Get the ARB, no need to worry about springs, mine are original, 220k on them, ARB on the front (no winch, yet).
You dont think you need the added protection for daily driving, but if you hit a deer, little to no damage to your truck, hit another car, same thing, someone cuts you off, you can be real damn intimidating with ARB in their rear view mirror.
I stopped a Prius driver from drafting me everyday on the expressway on the way home from work, everyday, he'd pull up behind me and draft.
Thought it was a fluke, until the 3rd day, I slowed down enough to make him pass, then I drafted him with the big black winch bumper taking up his whole back window, 80mph, he has not drafted me since.

 

I got my ARB the same way. Had a truck shed a recap tire right into my passenger side on the interstate. Didn't think it had done any damage because I barely felt the hit, til I got out at a gas station 10 miles up the road! I've had mine on now for about 2 years, and haven't noticed any appreciable drop in the front end. I will be lifting the truck when I replace shocks and springs though. I wish TJM had been available in the states when I was bumper shopping.

I would recommend doing some serious searching before you drop any coin on a new bumper though. I did some shopping around, and found my bumper at Rusty's Offroad for $900 + tax because I went to Rusty's and picked it up. Rusty's doesn't have that good of a price anymore though.

 

The only thing I would add is that an ARB bumper is big. It sticks out the front quite a bit more than the OEM bumper so pulling in and out of parking spaces requires a little more caution. My wife typically drives our D2, and it was starting to come home with different colors of paint rubbed on the corners. Before anyone starts making comments about her driving skills, I also have an F250 Super Duty crew cab that she has no trouble parking, but not so with the Disco. I installed some black plow guides with yellow tips on the corners of the bumper and she hasn't hit anything since. They actually look pretty cool on there, and at $14 they certainly cost less than any insurance surcharge I was likely to be getting.

 

So essentially your wife is a hit and run artist....?

 

She had only rubbed up against the bumper covers, leaving at most a little smudge. Luckily, the vehicles were pretty much pieces of crap that now had one more smudge on the corner, but she was worried that she was going to do some real damage sooner or later. She left a note on the nicest car but we never got a call.

 

ahh good lady!

 

I had some idiot cut me off in a blizzard, requiring me to kiss a guardrail in order to avoid hitting him. I opted to use the insurance money on an ARB winch bumper to replace the plastic bumper cover and OEM brush guard that were damaged in the incident.

I even had enough money left over to have the shop fix my rear cargo door latch and replace a cracked interior pillar.

My springs and shocks are toast and I'm replacing both in a couple of months. I'm going with Land Rover springs and don't expect to have any sag due to the heavier bumper. I may even get a heavy-duty rear bumper sometime down the road ... perhaps if another idiot rear-ends me in another snow storm.

My disco is a DD and my off-road needs are not radical. I'm not worried about departure angles or twisting/bending the bumper. I can handle all duties just fine with the stock bumper arrangement, so this should be a slight bonus over that. I just wanted the look and a little protection from deer.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the input everyone. I get my estimate soon, so depending on what I get out of the insurance, I'll be able to make a better decision again!

Happy New Year!

 

Does anyone have experience or pictures of a 2003-2004 ARB on a 1999-2002? I was told that I might have to do some modifications to make it fit while some say it goes right in. Thanks!

 

I have a 99-02 bumper on my 04, and it fits fine. I believe that the earlier bumper came with turn signal indicators from ARB that fit the openings and are connected to the original wiring with scotch locks (ugh!), while the later bumpers allow you to re-use the OEM indicators. You would need to figure out a way to fill the driving light openings. You need to trim the inner fender liners regardless. The turn signals in my bumper were not connected by the PO that did the installation, and my OEM fog light wiring is connected to my aftermarket lights. I would fix the indicators but since I live in Massachusetts I'm not allowed to use turn signals.