When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The bull bar (actually a roo bar) came from LR Melbourne Australia and was shipped by #newdefendermods (Ben) who arranged shipment. Not cheap but possible.
I coupled the bar with a WARN Zeon platinum 10s (courtesy of Amazon). It is very tight fit and any other winch you need to measure carefully to ensure it is same or smaller. Also, absolutely must have a wireless remote unless you are able to relocate the control unit. Under the hood, I have a power isolator switch to turnoff positive connection to the battery. Very easy On/Off switch.
I used the LR skid plate as fits neat and tidy and is strong enough for my needs. If I were scrapping it every other weekend, I would go with something more substantial.
Before final connection - awaiting 450AMP Littelfuse that will fit inline in the factory aux battery connections.
Winch isolator installed with inline 450AMP fuse. Wireless remote automatically connects when switch is on. No risk of battery drain and fuse protects other systems. Will work with other winches but recommend wireless remote given LR winch trays and how far recessed they are once installed.
Rewriting as it deleted my prior reply. The Switch is a Battery Doctor 20247. I cut the locking tab so I could rotate the switch to allow an extra inch and not have the cables touching each other. Just required a hole drilled to rate the switch 45 degrees. Link to switch on Amazon below.
Did the install involve a lot of cutting of the OEM bumper to notch it out for the bull bar?
Quite a bit of cutting and notching. Recommend having an angle grinder with cutting blade and a Dremel for fine touch-ups-grinding.
All the parts taken out of the front. Main bumper, active grill, from bumper, various grills These are most important pieces to get right as the Roo Bar slips in and these are exposed pieces. Cross member/brace (non structural) in front of fan that had to be notched for control unit of winch You can see the winch slipped in under the cross member
had to take more out of the cross member for the winch to sit in the cradle properly
Inspired partly by 2oolanders efforts and posts, I am keen to fit a winch, and have viewed all 5 episodes of PowerfulUK's winch fitting "mini-series". Simon does a great job and is good entertainment value, but WOW... talk about this task being bigger than Ben Hur....
Given that they have had to use the (IMO) awful UK spec plastic covered crash bar (instead of something more practical requiring less panel mods, such as the Roo bar that 2oolander has fitted), it was an enormous effort. (To see what I mean, save a bit of time and cut to the 55 min long YouTube episode 5 and marvel at the extent of the hacking apart of very expensive and hard to replace panels. (I have tried to add the YouTube link below)
What really worries me is how LR expect this work to be routinely done by their dealerships, let alone by the average DIY'er. Many of us will be up to the job - but it's way beyond the average DIYer and is very risky whoever does the job as it involves hacking apart many hard to replace panels on your brand new toy, and even if done well, they will never go back together if the $8,000 to $10,000 winch kit was to be removed.
In his closing round up Simon makes it clear that he had never expected the job to be so long or complex. Because of the complexity of the job, and limited technician's experience of doing it, I fear that mistakes like the reported TFL loom cutting incident (by an unfortunate US dealer during the TFL winch fitting, and requiring a complete replacement car from JLR) could happen quite often.
I guess this is the real cost of owning a brand new new hi-tech car - fantastic performance and capabilty out of the box - but very hard to bolt heavy lumps of metal onto without affecting the ANCAP / NCAP / NHTSA rating.
JLR's kit really does look like a complete afterthought, so I may hold on a bit longer to see whether the after market comes up with a more straightforward kit...but won't hold my breath !! If ARB et al require a similar level of disassembly and destruction to fit their winches / supports they will be wary of screwing up expensive shiny plastic panels....and the fitting prices will reflect the risk.
Anyway a JLR winch fitment kit is on 16 weeks back order according to my dealer, so I have some time to weigh up the options...
i would expect the folks at Lucky 8 to be developing a winch install kit for the new Defender, you might want to give them a call and see whats in the pipeline.
Took me 30 hours. I also almost bricked my truck cutting into the upper white panel where the camera wiring goes. A nasty long drawn out process. The most difficult part was taking the front bumper apart and cutting it up. A fuking nightmare.
12-03-2020, 04:12 PM
