oly884

Here's the bumper that I'm thinking about...

Corey

iTrader: (1)

That is similiar to Rome's new bumper.
I have a ton of pics of that design in the Oct. folder here.
http://www.pnw4runners.net/badland_bumpers/

seafarinman

Here is a recent pic of the front bumper.

oly884

That's a NICE truck man! What kind of winch do you have on it? Also, how much dose your front end sag with the new bumper and winch?

seafarinman

Thanks. I have the much disrespected Milemarker E8000 electric winch ($399.00) at 4 Wheel Parts. Since I have the SAW 25mm torsion bars it doesn't really sag. It does seem to bounce some if I hit a big bump at a good speed. It is not too bad though. I had a Smittybuilt BumperThumper before and I noticed the difference as soon as I had it installed-in the steering wheel. Here is an old pic (Nov 02)

oly884

Great, a 50/50 tie. I had a feeling this would happen though. I think that my mind is made up, I'm going for the Bumper and Winch combo. To add to that, I'll get some SAW torsion bars and synthetic rope from rockstomper. BTW how hard is it to install torsion bars?

Flygtenstein

Installing t-bars is pretty easy.

Buy new bolts from the dealer, if they don't strip or break, you are a lucky man.

Disconnect the swaybar, jack up the front end and put it on jackstands. I took the wheels off, mostly for convenience. Put a 22mm box end wrench on the stop of the adjustor, a 22mm socket on the bottom and stick in a big breaker. Wank on it until it lets go. Pull the bolts, pull the bars and then stick in the new ones. Anti-seize is your friend. The passenger side was tight for me, I did it before I had the bodylift. Do the opposite for the reinstallation. Lower the truck, jump on your new bumper and measure side to side. Set it to the same height that it was before. Jump on it again, drive around the block. Check the measurements, make sure they are equal, then get an alignment. Now your truck will look cool.

Skydigger

search on Torsion bar removal here. I needed some assistance getting them out. The bolts were the easy part for me but the T-bars were stuck at the A-arm end.

I'd start spraying that side with Liquid Wrench or equivalent.

Warren

data

I'd do the winch/bumper combo. There have been many times where I've used the winch when I was wheeling alone. If I wouldn't have had it, I would have been walking.

jx94148

I don't buy one bit of the "locker will get you in more trouble" arguement. You have to realize that being locked dosen't mean you now drive a magic carpet. You still have to use your brain when you pick your line.

FWIW I did locker and winch within a couple of weeks of each other. Since then I have only used the winch to un-stick myself once and in that case I could have easily jacked and stacked myself out. Since I had the winch I chose to use it rather than jack and stack rocks. All other times I have used the winch was to un-stick other trucks that couldn't follow me due to driver error or open diffs or both.

I stand by what I said on page one. If you want to get yourself through the hard stuff get a locker. If you want to always be winching others out of stucks get the winch.

If its an appearance thing you want, obviously winch/bumper is more visible than a locker. Do you want to look hardcore or be hardcore?

jx94148

So are you saying you would trade your factory locker for a winch? I'm confused.

Seems that lots of people that don't have lockers are telling you to not get one and most people that do have them are telling you to lock it. Could it be that the un-locked guys don't want to be shown up in the capability department and the locked guys don't want to waste time waiting for you to winch your rig through everything they just drove through? I'm speaking in terms of what most drivers on an offroading trip would think.

I think a locker is way more valueable when it comes to trailriding. And in my case it was about 30% the cost of the bumper/winch. Just because some people choose to spend $1200 or more on one locker dosen't mean you have to.

Flygtenstein

Matt, thanks for bringing that back up. No one would touch the scenario where you are wheeling and you get stuck. Yes, with a winch, you can get yourself out, but are you going to winch ahead to stay on the trail? That seems goofy if you are not locked.

I want a winch, I am saving cash for a winch, but for a wheeler a locker really is a great first mod.

I have a hard time thinking of a trail that a winch would get me on, but a locker would not.

Where are you going in Montana?

Victor

I stand behind the locker first idea. Where I wheel there are few trees or good areas to attach a winch. That means you have to attach to another vehicle. If neither vehicle is locked then you are both stuck. Get the ARB - you have the best of both worlds. Open diff for the streets and locked off road.

seafarinman

Okay, how about a winch and a pull-pal then?

jx94148

This topic turned out pretty good. I gave it a 5 star rating.

Lots of very valid oppinions.

jx94148

By "stay on the trail" do you mean finish the trail?

If you have to winch yourself out its probably better to turn around and go home with your tail between your legs and dream of a day when you can drive through that trail. There will be more stuff for you to get stuck on up ahead if you chose to procede foreward.

Rigging up winch pulls is great excercise. Maybe that Bill Burke guy will make a winch rigging excercise video and make enough money to buy some more Land Rovers with winches.

Skydigger

I still think it depends on the vehicle to an extent. Let's not forget about the protection factor of the front bumper. If you don't have a front bumper (forget the winch for a second) and you care about your vehicle's appearance I think the bumper's a good first choice. If not, go with a locker first.

For trail-worthiness alone I don't think anything beats a locker.


Warren

P.S. For a real good conversation, how about a SAS on an IFS truck or a locker for a first mod. That's what I'm debating right now.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Some also buy winches for a few very different reasons.

I did not buy mine to get me through a trail to get in further and further.
If I have to pull myself through a trial with it, I have no business being in there.

I bought it for getting unstuck in the snow as I do enjoy hitting Greenwater when there is snow up there, and also to pull others out who got stuck.

Like the video I posted at the beginning of this thread, it was very cool to watch the winch pull out that stuck 2nd gen from the deep snow.

Also the winch has come in handy at relatives homes where I have helped with landscaping in their backyard.

I got to use the choker chain around a few downed trees to pull them out of the way.

A winch has a lot more chores than just on the trail.
The apt. manager here last year wanted me to hook it up to a couch up stairs of me to pull out the evicted peoples stuff.
I declined on that one.

oly884

I'm going to bozeman for college. There are sooooo many good points for both sides. Another thing that I have to think about is the fact that I don't know what kind and how much wheelin' there is over there. Plus I'm going to be in snow the larger part of the school year, because I'm going to come home for the summer. So, I might not be getting as much wheelin' as I'd like to.

oly884

I'm thinking a coin flip will solve this!