Rear bumper, what would you pick?

[Tejas]

Recently pulled the trigger on a Shrockworks, expecting delivery in the next couple of weeks. Ordered it in bare steel and will have it Rhino Lining coated.
Went with Shrockworks because of the clean sleek lines, excellent build quality, weight (100lbs plain bumper), reputation, and just like the way it fits tight to factory lines. Can't wait to get it on.



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So you did not get the swing out? I am curious as to how the swing out locks in place when open. It's hard to tell from the old grainy photos on their website.

I too like the simplicity of the Shrockworks bumper and I enjoy supporting local business, but I can't help but see how low the swing out sits and how dated the design is. I guess if the cost is over $1000 cheaper than the C4 it is certainly something to consider especially when you take into account their outstanding build quality reputation.

 

[Soccer13]

Check out YouTube there is a guy on there that had the swingout shrockworks and I noticed a pretty large gap from bumper to rear cargo area. You will probably be able to see how it sits when the swingout is open too and how low it goes.

So you did not get the swing out? I am curious as to how the swing out locks in place when open. It's hard to tell from the old grainy photos on their website.

I too like the simplicity of the Shrockworks bumper and I enjoy supporting local business, but I can't help but see how low the swing out sits and how dated the design is. I guess if the cost is over $1000 cheaper than the C4 it is certainly something to consider especially when you take into account their outstanding build quality reputation.

 

[Tejas]

Check out YouTube there is a guy on there that had the swingout shrockworks and I noticed a pretty large gap from bumper to rear cargo area. You will probably be able to see how it sits when the swingout is open too and how low it goes.

Thanks, I'll take a look!

In regards to the C4 I find myself torn between the dual arms and a single that pivots on the passenger side. I can see the duals being better for rear clearance but it also requires more steps to open/close your rear lift gate. It's crazy that it becomes a $3K+ bumper in short order when you add accessories.

 

[srsrogerissrs]

So you did not get the swing out? I am curious as to how the swing out locks in place when open. It's hard to tell from the old grainy photos on their website.

I too like the simplicity of the Shrockworks bumper and I enjoy supporting local business, but I can't help but see how low the swing out sits and how dated the design is. I guess if the cost is over $1000 cheaper than the C4 it is certainly something to consider especially when you take into account their outstanding build quality reputation.

The shrockworks has a locking t-pin when you open it. Swing it out, it locks, pull tpin and close.

 

[Soccer13]

It definitely is a extra step to have the dual BUT it evenly dispersed weight along two pivots which when you start adding jerry cans, tire, highlift mount etc all that weight on one swing lever arm will make it sag and or make that side sag down when it’s in the open position.

Thanks, I'll take a look!

In regards to the C4 I find myself torn between the dual arms and a single that pivots on the passenger side. I can see the duals being better for rear clearance but it also requires more steps to open/close your rear lift gate. It's crazy that it becomes a $3K+ bumper in short order when you add accessories.

 

[comtn4x4]

Really digging the C4 dual swing out! What made you chose the C4 over Hefty like your front? I had the same front on my old 4runner and the aluminum hefty steel swing out in the rear ended up selling that 4runner.

I do love my Hefty front bumper and I think Hefty does great work. There were a couple reasons I chose C4. First, I strongly feel that steel is the way to go for rear bumpers. There are a lot more moving parts and the additional durability was key to me. (Figure I'm adding almost 250# in lift, propane, fuel and water onto the bumper for trips) Plus I was dragging my hitch and rear bumper as it was so I was concerned about that. Second, I think the C4 hinge, latch and overall design is far better thought out. My bumper, swing outs, tire etc. don't move at all. Last, I wanted a no cut bumper. After the cut pieces flopping around for years on my front I just didn't want to deal with that. (Ultimately on the front I got the RPMFAB filler pieces.)

 

[comtn4x4]

Thanks, I'll take a look!

In regards to the C4 I find myself torn between the dual arms and a single that pivots on the passenger side. I can see the duals being better for rear clearance but it also requires more steps to open/close your rear lift gate. It's crazy that it becomes a $3K+ bumper in short order when you add accessories.

I would seriously consider the single swing. From what I've seen there is no issue with movement and I feel confident that Caleb has it well designed. The latch/carrier design for the single swing is completely different. Also, the convenience of a single latch and a larger camp table are great. The table on the Dual swing is a bit small

As far as cost goes keep in mind you'll need to put some sort of coating on it. Powder coating for mine was $600

 

[TRD_Mike]

I love my C4. I'd highly recommend it

Did you put your rear light on a switch or tap into the reverse?

 

[TRD_Mike]

I'll play ball here and give some info from my experiences, I will never buy another CBI product again! My front bumper which was supposed to be complete and shipped to me between 8-10 weeks took almost 24 weeks but the 16th week mark they just kept saying soon and it was done and waiting on shipping then at 20 weeks they told me it was complete and being shipped finally at 22 weeks I was informed that now it is shipping. I received the bumper only to find it damaged and it was not damaged from shipping. The shipping crate and packaging was in perfect condition but underneath the foam and wrap that didn't have so much of a smudge on it, there were multiple gouges, scrapes, and scratches. I was missing parts along with finding plenty of powder coating discrepancies only to be told that's how its supposed to look when powder coated. Fast forward 2 weeks I finally get down to Expo east and my first order of business was to confront CBI which I did and I wanted their rear bumper at the time but was very hesitant. We came up with a "solution for the crap powder coat shipping issues and other things and I was assured on an 8-12 week shipping time max on the rear bumper so I ordered. Well, here we are week 15 and nothing. I was ignored for 3 weeks I was at one point again told my bumper was complete and ready to be shipped 2 weeks later told that my bumper was still in production and they had no idea when the completion date was or when it would ship or anything of the sort. So I emailed back and said I was going to cancel the order and the response I received was in not so many words ok cancel it if you'd like (as if they didn't give a shit to lose a customer because they don't). They did not try to do any sort of customer retention or any sort of customer service or figure out a solution so I did just that and I canceled my order and I have since ordered a C4 rear dual swing out. I am very happy with my choice and although I'm set back another 12 weeks I would rather wait longer and not sport and promote a CBI rear bumper and would rather use a C4 bumper which after a lot of research I think is a better product than the CBI bumper anyway!

 

[comtn4x4]

Did you put your rear light on a switch or tap into the reverse?

Mine is tied to my sPOD on a switch. I felt like they were too bright to use all the time as reverse lights. And I use them for camp setup so I want to turn them on without being in reverse.
If I wasn't using the sPOD I'd wire them in a three way switch. On/Off/On with Reverse. The sPOD can't handle that configuration without an additional relay. The other benefit of being on the sPOD is they can be dimmed

 

[Tejas]

I'll play ball here and give some info from my experiences, I will never buy another CBI product again! My front bumper which was supposed to be complete and shipped to me between 8-10 weeks took almost 24 weeks but the 16th week mark they just kept saying soon and it was done and waiting on shipping then at 20 weeks they told me it was complete and being shipped finally at 22 weeks I was informed that now it is shipping. I received the bumper only to find it damaged and it was not damaged from shipping. The shipping crate and packaging was in perfect condition but underneath the foam and wrap that didn't have so much of a smudge on it, there were multiple gouges, scrapes, and scratches. I was missing parts along with finding plenty of powder coating discrepancies only to be told that's how its supposed to look when powder coated. Fast forward 2 weeks I finally get down to Expo east and my first order of business was to confront CBI which I did and I wanted their rear bumper at the time but was very hesitant. We came up with a "solution for the crap powder coat shipping issues and other things and I was assured on an 8-12 week shipping time max on the rear bumper so I ordered. Well, here we are week 15 and nothing. I was ignored for 3 weeks I was at one point again told my bumper was complete and ready to be shipped 2 weeks later told that my bumper was still in production and they had no idea when the completion date was or when it would ship or anything of the sort. So I emailed back and said I was going to cancel the order and the response I received was in not so many words ok cancel it if you'd like (as if they didn't give a shit to lose a customer because they don't). They did not try to do any sort of customer retention or any sort of customer service or figure out a solution so I did just that and I canceled my order and I have since ordered a C4 rear dual swing out. I am very happy with my choice and although I'm set back another 12 weeks I would rather wait longer and not sport and promote a CBI rear bumper and would rather use a C4 bumper which after a lot of research I think is a better product than the CBI bumper anyway!

Sadly this sounds like very similar practices that go on at Expo1 and have people there screwed on $3K bumpers as well. It's insane how overwhelmingly common this type of thing has become in this industry. I understand it happens in all hobbies/interests where startups and small shops blow up over night, but it seems like a trend in this industry more than others. It's enough to turn someone away from the whole "overland" thing altogether.

 

[Tejas]

I would seriously consider the single swing. From what I've seen there is no issue with movement and I feel confident that Caleb has it well designed. The latch/carrier design for the single swing is completely different. Also, the convenience of a single latch and a larger camp table are great. The table on the Dual swing is a bit small

As far as cost goes keep in mind you'll need to put some sort of coating on it. Powder coating for mine was $600

Wait, at $3K it still isn't even powder coated? Damn!!! I went back and read all of the fine print, sure enough, ships bare steel. Wow, so I'll be all in over $3500 with this bumper, wooooo, definitely takes the breath away lol.

I see you went with the dual arms, does this mean that if you did it again that you would opt for the single arm the second time around? It does appear that there is a larger latch on the single arm design. I need to call C4 and ask a few questions before I order this thing.

One big attraction to their bumper is the lack of cutting, I like the idea of simply removing the factory plastic bumper and installing this one.

 

[TRD_Mike]

Wait, at $3K it still isn't even powder coated? Damn!!! I went back and read all of the fine print, sure enough, ships bare steel. Wow, so I'll be all in over $3500 with this bumper, wooooo, definitely takes the breath away lol.

I see you went with the dual arms, does this mean that if you did it again that you would opt for the single arm the second time around? It does appear that there is a larger latch on the single arm design. I need to call C4 and ask a few questions before I order this thing.

One big attraction to their bumper is the lack of cutting, I like the idea of simply removing the factory plastic bumper and installing this one.

Dm Me and I think I can help you out with the cost if you are being deterred by that! $3165 for a bare no cut bumper isn't bad when you add up all the CBI options and everything with powder coat is about $3100 before their astronomical shipping rates and you still need to relocate the back up cam which costs $$$ whether it $15 or $100 its still more in the long run while having to cut a rear bumper. Unfortunately, steel isn't cheap and neither is a good welder putting in 100 hours of Fab time to make a rear bumper!

 

[TRD_Mike]

Sadly this sounds like very similar practices that go on at Expo1 and have people there screwed on $3K bumpers as well. It's insane how overwhelmingly common this type of thing has become in this industry. I understand it happens in all hobbies/interests where startups and small shops blow up over night, but it seems like a trend in this industry more than others. It's enough to turn someone away from the whole "overland" thing altogether.

My thing is there is nothing wrong with a long lead time but be upfront and honest about it stop lying. If something comes up it's understandable that things come up but communicate that, shit happens its part of life and competing priorities happen sometimes other things take precedence. But when you don't give a shit about your customers that are spending 3, 4,8k because you have become "famous" throwing bumpers on sponsored Instagram rigs and YouTubers and that's what your company is thriving off of and you have so many orders you actually don't care there is a problem. I would have given them my money had they been honest or had I gotten a phone call with updates even just once letting me know status etc... I can't speak to the issues with EXPO 1 and I've never really liked their rear bumper aside from their latching system that I think is cool. But what I can say is CBI actually doesn't care about or for their customers based off of my experience twice in a row.

 

[blue2016]

If anyone here is close to the north Dallas, Texas area and is going to upgrade to an aftermarket rear bumper, let me know if you're going to get rid of your OEM trail or pro rear bumper. I'm in the market for one.

Just pulled mine of, 2016 trail located just north of Beaumont and its blue.

 

[blue2016]

Just finished putting the SSO rear bumper on this past weekend.

 

[tm965]

Just finished putting the SSO rear bumper on this past weekend.

badass

 

[zonzin]

So you did not get the swing out? I am curious as to how the swing out locks in place when open. It's hard to tell from the old grainy photos on their website.

...

I did not get the swingout. Tire is fine where it is and I like the visibility out the back.


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[zonzin]

Check out YouTube there is a guy on there that had the swingout shrockworks and I noticed a pretty large gap from bumper to rear cargo area. You will probably be able to see how it sits when the swingout is open too and how low it goes.

Yeah if you don't cut the OEM bumper to retain that gap filler that is what you get. I will post up picks of mine when done to show the area between bumper and cargo area.


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[comtn4x4]

Wait, at $3K it still isn't even powder coated? Damn!!! I went back and read all of the fine print, sure enough, ships bare steel. Wow, so I'll be all in over $3500 with this bumper, wooooo, definitely takes the breath away lol.

I see you went with the dual arms, does this mean that if you did it again that you would opt for the single arm the second time around? It does appear that there is a larger latch on the single arm design. I need to call C4 and ask a few questions before I order this thing.

One big attraction to their bumper is the lack of cutting, I like the idea of simply removing the factory plastic bumper and installing this one.

Yes I would consider the single swing out. I'd probably drive up to their shop and take a look at theirs but the bigger table is a big plus in my mind. Let alone it's much easier to get in and out of. (think about how many times you'll be opening those swing arms!)
I remember seeing a video of the single swing out latch design at some point. I believe it was on Instagram. I was very impressed with the design of it.
As I said for me no cutting is key. I haven't had good luck with cut plastic body panels.

It is expensive. However, coating the bumper yourself you can control the quality of how it's coated. I know my coating is bullet proof because of who I used. I also know all the prep work was done correctly. And it didn't have to hold up to being shipped coated.
Also keep in mind very few of the quality rear bumper options are any less. (CBI, Expedition One, SSO and what Pelfrey was pre bankruptcy) C4 is keeping their production times in line by not having to send it out to be powder coated.