How to Remove Factory Rear Bumper on Your Jeep Wrangler JK

Hi guys! Today I’m going to take off the rear bumper on a Jeep Wrangler JK. A great way to add some features and capabilities to your Wrangler is by doing this to replace the factory rear bumper with an aftermarket bumper, which can offer a ton of different benefits, such as better take-off angles as well as the ability to carry an oversized spare wheel, but before you can fit an aftermarket bumper, you have to get the bumper today get out of the way in factory style. I’ll explain to you how to do it.

How to Remove Factory Rear Bumper

1. It only takes a few tools to do the job. You need to do it with your shoplift to make it easier to understand how to get access to the screws that you need to loosen, but you can do the job just as easily at home in your driveway.

2. Now you need to remove the spare wheel to lift the bumper out a bit easier by the way, so you need a 3/4-inch socket wrench. To start you can use an impact wrench to get the spare part to get out of the way. Next, you need a 3/8 drive ratchet as well as a flat L 16-millimeter socket to loosen the bumper screws.

3. If your Jeep is equipped with a clutch, you will need an 18-millimeter open end wrench. I like to use a ratchet wrench to get it will just make your life a little easier and then finally remove the tow hook. You can use the same 18-millimeter wrench or you can use an 18-millimeter socket wrench with your 3/8 drive ratchet. But the removal process for both that Versa towbar and the standard 2-inch towbar receiver are now exactly the same.

4. If you have a retaining clip for your wiring harness there, you’ll want to remove that first. You need to access four screws that hold the tow bar on the rear cross member and they are right behind the tow bar here in front of the muffler and this is where you are going to use your 18-millimeter wrench and this ratchet wrench is going to make your lives a lot easier. You have to move the clutch out of the way and remove these two screws that secure the bumper to the side of the frame member just behind your rear tire, there will now be two on the passenger side and two on the driver’s side. For this you will take your 3 / 8 ratchet together and with your 16mm flat L-socket you can remove these two screws.

5. Now the remaining four screws that secure the bumper to your Jeep are on the back of the rear cross member there. There is a screw on the rear and one on the passenger side there that attaches this mounting bracket to the crossmember and one screw that attaches the bracket to the back of the bumper and this is where the flat 3/8 drive 16-millimeter socket comes in that allows you to squeeze yourselves back in there and get the screws out of the way. Once you remove them, you can lift the bumper out the way and that’s all you need to get the rear bumper off your Wrangler.

6. The last thing you’re going to do is remove the rear tow hook. Many aftermarket Jeep Bumpers require the tow bar to be removed. If your Jeep is equipped with one, so you can mount your new bumper and to do this you can use the same 18-millimeter wrench.

That’s It!

If you have any questions about how to add the rear bumper, or how you can easily remove the tow hook from your Wrangler, you can contact me or leave comments in the section below. If you haven’t already done so, make sure you check out all the new articles here! Drive safely!