's one for $15 + 12 shipping:
http://cgi.ebay.com/02-03-04-05-06-JEEP ... 1e58edb2b4

tumanator · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:53 pm

I think I'll try to JB weld the headlight, that will at least last for a while.

As far as the bumper I've read the sticky thread many times since I joined, the make it your self stuff wont work for me because I can't weld, nor do I have a friend that can. I would also like a bumper that will protect the grill / headlights too. The Arb is the closest to what I'd like, but it doesn't protect the headlights or hood in case of deer strike (I live in an area that i see probably 5-6 dead deer on the road a week.) I also like the look of the trailready bumper but it's even more pricey than the Arb, though i think both could have an extra grille protection welded on.

Here's my plan, I'm looking at doing this in the march - april time frame. I think I should be able to budget around 1000 bucks though I would prefer less, though at that I believe in doing it right the first time. I won't buy it if I think I'll regret it later.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:15 pm

ARBs will take care of Deer 3 so far and not one scratch, well not much :wink:

tumanator · **Posted:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:24 pm

Yea I know I said I'd rather not spring for an ARB, but they just look like a good bumper. Plus the Winch mount gives me my next upgrade to save for right out of the box. I really don't know what to do here, though I just e-mailed All J's for a shipping price quote. Unless anyone knows where there's one getting dusty in a garage.

First BooBoo means possible upgrades

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