Reviews: Smittybilt SRC Classic Rear Bumpers

It rattled at the latch immediately…badly. I found a solution that they should do from or during the mfg process. The little elbow block on the bumper where the gate swings closed and rests on it should have a rubber buffer. It fixed my rattle but to be honest I was very worried at first. Very well built product, does exactly what it’s supposed to do and the install was pretty straight forward. Overall pleased.

Fit really well on our 89 YJ. The only modification we had to do was bevele out the mounting hole on the frame so the bolts could line up on bumper. Dropping the gas tank was required. Also taking the bottom hinge off on rear door to allow the swing gate to be mounted. Does cause the spare tire to block you rear view more.

Nice bumper looks good. The bolts behind the gas tank are a pain to get to. I had to lower the tank some too get the bolts in.

Looks & fits great! No mods needed. We needed added strength for hauling a minibike on a hitch carrier, so we welded tabs to the top to attach to the frame.

Had to lower fuel tank to install on a 2006 wrangler. Drilled 1/2” holes instead of 7/16” to make lining up 4 inner bolts easier as those were the ones I had to lower the gas tank to help reach and they were still difficult. 6 factory holes lined up perfectly. Bumper is great. Would give 5 stars but the latch rattles on bumps.

Tailgate will hit on the grease fitting but other than that great product

Overall, I love it. But can't give it four stars. The grease fitting is in a poor fitting and has to be removed and replaced with a recessed set screw. Also, the pre-drilled holes are not in correct place so you have to drill new or offset holes. But once installed its fantastic.

Great bumper for the price. Heavy duty, good finish. Would be 5 star, but the mounting holes were WAY off. 2hr of modification. I’m a machinist, but if I weren’t, this would have taken a full day. So 4 stars for a metal worker, probably 2 stars for an office worker.

The bumper is great - nice quality and solid. The template? Forget about it. Nothing actually lines up with the bumper. Just be prepared for plenty of modification to the holes to make the thing actually fit.

It was pretty easy to install, especially after rebuilding my whole entire YJ from the ground up...I only have two small complaints. 1st, I had to cut a notch into the ends of the bumper to accommodate the SmittyBilt roof rack that I already installed...no big deal. 2nd, it rattles over every single bump on the road...but it's an '89 YJ...they rattle. Other than that, it looks great and saved my poor old tailgate.

Solid bumper for the cost(on sale). Unless you have a 5 year old(tiny hands) that is mechanically inclined, you have to drop the fuel tank to install the inner bolts. My con is that the D-ring mounts are too thick to install the washers for an isolator. Metal on metal is not good.

I bought my Jeep with this bumper. It was missing the tire carrier, so I ordered that. I’ve been very happy with it. The bumper took a big hit at river rock and not a scratch or dent. I’m hauling a 35” spare. Biggest problem is that it is heavy an my wife struggles to open it to access the trunk area.

I just installed the bumper. It went about the way I expected too. I have an '06 LJ so I didn't have to drop the tank. The template worked fine. My only issue I have is with the grease fitting on the tire swing pivot point. As someone else mentioned(even though I didn't see it before) my tailgate hinge will not clear the grease fitting. I have no body lift. I plan on filling it with grease and then replacing it with a bolt.

Installed on a 1983 CJ7: Didn't have to drop the tank and everything lined up perfectly, biggest issue I had was trying to install by myself and a few rusty bolts on my jeep all in all looks great

The bumper and tire carrier are very well built and you will not be disappointed with the quality of them. However like other people have said, you do have to drop the gas tank completely and you will need to make the holes on your jeep fit the bumper, so be prepared to work. I didn't have to use the template to drill holes, mine already had them but nothing lined up...kind of frustrating, if this is a know problem you would think Smittybilt would fix this problem. But if you have a die grinder or at least a dremel you will be fine. With removing my old hitch and dropping the gas tank I was able to get it all installed in about 4hours... In the end if you want a sturdy bumper and aren't afraid to work this is a good money saving bumper and it gets that darn spare off the tailgate!

I appreciate the other reviews, I went into the install with some clear expectations. I have an '06 TJ and yes you do need to drop the fuel tank, but its pretty easy, it's only 3 bolts and 6 nuts. I also removed the exhaust hanger just so it was easier to get a socket on a few of the bolts for the new bumper. I did not have any of the issues that I read about on here such as, holes not lining up or bolts not threading. The only problem that I had on the install was that when I opened the gate on my Jeep the hinge would hit the grease nipple in the top of the pivot post for the tire carrier. This could be my fault but i was careful to line up the template and everything else lined up. What I did was, I used the nipple to grease the fitting and then replaced it with a bolt. So far so good, I have only had it on for a few days and no problems. I do feel much better with the tire off the gate, I have 35x12.5x15 BFG Mud Terrains.

The bumper was easy to install, works great and looks great. Yes, the gas tank needs to be dropped a little to get to the bolts from the backside; its not that big a deal. The bolt holes do line up just fine if you use the template provided and take your time to center punch the holes right. I had not problem installing the bumper. There is a problem with rattling from the latch on the swingaway. I placed a piece of adhesive pad used for furniture and the problem was solved. The instructions are very easy to read; just follow everything carefully and will install easy.

the rear bumper fit perfect but had some issues with the coating. manufacturer offered to let me send pics of damage then would be willing to let me send it back for replacement. i asked to just send me some coating and i would take care of it myself. not an option. all in all a very nice bumper at a great price.

To mount gas tank removal is required to use all mounting points. To avoid tank removal I bought frame tie ins but now I have a heavy well mounted bumper and it looks great. It cant be beat for the price.

The hitch and bumper are very nice quality, looks great too. There is only one hitch, pun intended, the back of the bumper, the mating surface to the frame is not flat. The hitch tube and weld beads protrude out from the back mounting plate. Causing it to hit the frame and a 1/4-3/8ths inch gap in the middle between the frame and bumper, and also causes the inner bolts to barely penetrate the threads making it a very weak mount to the frame. Poor craftsmanship to say the least in this aspect. But is my only complaint about the bumper. I would recommend, but with warning about the hitch tube issue, as I will now have to remove the bumper and modify a brand new bumper, in order to fix the issue so it will mount correctly.