First of all, I'm a big fan of stubby bumpers. My opinion is that Tacomas look best with hybrid bumpers and Jeeps look best with stubbies, and the common theme here is that they're minimalist, but provide the protection you need.
Why I Chose EVO
Take a look at all the other bumpers out there. Most of them are huge and intricate, or have weird designs or lines that don't match up with the front of a JL/JT. The EVO was designed in a way that it couldn't realistically be any smaller and it doesn't need to be any larger.
The price point was also a consideration. This bumper, powdercoated, is selling for around $475 (free shipping) right now and it's ready to ship. I'm coming from Tacoma world, where bumpers cost at least $1,000 raw steel + $75 shipping and they take 2-3 months to be built and shipped. That's a killer deal. Admittedly, the d-ring mounts don't come with it, which is kind of stupid, but it's still a fairly priced part, in my opinion.
What's Mounted On It
Smittybilt X20 12k Synthetic Winch: This is my first synthetic winch rope or 12k. Previously, I used a Smittybilt 9.5k steel cable winch. You know the one I'm talking about; it's their most affordable winch. It actually worked great, but I expect to use a winch a bit more frequently in the future, and I feel really confident this will be a great one. It's also wireless, which is cool. The fairlead and mounting brackets come in a brushed aluminum finish, but I had them powdercoated black, which makes the winch look much, much better.
Nilight Yellow Fogs: See my write-up on lights and wiring for more, but I love a yellow light for driving in snow and these are cheap and easy to replace. There aren't any pre-drilled holes and it's a tight squeeze to tighten these things down, but it's doable.
What's Bad About The Bumper
EVO Logo: We'll start with the minor item first. I don't care for the EVO logo, personally. On both ends of the bumper, the logo is cut out and it's pretty massive. Given that it's powdercoated black, it's tough to see, so that's good. I just appreciate a more subtle touch. Some logos are enough to turn me away instantly, no matter how much I might like the product.
Piss Poor Powder Coating: I'm pretty upset about this. EVO is a reputable company that makes great products, so when they ship a bumper that was powdercoated without primer, that's frustrating. They primer their control arms because they're going to be contacted by rocks. How is the bumper any different?
Powder Coating
Click on this picture to see the areas I've touched up. These are areas where you can peel the powder coating back with your fingernail. The only way you can pull a coat off that fast is if you didn't primer it; a very necessarily step to ensure it bonds to raw steel. The fairlead was professionally powder coated; it'll take a lot to rake that coat off.
It doesn't just matter because the paint chips off; it matters because an unprimered, poorly powdercoated piece of steel will rust out from under the coat. This picture was taken a week after install. Along the weld lines, the bumper is already rusting. That's just unacceptable.
To all manufacturers, if you're not going to primer before powdercoating, you're better off reducing your price slightly and shipping raw steel. Leaving your customers to pay out-of-pocket for their own powdercoating sucks, not only because of the hassle but also because of the costs incurred by an individual customer, but it's better than shipping a crap job that will prove more costly in the long run.
Best Solution: primer before powdercoating. Charge your customers extra for it if you want, but don't pretend like you're selling products that will last as-is, knowing they'll rust out in a matter of months, forcing your customers to disassemble, sandblast, primer, and re-coat.
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