Finished! Took a bit longer than I had hoped. Mainly because I was working in the second summer of central Texas. The main PITA is taking off/putting on the bumper. The rest was straight forward. I had to lose the driver side reverse light upgrade (thanks PowerfulUk & Simon) but it's not a deal breaker.

I like the old school looks a lot better than the OEM folding ladder, but I admit it's a personal preference. It's also NOT cheap, but I have yet to find something since buying the Defender that's cheap. Wait, the little cubby hole in front of the Arm rest was BRILLIANT and only $24 from Amazon. Well, there is that.

Next up, time to start working on Winch/bull bars.


Not tough at all to install.

 

Looks great! How is reaching towards the front of the rack?

 

Man this looks freaking awesome. I've been wanting to do this myself but I am waiting to tackle the tow hitch at the same time. Let me know if you ever need some help. You're not to far from Houston.

 

i’m going to go a similar route, i havent fully decided on a ladder but if its this one i’m going to install it and the rear tow hooks at the same time since i’ll have the bumper off anyways

 

I've got the rear tow eyes. Its pretty easy to put the entire tow receiver in with the bumper off. They are back ordered like crazy right now though.

 

DEFINITELY recommend doing them all in one shot. If you have plans to do toe hooks/eyes, tow receiver, mud flaps, whatever - you only want to do this one. Trust me on this. Take a lot of time to watch PowerfulUK's video on taking the rear bumper off. Pro-Tips not included: If you have mud flaps - make sure you take those off too; I found it easy to unsnap all connectors before taking off the bumper; connecting the reverse camera washer is a PITA (wish Simon had video'd the assembly); I'm a huge fan of dropping connectors in zip lock bags with a note of the order/where - helps a lot; don't rush or muscle anything; helps to back onto some ramps in lift mode (but careful getting out of the truck!). Also, if you plan to do the reverse lights upgrades, grab those too as it is easier at this point as well (though I didn't).

 

@Mcdooogs - Not really for reaching anywhere. Mainly for getting up there. Climb up go for it. They are narrow, so it helps to use the toe eye and tire at times.

 

Looks fantastic!

 

Ladder looks great and the location is perfect. But what is the metal screen plate thing on the side for? Please don't tell me you are going to attach a shovel or a Hi-Lift to it

 

Regrets @stillruns I put Rotopax on it when I go Overlanding/Camping. One fuel, one water. I could have just put some sort of luggage on there and put bottles of water, booze & fuel in it, but JLR beat me to the idea.