Every once in a while, a new company explodes onto the off-road scene and makes its mark with new and innovative products that draw us in like an 18-year-old kid to the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on the newsstand.

When we first saw pictures of the HD Customs SwitchBlade bumper, it was like that first glance of bikini-clad hotties on a tropical beach … we couldn’t stop looking at them. The front and rear bumpers offer: lines that take your breath away, novelty in an overly saturated JK market and leaves you with the desire to stop at nothing until you get this product … or at least see it in person so you can drool all over it. 

HD Customs Switchblade Bumper.

HD Customs is a relatively new company, but it has actually been around building Jeeps, Toyotas and even Unimogs for several years. Jarrett Havercamp, owner and fabricator of HD Customs, saw an opportunity to design and build products for the Jeep JK and seized the moment. Realizing that the JK has several target markets, Havercamp decided to appeal to the hard-core rock crawler, as well as the grocery-grabbing soccer mom who frequents Chucky Cheese and afternoon wine tastings with the girls in her Jeep JK.

The SwitchBlade rear bumper and tire carrier has the sex appeal and the functionality that other manufacturers have missed and that consumers can appreciate. The entire package looks beautiful; however, the rear bumper/carrier’s ability to lower a 40”+ spare tire to the ground with little to no effort, all while still on the carrier itself, is something that you must witness to appreciate.

HD Customs is currently producing three SwitchBlade rear bumpers: the original, full-width version that protects your Jeep all the way out to the fender flares; a stubby version of the original; and the more hard-core friendly HD Switchblade Sport version. The full-width SwitchBlade can include such options as rear back up or rock lights, receiver hitch and winch mounting provisions (with winch mounting kit sold separately), while the HD Sport is bare bones and ready for the biggest rocks. No receiver, lights or winch needed here … just super-high clearance for the best departure angle on the market. 

The Switchblade easily lowers any size tire to the ground.

HD Customs builds each front and rear bumper from 3/16th steel, with an option of 1/4 for the guys who really bash their rigs hard! Each bumper can be purchased by itself or with several optional tire carrier setups. The traditional tire carrier can carry a 40”+ tire with no problem, thanks to the huge, 2" solid spindle and integrated tailgate latching system. The second choice is the dramatic SwitchBlade carrier that lowers your spare tire to the ground via mechanical assist. Imagine not having to wrestle with 150 lbs. of rubber and aluminum if you get a flat! The third option is something that has never been built before, but it has been needed and requested by the JK market for three years now. With the success of the “fastback top,” such as the Bestop Trektop, Havercamp came up with the idea to lay the spare tire back in, toward the body, at the exact angle of the swept back window. This gets the tire back in closer to the Jeep, rather than hanging up to 24 inches off the rear of the Jeep. It also increases departure angles when dropping off the tallest ledges. With a 38.5” Pitbull tire on the carrier, we measure 50 inches from the bottom of the spare tire to the ground. 

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Dropping off ledges will be less worrisome now with the HD Customs bumper.

Sometimes it’s the little things that count, so HD can also incorporate a HiLift Jack mount, adjustable license plate mount with LED lighting and a third brake light to stay legal. Color, you ask? Why settle for the boring old black that we’re all stuck with when ordering bumpers. Almost any color of powder coating or paint is offered by HD … and we went for Dark Knight; a dark gray with a slight metallic finish. 

The entire package has everything needed.

Each tire carrier is incredibly stout and uses an integration system that allows the tailgate to become one with the carrier. Smooth, one-handed operation is all that is needed when accessing the rear cargo area of the Jeep. Shimmy and shake may be sexy in that swimsuit magazine, but not on a Jeep – especially the rear bumper and tire carrier. Even over the largest street bumps or dirt washboard roads, there is absolutely no movement of our big spare tire or the carrier that holds it. We did start to experience some noise out back, in the form of creaking and squeaking. We spent some time pinpointing the location and finally located the annoying noise. The Switchblade tire carrier rests on a small landing ramp that is bolted to the tailgate. There is pressure on this landing ramp, which pushes the tailgate downward slightly and barely misaligns the tailgate latch. We simply used some white lithium grease on the rubber latch guides and we have not heard any noise since.

Everything works together when opening the gate.

Havercamp must have learned a lot from those swimsuit models and photographers. He made the front look and work as good as the rear. The front Dagger Bumper is creativity at its finest. We haven’t talked to a JK owner that is happy with their elongated front frame horns. To cover them, the aftermarket has been forced to make bulky units that hang too low and protrude out too far, especially when trying to protect the sway bar disconnect system. We had already ditched the push-button sway bar disconnect and bash bar, but we still had the ridiculous frame horns. HD Custom’s idea was to lop off a good portion of the front frame, design a super-stubby bumper to fit and to tuck a winch behind the Jeep grill.  No easy task … however, Havercamp somehow pulled it off. 

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We removed 6 inches off of the frame in front.

While this bumper is not for the faint of heart due to the modifications, there simply is no other JK on earth with the approach angle that is afforded with a HD Dagger Comp. Bumper. By removing 6 inches from each frame horn and modifying the radiator support bracket, the Dagger fits perfectly on the JK and allows a staggering 90 degree approach angle with 39” tires. This is truly the ultimate front JK bumper!  The downsides are obvious: cutting and moving factory components around is not desirable by some, so Havercamp offers a “friendlier” version of the Dagger that keeps the frame horns as they were from the factory, but you must run your winch in front of the grill and approach is not quite the 90 degrees. 

We suspected that over heating of our winch might become a problem being tucked in so tight behind the bumper and grill. HD customs vented the area to address the potential problem and we’ve experienced no ill affects. We were also concerned that lowering the sway bar mounts might pose a problem is the rocks. We’ve learned that it would be very difficult to hit this area, even in the largest rocks and have yet to even scrape these mounts. Lastly, we did make one sacrifice when mounting the winch in this confined area. Unless you run a winch that allows rotation of the clutch, you will lose the free spool function. The area is so tight, the engagement lever is always locked in gear, so you must run line out under the power of the winch motor. It might take a little longer to get the line out when winching, but we’d still give up our free spool in favor of this bumper design, every time.

We feel it's simply the best looking and most functional front bumper on the market.

Two nice options with the Dagger bumper is the use of PIAA 510 white driving lights and a center-mounted recovery point. Our rear bumper has a center-mounted recovery point as well, as we’ve never understood why anyone would want to be pulled at one side of their Jeep.  However, if you’d like two recovery points on your HD Customs bumpers, Havercamp will accommodate the request, which is the real beauty behind his company.  The word “Customs” is in the company name … and that is what HD will provide: custom work. You can use any of the basic designs that HD offers and manipulate them to your liking. What other manufacturer will do that for you?

Just because Havercamp isn’t a bikini model, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give him a call and experience his customer service. He’ll likely answer the phone and is willing to provide you with the knowledge and information that you need when choosing the right parts for your Jeep, or Toyota, or Unimog. The experience, quality and creativity that HD Customs offers is top notch, and they’ll be our first and only call as our newest JK Project unfolds and requires bumpers, fenders and all the rest of the goods to create another sexy Project Jeep. 

CONTACT:
HD CUSTOMS LLC.
PO Box 970
Monument, CO 80132
719-357-0270
ww.hdcustomsllc.com
mailto:Jarrett@hdcustomsllc.com