The family is growing. Off to powdercoating! This Trek came to us with lots of damage to the front fascia including one of the additional radiators from a trip to a land rover event. It already had the factory hidden winch kit installed. We wanted to use the existing Warn Zeon Platinum Winch but put it in a proper accessible location. Taking notes and keeping design elements from our 1st gen Warn 8274 Winch Bumper we went to work. We wanted a better approach angle than factory and wanted to move the winch tray more inboard than our 1st gen. Also we wanted a standard foot down winch tray to open up lots of winch choices. We replaced the 2 additional radiators with one central larger unit as in our 1st gen. It sits in the area where the hidden winch was (Visible thru the slot). We also incorporated the camera and park sensors. We also wanted the bumper very durable yet lightweight. So we went with our well tested all aluminum construction. 2 heavy duty recovery points are mounted and factory JLR crush cans are used as in our 1st Gen design. We kept design cues and lines from our 1st gen but simplified the design. Bash plate , front fascia and winch tray are all 3/8 thick! Unfortunately, the factory grill was butchered from the previous JLR hidden winch install we trilled it as best as possible. We will get a new grill and properly trim to fit. We also are working on a full replacement grill that gives more access and less trimming. Hands down a major improvement on esthetics and approach. Cant wait to see it in black!

 

Looking good !
Thought on relocation of the relay on top of the zeon in the engine bay , keeping the front original.
Gives also a little bit more access on top of the winch incase of rope doubling / backwinding

 

I want to be 2nd! How much and how soon will you ship?

Congratulations Ralf!

 

​​​​​​Thanks Mark! I will let u know as soon as it is available to ship

 

 

I'm looking at this and wondering why you didn't extend the lower skid plate to at least cover the lower suspension pick up points as the stock front skid plate does





Now with your bumper design there's a hard edge exposed to dig into whatever it encounters on the trail..

It's a good thing you have that winch there now..

 

[QUOTE=Ronin Defender;862378]I'm looking at this and wondering why you didn't extend the lower skid plate to at least cover the lower suspension pick up points as the stock front skid plate does





Now with your bumper design there's a hard edge exposed to dig into whatever it encounters on the trail..

It's a good thing you have that winch there now..




As you can see, the bumper it is not completed yet. Take note that this "edge" will be protected from impact on the finished product. Thx for the feedback although i will respectfully disagree that the added approach angle from this bumper vs your stock "protection" photo will require more winching because of an edge. Dragging your plastic bumper and "metal" skid over terrain would NOT be advisable.(this TREK came to us from the damage caused by doing this) I bet if you hit your front bumper you are backing up and picking another line. Our setup will probably not even hit where yours would, and if it did hit the "edge" you describe, it wouldn't cause damage (especially after the added protection). It would still be advisable to pick another line. That is the beauty of the front axle area vs underneath the vehicle. You typically have a choice to try another approach unless u want to run KOH! Other than cutting off the factory recovery point which is now the item that can get hooked, which is an option, the likelihood of this edge being a hindrance vs the benefits of fitting larger tires and moving those radiators out of harms way is a no brainer to me. We have run this style of bumper over really extreme terrain and we feel the exposed area just needs protection vs excessive ramping. This is the fun part of a prototype process. Ask me about behind the front axle and that is a different story 😀

 

As they say different approaches..

I like the factory's slide over rather than bang through and hope the damage to the lower A arm chassis mount point isn't damaged proving a point.

I prefer taking trails that won't put me in a position that would require a winch to drag my old *** out...

Some people buy a Defender to get out of trouble if it happens rather than get into it to see what happens, next..

I'm curious to see how you mount the missing link to the chassis and your "bash plate" ..

 

I understand that concept. I will do a profile view of a stock bumper and ours and then you can see what i am referring to as far as the added clearance. A good discussion tho. Everything is a compromise. 😀

 

I am excited by this product and the under armor that I see on your photos. I look forward to this being available and I am ready to try it. It looks like there is some cutting into the factory plastic in some areas but other areas it almost looks like it sits on top of the plastic? I am in the market now for all of this protection and my favorite so far are all over seas so it is great to see a product that will be easier to ship.

Thanks for all that you do.