twinmeadowsboy

recently bought my first jeep havent done a lot of offroading ever. looking to build my own grill guard. looking for do and donts for a grill. what is necessary for a off road grill what is not? is weight and issue? how common is hitting something head on while off roading? should i build it big and strong or go for a minimalist approach?

Mr White

iTrader: (1)

The question here should be how bad a driver are you? Hit things happens, remember offroading your usually in low range 1st or 2nd gear so ur not going at any speed. Depending on what you want to do rock crawl (max plates underneath). If your a trail/mud person then u can get away with minor plating. Bumpers are always nice if there in steel, as the crappy bumper on the jeeps won't stand up to much offroading. I have an 03 tj the front bumper is original except for a 1/4" steel plate across the top from where the bolts are for the frame as my winch sits on it and have removed the plastic ends off the bumper. The rear is steel (home made) its strong enuff to support my 33x12.5r15 mud tires it will hold a 35".. and trailer hitch is below it... Drop into ur local 4by4 store and look around see what he has. take idea's and if ur a half decent welder go to a local steel mill and buy some steel and do it urself.
I don't know what stores u have in ur area but I do know about national4wd they have a website and toll free line Good Luck

SloPokTJ

What Mr.White said... Take a look around at some of the companys making bumpers these days, google tj bumper and see, i my self went with a smittybuilt XRC bumper and love it. Then again my only complaint is that i had to re route my winch sylniod under the hood because of the light bar. But I like it lol

twinmeadowsboy

thanks for the advise. plan on sticking to mud and trails until it is no longer a daily driver. from what i gather as long as i can put a winch on it, it protects my power steering and i like the way it look nothing else much matters? is it common to "beef up" your front suspension after adding a new bumper?