There are a number of threads after install with people’s impressions and reviews. I thought it might worthy too post some thoughts after the new and shiny has worn off.
So as you have seen the fit and finish is impeccable and after 7 months still no rattles, squeaks, or anything else. Except for the high lift mount, that rattles. I think it needs another bolt the bottom or better would be 2 side by side to keep it from rattling back and forth. I put a piece of sticky back rubber sheet on there and while it wiggles, it no longer rattles.
Things I would change, I’d like if the tire was a bit closer to the gate, Rotopax mount holes moved outboard about 1/2” or so, they already changed the cutouts on the side, as mentioned the high lift mount (my passenger side gate also just nicks the pins on my high lift).
Been trying to figure out what will mount behind the spare tire reasonably well. So far, an axe and small shovel seem okay. But I usually keep the axe inside.
The holes for a Rotopax mount don’t work if you use a 3 gallon container, the can hits the high lift. I was able to massage a few of the square holes and use the mount without the backing plate.
I don’t hate the cut outs on the sides but I wish I would have painted behind the bumper first. My plan is to attach an aluminum sheet behind the cut outs at some point, but it’s pretty low priority.
The last thing is the high lift mount. First off it always rattled and the passenger gate hits the pins on the jack. It’s just enough to scratch the powder coat as it goes by. Normally I push the jack and it clears but I forget sometimes.
But don’t take all that as I am not happy with the purchase of my bumper. Overall, these are all pretty small things. The fact is these are quality parts and C4 does great work. The important things like the latches and hinge points are solid after many miles of wash boards and off road use. And hey Instagram cred right lol. Being completely honest, I probably wouldn’t have bought a rear bumper but after random dude in a Jetta rear ended me and insurance wrote me check...well what’s a guy to do. There are the obvious drawbacks, like half your rear window is blocked and getting in and out of the hatch takes an extra 10 seconds. Nonetheless, I still like it. I like having options on where to carry stuff, I like that I could carry a spare on the gate and underneath if I chose to, and I like that it looks like what I want it to look like.
EDIT, see posts below for fixes I did on the issues I had.