Hey all,
The snowbirds are down in the south again and one of them thought that they could make a u-turn from the right lane! Front bumper on the passenger side is shattered and I'm looking to throw in some money and upgrade to a nice steel bumper with a bull/brush(I'm not sure which is which) guard. I like the ARB bumpers with the bar ( ) but I don't know if it is compatible or what the whole airbag situation is. From the forums and the rave manual I see that the stock bumper mounts to the crush cans and that wouldn't be ideal for using the winch. I think if I want to use the winch I have to mount it directly to the frame?
Can someone clear up what bumpers I can/can't use? I would want the bumper to have frame support so it has structural integrity for a winch etc. Do I need to remove the crush cans or replace them with just steel? Or are the crush cans fine the way they are? How does this upgrade work?
Thanks

 

ARB sells Air Bag compatible bumpers. The OEM crush cans go away and you install ARB's very own crush cans (made of steel vs aluminum). Or if you go with say a Tactical Rover front bumper (reminds me of the old Safarigard stuff) it will bolt directly to the frame without any sort of crush cans. I highly recommend replacing the OEM bolts with 1/2 Grade 8 Bolts no matter which bumper you choose. The TF front bumper doesn't have any bull bar type protection, but it is pretty stout with a built in winch plate, and even a nice guard for the washer bottle.

I like anything vs the OEM Egg Shell front/rear bumpers!

 

Check my arb out

 

94-99 D1 ARB Bumper on my 99 D2.

 

Thats sweet! Im looking as well to replace my stock with an arb bumper. QUESTION: If I get a steel bumper (with fogs and winch mount) can I add a brush guard or bull guard later? are they compatible?

Cheers

Stefan

 

I really like red’s ARB. Yours looks pretty much the same, just a different year/slightly different model if I’m right. So will any year discovery bumper mount on my 03? And are the crush cans on the end of the frame rails? I.e. do they add length to the frame where the bumper attaches or can I just remove the ones I have and mount straight to the frame? That would be the case if the bumper I get doesn’t come with the heavy duty crush cans. should it come with them as long as it is airbag compatible? Also where are some good sites to look for these bumpers

 

im not sure they would be a plug and play sort of thing but I bet you could get a bar welded onto a steel bumper later.

 

When you remove your OEM bumper the OEM crush cans will also be removed & never re-used. If you get an ARB Air Bag compatible bumper it will come with it’s own steel crush cans. The non Air Bag compatible ARB’s mount straight to the frame. Red’s = 03-04 spec ARB. Mine is a 94-99 D1 bumper, RRC/D1 stuff will work on a D2 with small mods 99-02 D2 bumpers will also work on 03-04 D2’s. Only real difference is the cut out area for the grill.

I like the 03-04 ARB, but I like the setup options on the D1 bumper, the extra support/protection for the fairlead, solenoid mount, and recovery points (not super strong, but very handy for smaller jobs).

 

Okay sounds good. Last question is are the airbag compatible bumpers still structurally sound to winch with and use other recovery points on the bumper? Am I better off doing a non airbag compatible bumper in that case? Thanks, I appreciate the help!

 

I’ve never owned the ARB air bag compatible one, but it should handle it. The crush bar mounts are steel with special places to crush in during a major wreck. I pulled one off a D2 that was in a pretty good accident & they were still perfect. I don’t think winching would be an issue. Just make sure on any bumper to go up to 1/2 Grade 8 Bolts vs the stock ones.