Story Behind the Production of Bumper Nerf Stripes for Chrysler Jeep Grand Wagoneer

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure”.

It’s true, hard work definitely pays off. I appreciate my positive traits, of being a perfectionist that make me punctual, goal-oriented and high-achieving. What I learnt, “You are someone who is counted on to accomplish a project on time and perform to the best of your ability”. The ‘labour of love’ is the final product ready to enter the market. Yes, I have been engaged with a project to rebuild set front and rear for Chrysler Jeep Grand Wagoneer. The objective is to produce a new complete OEM set for 150$. Then, over the course of more than a year and a half, I was successful to rebuild bumper stripes or nerfs for Grand Wagoneer 84–91.

Here’s my step-by-step method of the production process of bumper nerfs stripes for Jeep Grand Wagoneer 1984-1991-

Poor Samples Sent for Scanning

The story for the bumper stripe production of Jeeps Grand Wagoneer starts here. An Italian Chrysler Jeep Wagoneer owner sent me poor samples of bumper stripes. I sent back those samples to my supplier. Those samples have some faults on the shape, and they were out of the box. For this a lot of work will be required and I was ready to accept the challenge.

First Release Ready for Scan and 3D Drawing

On receiving the first scan and drawing from my supplier, the next step was to check the drawing with the samples. But the problem was that the only samples I had were sent to the supplier. It was necessary that I buy the bumper and a second set of Bumper stripes.

Need a Set of Bumpers

I was fortunate that a friend of mine in Switzerland gave me two bumpers in good condition- a front and rear bumper for Chrylser Jeep Grand Wagoneer. These bumpers were good quality, aluminum polished and not chromed. Thus, I have a second set of bumper stripes to check the prototype.

Removed Samples and Compared to Drawing

At that stage, all things needed to be verified, because a slightest mistake can cause a serious problem in the future. That was really an important job to compare the samples with 3D drawing, where the engineers have done the correction or introduced a wrong shape or angle. Then, the next step was to order and wait on the CNC samples in ABS material to check the prototype on real conditions.

Prototype ABS Ready

Worthwhile to mention, the prototypes are good. These are made by CNC on ABS plastic. However, the final product was made in different which was more flexible. I was super excited and couldn’t even wait to receive and check on my local bumper.

Checked Prototype on Bumper

When I received the ABS prototype for a sample of RH front and rear – it was great! I checked it directly on the bumper to verify the shape, angle and some others details. Shapes were just perfect and there was no line of paste like on the factory parts. Apparently, they are an exact fit, except for a little bit of details. Then, I moved to the molding and production process.

Prototype Needs Some Modification

When that was fixed on the bumper, it seemed that there were required some modification again. The curve doesn’t perfectly match the bumper. It went for another modifications of the 3D drawing and manufacture of a new ABS prototype by CNC process for a real test

Final Prototype

I received the last prototype built in Polypropylene (PP), the same material as the original piece. The finish is very nice. In order to generate this prototype, we needed to create a first machined prototype in ABS and create a latex mold with this one and from this mold inject PP material and generate this current prototype. The final parts would be created by molding injection into a metal mold. It guaranteed a constant quality on 20,000 items.

Finally, Bumper Nerfs Are Ready for Production

After 8 months of hard work and dedication on this Bumper Nerf reproduction project, I was satisfied to announce that the Bumper Nerf for Jeep Grand Wagoneer 84-91, was out for production. Then, we worked for a month to machine the metal mold that were used for production.

Creation of Big Mold for Four Nerf

The creation of the mold started and it has been accomplished. After spending time on the 3D prototype part, it started to look like it was real but in negative mode as it was a mold.

First Product from the Mold

I received the first set of products from the mold. It took time, a few tests and settings of the machine for a result like that. Nothing stopped the production launch of the first 200 sets. Thus, you could once again put nice protections on your old jeep.

Product Available for Sale

The products are now available on my website. The products are stoked in the state of Michigan in an automated warehouse is connected to my eBay account. Thus, a long journey with the production comes to an end.

The fisrt review

As per the customer review the color, look and feel of these bumper nerfs is great. It is a perfect replacement for the original parts. These are the words that spark happiness in my brain and it is the result of my commitment to excellence.

Present at the SEMA SHOW 2018 with Jeep Heritage

Presentation at the SEMA show by Daniel CEO of Jeep Heritage on his booth, very nice moment.