Reviews for Smittybilt Classic Rear Bumper with 2" Receiver & Swing Away Tire Carrier in Textured Black for 87-06 Jeep Wrangler YJ, TJ & Unlimited

Install was easy and it looks great on my 97 TJ.

I really liked the design, i installed this on a 78 CJ5. Took a little extra drilling - to mate to the rear cross channel but you can make it work. The only draw back is getting the gas nozzle between the tire swing mount and the filler csp is tight but it”ll work. The main goal was to tske the weight off my tub as my 31x10.50 was starting to take itd toll.

For a 1990 YJ, 4 cylinder. The packaging for the Smittybilt classic rear bumper, 2" receiver and swing away tire carrier was excellent and believe chicken eggs could have been included and not been broken. The bumper and tire carrier are also excellent with zero damage/defects, unlike another bumper maker that I had used. The installation could have been better with the written instructions indicating 3/8" bolts, however the bolts are actually 10mm x1.5 and only had to go to the hardware store twice to get everything completed. I made one change and used 10mm studs for the inner 4 mounting holes and made it easier for me to hang the bumper on the cross member, but had to widen the existing mounting holes by a 1/2" in the cross member to accept the new bumper with studs. Also dropped the gas tank a few inches to be able to tighten the nuts to the new 10mm studs. Real happy with the final results overall.

Old 95 jeep. The tire holder on the tailgate had dropped the tailgate until it did not close correctly. Got the heavy tire off of the tailgate and onto the bumper tire holder. Works great. Got my tailgate lined up correctly again. It's puts a normal spare a little high but I suppose that's for people with really large spares. Easiest way to install is to drop the gas tank. I needed to drop the tank anyway because of other issues so I did it all at once. Not too hard. Used the motorcycle jack like one article suggested and it worked great to drop the tank. Otherwise, mounts up pretty easily.

Love my new bumper. Bolted up easily, and fit perfectly. I can now open the rear of my hardtop without removing the spare tire. Looks Great, too. Thanks

I give the bumper 4 stars for a couple of reasons. The instructions could be better and the guide to show you where to drill the cross member. The grease fitting was an easy fix. I lowered the bumper about a quarter of an inch. I used a file to lower the stock holes and washers to space the frame bolts. I also used an 1/2 inch drill bit to have a little more wiggle room. I have a TJLJ so the gas tank wasn't a problem.

2006 Jeep Wrangler
First off, this thing is solid and looks great once installed, I consider it a very good value for the money, especially compared to other models.

The installation was a PITA for me, but some of that is from my own impatience and circumstances.

My biggest problem with the bumper is that grease fitting sticks up about 1/8" to far, and my tailgate cannot swing all the way open without hitting the grease fitting. I am having to plug the grease fitting to be able to swing it all the way open and also to keep from breaking off the fitting or screwing up my hinge.

This bumper is also a PITA. My rear cross member is bent in the middle, so that probably added to my problems
Tips for installation
The fuel tank has to be dropped. Not fully, but definitely partially. save yourself some time and do this first. I didn't and ended up spending way to long trying get the bolts in.
The provided template was not a perfect match for all of the factory holes on my
jeep, I would suggest you make your own before installation.
Because the template was not perfect, one of the holes I drilled ended up being about a 1/16th" off. I discovered this after I already wrestled the thing on there, and
decided not to worry about that bolt.
The instructions call for a 7/16ths drill bit. This leaves you zero room for error. If I had to do everything over again, I would bump that up to 1/2", maybe even 9/16ths. I
would have saved myself a lot of time and cussing had I done that to start off.
Also, I tried to do this by myself without the best jack system. I would make sure I had a buddy or at least a good jack or lift setup. This thing is heavy. I most likely wouldn't have been able to install if I hadn't had my wife come help me hold it up while I threaded the bolts.

Overall, I still consider this bumper a great value. I will update after I use it for a while.

Price point was good.
Ordered BLACK shackles, got silver.
The shop I used was talented, and overcame the fact that the mounting post was off by 1.4 degrees, which makes latching tough but secure.
Used the tank drop to install a new filler neck that works.

Great bumper, love it. This bumper looks amazing on any jeep, great design. Comes with 2 D rings and you are able to hook up a hitch to it. the bumper is tight to the body and has a low profile for maximum clearance.

I ought to remove a star for every extra trip I had to make to Lowe’s. First off, when I unwrapped the bumper, I found that the grease fitting had been snapped off inside of the carrier post. I had to use a screw extractor to remove the old fitting. I was pleased to find an extra fitting in the hardware pack in the carrier box.

So let me preface the install with the fact that my TJ already had a SmittyBilt tubular rear bumper on it, so I was expecting to not have to drill holes. That was not the case. After a lot of trial and error, I finally got the holes dremeled out enough for all of the new bumper holes to line up.

You will have to drop the gas tank. There is no way around that. I ended up not disconnecting anything, just removing all of the bolts and dropping it far enough on jack stands that it didn’t strain any hoses or connections. If you can unhook everything and remove the tank further it will make life much easier. The inner set of bolts are very difficult to get to, especially on the driver side. You will want to have some pretty long extensions for your ratchet.

As far as hardware, as many others have stated, some of it is the incorrect size. The two vertical bolts that go in the bottom of the rear bumper did not fit. I ended up using the OEM bolts there instead. Also, the two bolts for the carrier around the post were not long enough for a lock nut and two washers on each bolt. That was my second trip to Lowe’s.

The tire carrier went on easy enough after purchasing the correct hardware. Naturally, after everything was installed and I attempted to load my spare, I discovered my aftermarket rims are not the OEM bolt pattern. Great.

Despite all my hassles and issues, the bumper looks great. I haven’t been able to mount a spare yet, but I haven’t had any rattles. It feels extremely solid and with ten huge bolts securing it to the frame, I have no doubt that it is. It took all afternoon and evening but I’m extremely pleased with the bumper/tire carrier thus far. The ability to still use the hitch to tow is a huge plus not offered on a lot of other bumpers.