There are many JK Wrangler front bumpers on the market today, all addressing customers' wants and needs. Many are quite large, some not. We like smaller. The Shrockworks stubby JK front bumper is one of the best, in our opinion. It doesn't look bulky on the front of the JK, yet is strong and will mount a Warn PowerPlant in between the frame rails.
Shrockworks' bumpers are 3/16-inch steel plate, laser-cut, CNC-formed, welded, and finished in the United States. Speaking of finish-the powder-coating process Shrockworks uses results in an extremely strong and good-looking finish. We like the semi-gloss black powdercoat, but there are other colors offered. Two massive 1-inch steel shackle points are welded front and back. They are designed so that even if the weld fails (fat chance) the recovery points are still retained in the bumper. As we mentioned, a Warn PowerPlant HP winch fits fine on the bumper's winch mount, which accommodates most winches up to 9,500 pounds. The PowerPlant looks much better mounted between the frame rails. For esthetics, some JK bumpers put the fairlead opening dead center, making it impossible to wrap your winch cable or rope on the drum correctly. Shrockworks offsets the opening so the rope winds evenly on the winch drum. This is so much more important than having an aesthetically-pleasing bumper that won't work when the chips are down.
The stubby comes with a standard 3/16-inch skid plate that protects the JK Rubicon's vulnerable SmartBar (swaybar) disconnect mechanism. As you can see in the photo, the skidplate is designed to be out of the way, affording a great approach angle. It bolts on, so it can be removed if not needed. Without the skidplate, the stubby bumper looks even more streamlined.
As we said before, there are many quality JK bumpers available today. We like the Shrockworks stubby JK bumper. We like it so much we've used it on three JK projects.
Smaller is better.