So you convinced your spouse a few light trails present little risk to your daily transportation and cross-country family hauler. Everything was going well until that last obstacle exceeded the your WJ's departure angle and now the plastic rear bumper is lying on the ground rather than covering the back of the Jeep?. You soon find out that those who wheel Grand Cherokees have become quite adept at removing the plastic rear bumper before hitting the trail. At most trail rides you attend, there will be Grand Cherokees with their roof racks adorned with the factory plastic bumper pieces. The manufacturer obviously valued weight savings over functionality when designing the rear bumper. Whether you have experienced a rear end collision and need a replacement bumper or simply want a functional bumper capable of finishing the trail, you will want to replace the factory plastic with a heavy duty after market bumper. Much to my dismay however, a quick web search only revealed a few custom bumpers for the Grand Cherokee and availability was sketchy at best. Once again, Custom 4X4 Fabrication in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma comes to the rescue.

The corner pieces are precision cut to match the body contours

Custom 4X4 Fabrication began serving off-roaders in the mid-90s when few manufacturers realized the trail potential of the Cherokee XJ. They were one of the first to sell XJ winch bumpers, rear bumpers and tire carriers to meet the emerging market demand. Today, they continue to lead the industry in high quality XJ and TJ accessories at factory direct prices. It is not surprising owner Mike Houlette has again set the industry standard by offering a true trail ready rear bumper for the 1999-2004 Grand Cherokee WJ at an affordable ?to your door? price. Mike said most orders come in via phone or fax and he custom makes each bumper to meet the customer's needs. The bumpers are powdered coated, professionally packaged and shipping time is normally 2-4 weeks. Those desiring to color match their vehicle can order the bumper unpainted and have it color matched at any local body shop.

Drill Corner -- Minimal drilling is required for the installation

Off-Road.com was given the opportunity to install and test one of Custom 4X4 Fabrication's initial prototypes. Ours may vary slightly from the final version production version available by the time you read this article. We did not have any trouble with fit or finish on our 1999 V8 Quadra-Drive equipped test mule and installation was completed in less than 2 hours with basic hand tools. The Custom 4X4 Fabrication WJ bumper consists of six main pieces and mounting hardware. The first step in installing the new bumper is to remove the factory pieces (if they are still attached). Be careful not to damage your rear bumper cover during the removal process as it is worth $150-300 to a local body shop (maybe trade for color matching paint??) or Internet buyer. The removal process is made very easy by purchasing an inexpensive door panel removal tool. Use this tool to remove the plastic snap rivets from the bottom and top of the bumper cover and inside wheel well coverings as needed. A 10mm deep socket is used to remove two nuts on the inside of each rear fender. Use a torx head driver to remove the fasteners just inside

Corner Bolt -- Ease of assembly was considered in the design process

the left and right side of the tailgate. Once these fasteners are removed, carefully pull the rear corner panels away from the body. They are held in place by two plastic horizontal V clips so a popping noise is normal. The bumper cover is now free to be pulled off the vehicle and set aside. Behind the cover is your Styrofoam bumper?impact absorber? It is held in place with rivets and fender washers. Drill out the rivets and remove the Styrofoam. Next you will need to remove both taillights by unscrewing the two Philips head screws and gently pulling the light assembly out and away from the vehicle. Moving the red clip over and depressing the black catch easily disconnects the wiring harness.

Bracket -- 1/4 inch thick steel bracketry attached the bumper to the same mounting points as the factory receiver hitch assembly	Bumper Bolts -- Graded hardware is used at critical attachment points

Installing the Custom 4X4 Fabrication WJ bumper begins by locating the rear corner pieces using two bolts through the holes in WJ's fender where the factory bumper cover was bolted. Holding the corner pieces in place, mark locations for drilling two holes through the rear vertical pinch seam. Remove the corner piece and drill. Once these holes are drilled, use the supplied hardware to secure the corner pieces in place. The rear corner pieces provide much greater protection and increased departure angles than the stock bumper. Mike's attention to detail can be seen in the well-placed drain holes enabling you too completely wash out mud and debris. Next, support the rear trailer hitch assembly (if so equipped) and remove the three bolts on each side beginning from the rear. Do not remove the recessed bolt on each side that retains the gas tank and skid plate. The trailer hitch assembly should drop far enough for you to slide the 1/4-inch thick bumper mounting brackets in place. Use the new bolts supplied to compress the bumper mounting brackets between the trailer hitch assembly and the gas tank skid plate. A second person would be a great help on the next step, as you will need to align the new steel bumper with the mounting bracket holes. Three graded bolts on each side attach the bumper to the mounting brackets. Adjust the bumper as necessary to achieve the best alignment before tightening. The final assembly is a trim piece used to cover the rear cross member. Align this piece with an even gap from the bumper and mark the hole locations. Drill the holes and fasten the trim piece with the supplied self-threading hardware. Replace the tail light assemblies and you're done.

Trim Drill -- The rear trim piece finishes the bumper nicely giving it a factory appearance	Completed Install -- A view of the completed install.