Reviews for Rugged Ridge Venator Front Bumper for 18-22 Jeep Wrangler JL & Gladiator JT
Style closely matches stock bumper but better function.
Very nice bumper. Solid construction and pretty easy to install. Some tight tolerances with some of the parts, but I was able to get it all together and looking good.
Love it !!! Not easy put together but came out great !
I just installed this on my 2023 gladiator Rubicon. First of all the Harbor Freight Apex 12000 winch will not fit. And you can not rotate your sway bar disconnect with this winch plate. Also the front skid plate is shorter that the factory Rubicon one. When attaching the brackets for the skid plate it will be a tight fit because of the nut inserts already installed. Over all I like the look and th price. Just waiting to see how long the plastic trim ring around the fog lights stay in place. Would have been nice if there had been a tab and screw to keep it in place.
Wanted a bumper that allowed me to add a Warn EVO 10-s winch without breaking the bank and this fits the bill. Doesn't look like one of those massive atrocity bumpers that takes away from the look of the Jeep. Looks great once it's all installed and adjusted - but that's a pain. Installation took 3.5 hours with a second set of hands. No major issues installing, just little nit-picky things like lacked 3 M10 flat washers, no installation instructions for factory fog lights, no final torque value for the M12 bolts, and I feel like the 40 ft-lbs. of final torque for the M10 bolts is too low. Same as other reviewers - plastic trim around the fog lights is questionable and not sure how long they will hold up. Going to noodle with something on the back to hold in place long term.
Almost an OE apperance. Overall value for everything included. It doesn't look like a mall poser bumper.
Love the bumper except….Saw bad reviews from 3 years ago about holes not lining up, instructions unclear, etc. but I didn’t see recent ones so I assumed they corrected the issues. They did not. Holes didn’t line up and had to be drilled, instructions aren’t clear and had to watch videos and look up a lot of things in forums. It didn’t come with a hex key and uses an extra large size that the average tool box won’t have so expect to buy that. Install says 2-3hrs… plan for 8-10. Once it’s done tho I love the look and function of it
I am happy with the bumper itself and it looks good. It was not difficult to install but it was tedious since the winch goes in tight and many adjustments had to be made. It got 4 stars because I paid just over $1000 and the overrider bar was scratched. This part is sold separately but Quadratec requires the entire bumper to be returned for an exchange rather than a part swap. My next big upgrade is a rear bumper but I will order directly from the manufacturer for now on since that’s the only chance for a reasonable resolution for a damaged part.
Overall great looking bumper. Might not be the strongest but looks stock with flair. Doesn't look like someone welded it in their shop. Its basically a winch tray with trim pieces. The recovery points are nice...that basically all you need.
Packaging was extremely well put together. I was impressed with the packaging. No instructions but you can easily download them on the net/Quadratec.
The trick is on installing this, read the directions regarding putting it together loosely because you have to put the shell on and adjust accordingly and then tighten the frame bolts. As for the fog light trim pieces...horrible horrible design...they pop off incredibly easy so I did what one person did on here is to slip the plastic trim under the winch cover...that will hold them in place....but kind of looks goofy. They need to come up with some sort of clip system for these.
All that said...nice bumper and light weight.
Overal great bumper! Great look and vehicle fitment. The design of this bumper is an amazing pair with the JL and JT. Installed on a 2018 JL.
Box was missing instructions, Quadratec thankfully had instructions posted on their website, however, directions are not every detailed, parts do not exact match what was supplied, had a lot of extra nuts and bolts / washers (Yes I triple checked everything). Lower skid plate (grey) did not light up to mounting brackets and took some drilling to line up, also it seems fairly thin and is stamped steel, which will bend or puncture on the first rock it encounters.
For future bumpers it Would be nice to see nuts and bolts in individual bags and labeled, for simplicity a required tool list, more detailed instructions.
Only major concern is the plastic fog light bezels, if they bolted in or had some type of retaining clip, that would be a huge improvement. The bezel snugs between three different parts, which took some time to get light up perfectly, when the outer wheel cover flexes the bezel pops out so I pop them out and store them in the vehicle when on the trail.