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

I don’t know why so many people complain of rattling. I have had mine mounted for several months now without issue and find the construction to be of good quality. Very satisfied with my purchase.

I've heard some horror stories and some decent reviews from smittybilt products. Chinese labor is sort of misunderstood- not everything Chinese is garbage. If they are told to build it a certain way they will. They don't have the same quality control that you might find in American made products, but again, you are paying far less for this bumper.
With that being said, I was a little reluctant to buy this bumper at first but I don't have any problems with it. The bumper is quarter inch, and the welds look good to me. From sticking my finger in the end of the bumper the spindle seems to be welded on both sides of the 'top' face, as well as on the inside of the lower face. Although they do give you a tiny bit of grease on it from the factory, pick yourself up some boat trailer grease. This will do the job great- it's made to be corrosion resistant. It comes with shackle mounts, some shackles, and a hitch receiver.
I was given all the hardware I needed, and everything came shipped nicely- so that nothing would scratch. They give you a little rubber pad to bolt to your tailgate if yours is missing- to keep the swing-out from vibrating too much. Mine doesn't vibrate too much. I also like the latching mechanism- spring loaded and it has a hinge pin you can stick in there so it won't get bumped and fall open. The swingout part is easy to bolt together.. the whole thing is, really. It is recommended that you drill through your rear cross member but I did not do that as I'm not willing to drop the gas tank yet. I do have a frame brace though, we'll see how this holds up. They don't need to give you instructions but they do, and they are fine.
My only complaints are that the zerk fitting for the spindle is a bit close to the tailgate hinge- you'll have to be careful you don't shear it off. But, they give you an extra one. Also, you aren't given an option for a third brake light... But, the top of the tube has some holes drilled in it, so you can come up with something on your own (which should be easy and less than $10).

Would recommend, have a floor jack or a buddy to hold it in place as it is a bumper and will be heavy.

bumpers are sharp looking but scratch easily.

Bumper installed very easily. Both bumper and tire carrier look great. BUT, the tire carrier package did not come with the correct hardware and one of the provided lug nuts was the wrong size. I would recommend this bumper but make sure you have some extra nuts and bolts just in case.

Looks fantastic, seems really sturdy and holds the heavier tire weight on the bumper/frame. It was kind of a bugger to get installed, and took me probably 6 hours, but that isn't really an issue with the carrier so much as just the way the gas tank is right behind the bumper, rusted existing bolts, and my limited monkey wrenching skills. I also had a bolt on my gas line that I could not reach, so was unable to fully lower the tank, making it much more difficult. I also had to drill some holes in the bumper so doing that without hitting the tank was a little sketchy. The bolts for the carrier itself are too small, which was kind of frustrating, but a quick trip to the hardware store solved that one.

The good:
This looks really good installed an seems well built.
Price is great for a name brand bumper.
Came with shackles even though descriptions said it didn’t
It’s tow rated which allowed me to remove the factory hitch adding ground clearance.
If you are used to working blind you can install this without dropping the tank but you will curse and swear a bit. Drill the holes out to 1/2 to give yourself some wiggle room.
Came with a sticker (this is why you don’t get 2 stars)

The bad:
Grease zerk was broken upon arrival but it came with a spare so that was nice.
Tab for bolts going though bottom of bumper was bent not allowing any bolts to lime up in one side, had to be hammered into position.
Powdercoat does not seem durable
Lock is not fully engaging, if I dare remove the spacer on the spindle that’s would fix it.
Directions are crap.
Top post rattles if you have a lot of back spacing and have to put the tire mount on the second set of holes
Bolts clamping tire carrier to spindle are not long enough. No threads are showing on nut.

Overall, I would buy again with the assumption that the next bumper would fit and line up better. They do a good job of trying to protect bumper with packaging but fed ex manages to tear it up none the less. My buddy and I are aircraft mechanics with 40 years experience between us and it took us 3 hours to install not dropping the tank. It was a trade off of struggling to get bolts in vs. breaking more rusted bolts taking tank down.

Heavy duty construction. I have just got it out of the box today. All kinds of holes and rips in the heavy-duty box. Especially on the end of the box. There is damage only to the paint. Structure wise it is fine. The tiny grease fitting is broken off. I won't send it back because I waited so long to get this one. I'll have to touch-up the paint. It's in a bad spot on the end where people will see it. They need to come up with a better idea for the ends. I'll try and redo my review after I put it on. It's going on a 95 Wrangler.

It's sturdy and looks nice. Poor engineering related to the latching of the swing gate, rattles like crazy and has a constant small pool water in the catch - will eventually rust for sure.

Rattle rattle, this thing rattles so bad it will drive you crazy

DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOUR WILLING TO DROP THE FUEL TANK. This think rattles BAD to. I have tightened every bolt to the extent it’s bending in the frame and still getting rattling.