Rugged Ridge Hood Guard Body Armor Kit (07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK)

Video Review & Installation

I'm Ryan from ExtremeTerrain.com, and this is my review and installation of the Rugged Ridge Body Armor Hood Stone Guard to the all 2007 to 2016 J case. Today we're gonna talk about the construction and of course the installation of this stone guard.The leading edge of your hood can be a magnet for stone throws. So whether you have some damage you're looking to cover up, or if you're looking to protect that area from damage in the future, this piece will definitely do the trick. This is also a visual modification, so as part of a package or a stand-alone accent piece, this will also visually change up the look of the front of your jeep.Now as far as visual mods go, this is right around the price that you would expect it to be. So if this is something that you'd like to see on your jeep, I would say it's worth the price. This stone guard is made of a black thermoplastic that has been UV-treated so it's not going to fade in the sun and become gray, and the thermoplastic means it's gonna be nice and strong, so even if you do catch a stone throw in the highway, it's not going to crack.As you can see, it has this diamond plate texture on the top of it which some of you will like, some of you not as much. It is a little bit more of an old school look, so that is something to consider when looking at this stone guard. As far as installation goes, it has a couple of tabs molded right into it that will go into the existing holes that you have for your upper hood latch, and on the underside, of course, automotive-grade 3M tape that makes installation really easy and also non-permanent. If you want to be able to remove this part down the line, you can always do that by just popping off a couple of nuts, giving it a pull and cleaning off the adhesive.So as I mentioned, installation is super simple for this stone guard. You're going to have two tabs and the 3M adhesive that hold it into place. The first step in the installation is removing the nuts from the upper hood latches on the inside of your hood. From there, you want to make sure that the surface that's going to be contacted by the 3M tape is nice and clean. You can use an alcohol prep pad or any alcohol-based cleaner to clean that off. Once everything is clean, give this a test fit, then you can peel a small two-inch section of the adhesive, put it on the hood and, again, make sure that it fits properly. After you have everything test fit, you can peel the rest of the red backing off of the 3M tape, go ahead and re-install the nuts over the upper hood latches and press everything into place.Anytime you're using 3M adhesive to attach anything automotive, you wanna make sure you do it when the weather is right around 70 degrees or possibly, even warmer. If you try installing this on a 30-degree winter's day, chances are the 3M adhesive isn't going to tape. It's not going to bond well and eventually, it's gonna try and pop off. If you do this when the weather is nice or in a heated garage, let the adhesive set up properly and, of course, re-install those nuts on your hood latches. This is going to be permanent until you wanna remove it.The whole installation for this product shouldn't take you more than half hour to complete, and you won't need any specialty tools, just some sockets for the nuts and the hood latches and, of course, a good alcohol based cleaner for the surface of the hood. This stone guard is just shy of a hundred dollars, and for me I like to spend the money on my Jeep on functional modifications.So if you're looking at this from a stand point of covering up damage that's already on your hood, it's going to be significantly cheaper than metal repair and paint repair. If you're looking at this to protect the leading edge of your hood, I think it's a great investment. Or if you just like the look of this part, again, I do think it's worth the price because of the build quality.So whether you're looking to cover up damage on the leading edge of your hood, protect it from damage in the future or you just like the look of this diamond plate looking rock guard, this is going to be an inexpensive and easy to install addition to your jeep.So that's my review of the Rugged Ridge Body Armor Hood Stone Guard for the all 2007 to 2016 J case that you can find right here at ExtremeTerrain.com.