Review of the Aries Replacement Front Bumper for Jeep Wrangler

A great looking Jeep bumper that some serious offroaders may not completely trust to function as a bumper.

The Aries replacement front bumper is one of the more unique looking front bumpers I've seen in the last 6 months of looking at them. That's where my affection for the Aries front bumper ends and my rant about the lack of quality control and un-acceptable manufacturing errors that come with this bumper begins.

I gave this bumper 2-1/2 stars because I really like the shape. Unfortunately that very shape makes the bumper functionally questionable.

Click here for the step by step installation of the Aries front bumper and find out how it went.

The Aries replacement front bumper for a 2011 Jeep Wrangler is a good looking bumper that provides a look that you don't often see on the road or the trail. It's got an almost Mad Max-ish look to it they way it bends up and back towards the tires which is fairly appealing on a black Jeep.

It also looks like it will provide good clearance to the front wheel, which is a good thing. I'm starting to second-guess the modular (bolt-on) design of the flares and the unsupported upper tubes on the outside ends.

Good Looking, Not-So Functional Modular Design

The Aries replacement front bumper comes in 6 pieces shipped in 3 boxes; a main bumper and two bolt-on flares that start under the headlights and go out to the end of the body. It has a center tubular light bar and two separate, smaller tubular braces/bars that reach up from the bumper under the headlights and straight out towards the end of the body.

The tubes connect to the bolt-on flares and extend out about 6 or 8 inches to the end of the body unsupported.

As you may already have noticed, the appealing part of this design is part of it's flaw in two ways. The loss of strength in the main bumper by using the bolt-on end pieces, and the un-supported ends of the upper tube.

Also of note is the large amount of holes on the bumper. The metal gets fairly thing in some places, which will reduce the strength of the bumper overall. It may also lead to increased air noise at highway speeds.

The bumper is coated in a durable, textured black finish that looks like it will take a good beating. I think this is a better option than paint or powder coat and will last longer.

For a Jeep that will only be offroaded on easy and moderate trails this design should work just fine. It's got cut out area to install a winch. There are also places to install lights, although the brackets that are welded on the center bar are not lined up with each other. One points straight the other is off by several degrees.

But if you're planning on using the ends of the bumper to support the weight of the Jeep you better think about a different design. If you are not sure what I mean by this I think the Aries replacement front bumper ought to work just fine for your Jeep and it will look killer.

Questionable Manufacturing and Quality Control

The Aries replacement front bumper for a 2011 Jeep Wrangler came out of the box with very noticeable rust on two pieces and took a couple of extra hours to install than it should have due to poor manufacturing.

The 3 main modular parts do not line up at the bends by what I would consider more than an acceptable level. The distance between bends and the radius of the bend do not match where the parts bolt together. It is very noticeable and anyone that walks up and looks at the bumper will probably see it.

Installation went badly. Two of the 8 main mounting slots on the bumper did not line up with the brackets on the Jeep. After much frustration we decided to torch the offending slots into spec.

There were issues with clearance on the side pieces as well, which resulted in a sheered bolt and a hope that I never have to use the right side of the bumper to support the weight of the Jeep.

Overall I love the look of the Aries front bumper replacement for the Jeep Wrangler, but it may not be as functional as you would hope a front bumper would be. Just be prepared to shed some blood, sweat and swearing during the install.