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Cherokee Rear Bumper - XJ Vanguard
¹ Concessions have been made for extra ground clearance and a sleek appearance and you will need to adjust your equipment accordingly. Depending on your setup this may mean longer drop hitches, wiring extensions, etc...² Designed to support the loads of the factory tow capacity, but carries no SAE certification, nor is it designed to meet any DOT or FMCSA regulation.
JcrOffroad's Vanguard Rear bumper is designed for those looking maximum protection for the rear of their Jeep Cherokee.
- CNC cut and formed from 3/16" Steel.
- Includes Rear Unibody Tie-in Brackets
- Includes (2) 3/4" thick shackle tabs.
- Built-in 2" receiver and safety chain cutouts.¹ ²
- 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 (not included, see related products below.)
- Easy Bolt-on Installation.
- Includes mounting hardware.
- Includes JcrOffroad Sticker.
- Hand built in the USA!
We produce these products in a low volume compared to the OEMs or aftermarket receiver hitch companies. As such, it's not feasible for us to get this product tested against SAE J684 specifications or design it meet specific DOT or FMCSA regulations. So while we try to over-engineer our products with the loads of the factory vehicle capacity in mind; towing a trailer on public highways is at your own risk and we make no claims on the legality or viability of doing so. We cannot offer any recommendations on capacity beyond this. If the ratings of the factory receiver hitch are important to you, we would recommend choosing a bumper that keeps that in place.
Looking for answers to common questions about us or our products? See our FAQ here.
48 Questions asked on Jeep XJ Rear Bumper | Vanguard Tire Carrier Ready - Jeep Cherokee (84-01)
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Ask us anything
Q
Ken • 06/29/2023, 2:48:03 PM
Will a 1UP bike rack still work with the tire mounted
A
08/09/2023, 11:13:54 AM
You'd need to use a hitch extension to clear the spare.
Q
Gavin • 08/07/2023, 7:58:49 PM
Do you have to remove the rear windshield wiper for the tire carrier to fit?
A
08/09/2023, 11:21:39 AM
No, you do not.
Q
Peyton • 09/28/2023, 2:19:12 PM
Is there a way to mount a high lift off road jack onto the swing arm or do I need to fabricate it myself?
A
11/30/2023, 3:11:16 PM
A Hi-Lift jack can be mounted onto one of our swing outs when using our Hi-Lift mount linked below.
https://www.jcroffroad.com/product/UNI-HLM.html
Q
Josiah • 10/03/2023, 6:46:46 PM
What is the max tire size for the carrier? 35s have worn my smittybilt out pretty quick.
A
11/30/2023, 3:00:21 PM
35's should be no issue, we're running a 37 on our XJ swing out at the moment.
Q
David Pipkin • 10/22/2023, 10:04:21 PM
on your XJ in the pictures the rear hatch bottom corners are rounded off and clear the bumper nicely. On my 1988 XJ those corners are square. Will my hatch clear this bumper?
A
11/08/2023, 12:07:30 PM
Yes, this bumper is designed to work on XJ's from 87-01.
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Mark Trevithick
(Florida Panhandle) | July 30th, 2024
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.
Paul
(Minnesota) | October 9th, 2021
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.
Nicholas Joiner
(Flagstaff, Arizona) | June 30th, 2021
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.
Aaron
(WA) | June 26th, 2021
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.
Ben Sweeney
| November 28th, 2020
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.
Nick
(Maryland) | June 2nd, 2020
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
Anonymous
| July 24th, 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.
Anonymous
| July 24th, 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."
Anonymous
| January 22nd, 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!!!
Anonymous
| February 17th, 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!
