Reviews for Havoc Offroad HPG-43-20202 Aftershock Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK
Great deal
Installation was simple, took longer than expected but partly due to old bumper removal. Looks great!
I like the way this carrier integrates with the tailgate. The carrier is great, and quiet, until I added their tailgate vent cover. Now, I’m still trying to find the right adjustment to make quiet again. If I tighten all the way, then it squeaks. Tightened everything again tonight will see tomorrow.
Great concept and helps take the weight of the big heavy spare tire off of the tailgate
So, this would be a five star review but for a couple things...
1) There was an entire bag of hardware that somehow was loose and tumbling around inside the giant main shipping box. This resulted in 3 missing washers, which I was luckily able to scrounge around the garage.
2) the tire carrier does not sit in line with the rear of the vehicle when closed completely. I adjusted the heim joint as far in as possible without having the carrier contact the plate on the rear gate, and my tire still not parallel to the back of the Jeep. I'll probably try to space the passenger side lug of the spare to even it out.
Otherwise, I love the look of it and it's certainly sturdy. I tweaked the bumpstop a bit to make it all work.
Overall, it is quality built and installed pretty straightforward. The hiem joint swivel connection doesn't come with a lock not, causing it to squeak when driving down the road. Bought a nut, installed it and decreased the squeaking by a lot. I guess the most disappointing thing about this is the spare tire mount studs - I have no idea what the threads are but they're not the same threads like the 1/2"-20 like the 4 wheels. They did give me 3 lug nuts to secure the spare tire, luckily they use the same socket as the wheel lug nuts. Because they're a different thread than my wheel lug nuts, I cant use the same locking lug nut like whats on my wheels. I'm probably going to have the studs taken out (they are welded in) and replaced with ones the same 1/2"-20 as the wheel studs.
Just finished installing this bumper. I like how it looks from 10 feet away. Up close fit & finish aren't great. The jack mount is set to line up perfectly so the base plate makes contact with the passenger tail light, guaranteeing a broken lens. The instructions are all but useless & my hardware kit was missing some stuff. I wouldn't buy another one.
My experience is similar to the other recent reviews. The bearings that come for the tire carrier do not fit the spindle that is welded on the bumper! The spindle is 1" (25.4mm) and the bearings are 25mm ID. Also the included lock washers are too small. I reached out to Quadratec, who does not have a parts list for this. They sent me to Omix-Ada, owner of both Havoc and Rugged Ridge. Omix tech support was no help either. I called and spoke to someone who said the one person they have that works with havoc stuff is out for an undetermined amount of time and suggested I send an email which opened a ticket. He did not have a parts list either. I finally got a response saying there was a design change on the tire carrier and I should request a refund until they get the parts sorted out. Note the bearings actually come in the box with with the bumper, not the tire carrier...
Anyway I was able to get this to work. I took some measurements and ordered two 07100 bearings which fit the included races and go over the spindle. They are a little thinner so require some 2"OD 1"ID washers or something similar as spacers.
The clevis between the tire carrier and the tailgate threads together a little loose so i plan to lock-tite that just to make sure that does not contribute to a rattle. Otherwise everything seems very solid once installed. I mounted KC flood light cubes in the bumper and they are awesome.
The good part is that I love the look and the functionality once installed. It was just much more painful to install than expected and required extra time and money.
The product came quick and was packaged well. Unfortunately, there was no parts list. Tons of hardware but no idea what goes where. Found a general install video online and was able to work it out. The bolts that hold the bumper on are 1/2", however the lock washers that came with it were 3/8". I had to go buy my own to complete the install. Also the bearing sets that you have to install wouldn't fit on the spindle integrated into the bumper. I had to sand it down quite a bit to remove all the paint so I could get it on. Now that it's done, it looks great, but was quite a bit more work than it should have been.
When received hardware was loose in box, missing key pieces of hardware. Good luck getting ahold of anyone at Havoc, I tried several times. So I talked to Quadratec and they were able to speak with someone from Havoc eventually. Havoc said it would be 6 weeks to get the hardware. Quadratec took $50 off the price and I was on my own finding hardware from McMaster Carr. Once installed it seams to be pretty stout. Does make a lot of noise, rattling going down the road. I’ll work on that myself as well. Never again will I buy from Havoc because poor customer service as well as poor packaging on their product.