Reviews: Smittybilt XRC Gen 1 Rear Bumper with Hitch and Tire Carrier (Black) - 76856

This bumper with tire carrier is the cheapest ive found.However dont let the price fool you this thing is stout and the finish is awesome. I installed this by myself with the aid of a floor jack and it was done in under an hour.But i really would suggest having somebody help you so lining up the mounting hole would be easier. Smitty has come a long way.I used to stay away from their product but under the new management they have really improved their products at a reasonable price.

Product is great the online customer service was terrible.

Fits perfectly and looks great. This bumper and carrier went on relatively easily with the help of a friend. Looking at the matching front bumper too.

4WP has always had the best customer service, prices and shipping! I bought this Smittybilt XRC Gen 1 Bumper/Tire Carrier three times over the past several years for my Jeep JK builds. It is one of the best made bumpers around. This past time, I had an issue with damaged/missing parts. 4WP shipped the missing/damaged parts out ASAP. They are a great company!

Very solid bumper and easy install. Instructions are a little old but pretty easy to figure out. The bumper is heavy so if you are looking for something lighter weight you may want to check out another one.

It recommends no bigger then a 40" tire but I have 42.5 boggers and it works fine.at first when I closed the tailgate it did not latch but once 2 of us picked that HEAVY tire up and installed it then the gate latched perfect.only problem I had was the bolt that holds the handle on fell out sometime while I was driving.

Easy to install and instructions were 'ok'. Pictures on instructions could have been better and made the installation easier

The bumper has been on my Jeep about 5 months so far and I'm pretty happy with it. It looks awesome and so far no rattles. When it shipped it was missing the bolts for the third brake light bracket and the lanyard they say comes with it. Sent Smittybilt an e-mail about it and got no response,kind of a bummer.Overall I really like it,now let's hope it holds up to time ,weather and abuse

Great quality causing extra weight give and take right? Only issue was locking a hitch onto the receiver, i had to grind down the bumper where the lock sits. Easy install.

The bumper is very well built and installed went well .

I got this back in September and it’s been great. Install wasn’t bad. However, I took off a star for the fact there are very few installation videos online, the instructions are a little spotty and none of the pieces are labeled so you have to guess. But otherwise not terribly difficult.

Great built bumper and tire carrier for the money. Easy to install if you have some mechanical aptitude. Instructions aren?t really needed if you have some skill. It took me around 2-2.5 hrs start to finish. Instructions probably aren?t the greatest for someone without mechanical skills but not too difficult to figure out.

The instal took an afternoon. Some of the hardware is listed wrong and you have to determine which nut and boot to use on your own.

Seems to be well constructed. Installation was straight forward. Nice bumper for the price!

Absolutely love my smittybilt bumper and swing gate tire carrier! Install was pretty straight foward except for getting the 4 bolts started into the L brackets that you slide into the frame, that was tough but after we got those start everything was smooth sailing! Soild handle and closing mechanism with a some nifty adjustment bolts for the swing gate and a greaseable zerk fitting so you can always have that easy swing open feel!

I'm very pleased with this item!!! The bumper and tire carrier are both very stout and solid. The SmityBilt directions are lacking detail and hardware identification.

All in all, the bumper is a little heavy and is much easier to install with a second set of hands. The holes didn't line up perfectly but close enough for installation. I have not had the same issues as some of the others with the tire carrier unlatching so far. The bumper looks sharp and holds my 35's with ease. I didn't like the 3rd brake light options so I ordered a 3rd brake light adapter which attaches to the factoy holes and uses the stock brake light factory wire harness. To bad it didn't come with the bumper as it does with others. Another thing that I found out the hard way is due to the design it doesn't allow for mudflaps as did the factory bumper, which appearantly is state law in UTAH. Investing in aftermarket mudflaps, depending on where you live, may be a requirement.

This is a nice tire carrier and does the job it is intended for, but there are some difficulties with the installation that should be mentioned. The install is much easier with 2 people, as it's somewhat difficult to get the pre-drilled bolt holes to match up on the frame. The install was easier with the assistance of a hi-lift jack because it's a bit heavy for 1 person to maneuver on their own. The bumper does come with a bracket to install the 3rd brake light, but the stock wiring harness is not compatible with the carrier. The stock wiring harness comes out of the back of the door and because the tire carrier is mounted independently on the bumper and swings away from the door, there is not exactly a logical way to reconnect them. There are a couple of options to fix this problem, not none are really ideal. One would be to install a plug in to the harness that would have to be disconnected every time you open the door. Another would be to drill an additional hole in the back of jeep door and another in the top of the carrier and thread the wires through the center portion of the tire carrier (pain in the butt). The other would be to just ditch the 3rd brake light all together...not sure if that is totally kosher with state inspection laws (vague definition of the rules in the book). I'm not sure how (or if) I will try to remedy the 3rd brake light problem, but I wish there was an easier solution. Might work better if Smittybilt had a pre-wired a longer harness with a plug that ran up through the center of the hollow carrier?

Comments about JK Wrangler XRC Armor Rear Bumper with Hitch and Tire Carrier by Smittybilt: "Though the Rear Bumper looks great, vibrations from the road cause the handle to slip out of the lock position and cause the swing gate to unlatch. The swing gate that holds my 35" tire has swung open" ----- I copied this from another persons comment. I have had the exact same issue. I have had this for exactly one year and when it opens up on you I dont know who it scares more, ME, or the poor guy behind ME on the road.

Stock tire carrier could'nt handle a 35in tire, had to go with somthing more practical, will be testing new bumper and tire carrier over sand trails and whoppie doos next week.Instructions need a little help, have extra nuts and bolts? and nothing for adding back legal light? would I purchase again so far yes good looking, sturdy and beefy for my 35 incher