Specs ✓ Vehicle: 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) ✓ Material: 3/16" steel ✓ Finish: Satin-textured black powder coat over zinc primer, or bare steel (uncoated) ✓ Made in: USA
Getting further off the grid means being prepared for it. The Vanguard Rear Bumper is a huge step forward in gear management, giving you tire carrier readiness, recovery points, and unibody reinforcement all in one setup built to handle the trail.
Features:
Laser cut and formed from 3/16" steel for lasting strength
Includes Rear Unibody Tie-in Brackets for proper reinforcement
Recover safely with (2) 3/4" thick shackle tabs
Built-in 2" receiver and safety chain cutouts¹²
Accepts aftermarket 3x3 LED cube lights
Built-in Hi-Lift jacking points
Tire carrier ready, accepts JcrOffroad's left and right Adventure Carriers and accessories (sold separately)
You'll need ournut strips if your Cherokee didn't come with a factory receiver hitch, or if you're looking to upgrade to 1/2" SAE hardware
Fitment & Notes
Fits 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
Bare steel lets you finish it your way. Get it coated soon after delivery to prevent surface rust.
¹ This hitch sits higher for improved ground clearance. Plan for a longer drop hitch or extended trailer wiring to match its new position.
² This hitch is built to handle factory tow capacity loads. As a low-volume manufacturer, we haven't pursued SAE, DOT, or FMCSA certification for it. If a certified hitch is important to you, look for a bumper that retains the factory receiver.
What is it made of? 3/16" steel, with rear unibody tie-in brackets included.
Does it have a hitch receiver? Yes. It has a 2" receiver. It sits higher than factory, so you may need a longer drop hitch.
Is the receiver rated for towing? It is not SAE or DOT certified, but it handles the factory tow capacity.
Does it have recovery points? Yes. It has two 3/4" shackle tabs plus Hi-Lift jack points.
Can I add a tire or fuel carrier? Yes. It is ready for our left and right Adventure Carriers.
Do I need anything extra if I have no factory hitch? Yes. Nut strips are needed for install if your XJ does not have a factory hitch.
Can I mount lights? Yes. It has mounts for 3x3 LED cubes.
Customer Reviews
5.0
★★★★★★★★★★
10 ratings · 10 written
5★10
4★0
3★0
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1★0
★★★★★★★★★★Jul 30, 2024
Excellent Design, and Fabrication Producing a Beautiful Bumper
After watching countless videos on the installation and comments on various manufacturers rear bumpers, the clear choice for me was JCR. It's not the least expensive, but their engineering and design are clear and well executed. The finished product is a nice heavy bumper that will easily support the Rear Tire Swing Arm I am adding.
Though the Installation Video is helpful, the thing that is missing in print and in the video is a Parts List that tells you which fasteners go where. It comes with two bags of fasteners with JCR part numbers, and a description of the fasteners inside, but there is no indication of where they are to be used. Thankfully, the 1/2" bolts would not fit in the side brackets, so by the process of elimination, the 7/16" bolts were used. After watching the video countless times, I could finally see that it was indeed the 7/16" bolts used there.
I have mounted the bumper, but not tightened everything up yet as I need to expand the holes for the left bracket to properly center the bumper left to right.
I still have unused 1/2" fasteners and at the moment am unsure of where they are to be used.
Thankfully, the Swing Arm kit comes with a nine page set of instruction with images. The bumper needs the same detail.
Mark Trevithick
★★★★★★★★★★Oct 9, 2021
Very well built. Very functional.
The first thing you notice with this is the price tag. However, I really don't have much of a problem paying for a quality USA product. With all the contours that this thing has, it impressed me by how well it fit. They either got really lucky or have their jigs set up really well or both. I got mine with bare metal and primed/raptor lined it. It has many attachment points and is quite sturdy. It looks and works great.
Some may question whether or not they want to add the heft of this bumper to their Jeep, but once you subtract the weight of your class 3 hitch, this really doesn't add as much as you would think.
The two things I do not like is that with the adventure carriers, they completely block the reverse lights. But the bumper has provisions for cube lights which will undoubtedly be an upgrade, but it is just a little extra $$$$ that needs to be spent. Less than $25 on eBay.
Also, I was hoping to remove the adventure carrier(s) depending on the season, but that won't be practical since the axle stubs used to mount the carriers is not an easily removable item. I could leave the stubs there, but would need to cover them up so the weather doesn't have its way with them. But I am now thinking that I won't be using the Jeep in the salt, so there it stays.
Paul
★★★★★★★★★★Jun 30, 2021
Awesome
I purchased this bumper because it was the only XJ bumper that could house dual swings. It did not disappoint. It is heavy-duty, and great looking! There are a few minor design improvements that could be made, and the instructional video is a bit off, but overall really happy with the purchase.
Nicholas Joiner
★★★★★★★★★★Jun 26, 2021
fits great looks great.
This bumper is worth every penny. Made in the USA everything fits nice and tight. Feels super sturdy and strong. Love the way it takes the carrier. Install was fairly simple by myself, just took a little time to line everything up with jacks.
Aaron
★★★★★★★★★★Nov 28, 2020
Bumper Review
Great bumper after installed. Some of the powder coating had flaked off in shipment and the support bracket didn't line up correctly as it did in the instructions. Most likely since it was a different year of XJ and was slightly different. It all worked out at the end and would definitely buy again.
Ben Sweeney
★★★★★★★★★★Jun 2, 2020
The Best Built XJ Bumper
This thing is straight Grade A beef. Its heavy duty, does not flex, and goes together on the Jeep like butter. Mine came powder coated and that was very well done. I also got the tire carrier and lower integrated armor and everything just works. It fits together with no modification. Yes its expensive, but you can really see where the money goes. Absolutely worth the price
Nick
★★★★★★★★★★Feb 21, 2017
What more can I say? This bumper is absolutely fantastic! Offers a LOT of protection, and arguably even more important, it looks AWESOME! Haha! But seriously, if you're on the fence, just leap! No doubt you'll be happy! The build quality is second to none, and hey, you and your jeep will look amazing! How can you even put a price on that?!
JcrOffroad Customer
★★★★★★★★★★Feb 18, 2017
I've had the JCR rear bumper with tire carrier mounted on my 99 XJ for a few years now and it's still as awesome as the day I got it. I added the Rotopax mount and have used the bracket for the high-lift jack as well with no problems. I also have a CB antenna mounted on the swingout and it works great too! I've gotten many compliments and it sure is nice having all that space in the back where I used to have the spare. My 33" tire fits on the spare mount with lots of extra adjustment in case I go bigger. Couldn't be happier with the build quality and was very pleased with the license plate mount/light. I remember thinking how well it was designed and built when I installed it because it was almost effortless and aligned with the body lines perfectly with little effort!
JcrOffroad Customer
★★★★★★★★★★Jan 22, 2016
I've had this bumper mounted for over a year now, and it is amazing, I have towed with it and used it for recovery multiple times. and it has work flawlessly every time, also looks bad ass! Thanks JCR!!!
JcrOffroad Customer
★★★★★★★★★★Jul 24, 2015
This is a much better bumper than my first bumper by Smittybilt. Some thought was put behind the engineering. The only part I was disappointed in was it came with Grade 5 hardware. For the amount of money spent compared to others, it should have had Grade 8 or 10.9 bolts. Went out and replaced the hardware with 10.9 black phosphate hardware.
JcrOffroad Customer
Reviews come from our customers. Buyers are invited to rate their parts after their order ships, and those reviews are marked Verified Buyer. We publish positive and negative reviews alike.
