When I puchased my 98 about a year ago i knew the rear bumper was in trouble. The previous owner had backed into something and the bumper had seen better days.
Now the end caps were starting to fall off so I knew it was time to upgrade.
I searched my available options and decided on the Scorpionn Racing rear bumper which I puchased from
www.4x4ag.com. The bumper fit all of my criteria. It had high lift jack points built in and the swivel recory eye option is nice. You can even keep your stock tow hitch if you desire but i got rid of mine. The bumper is very solid and when mounted properly makes a confident lifting or recovery point. Adrian at
www.4x4ag.com was great during the ordering process adn the bumper was shipped and packed with care. It arrived without a scratch or ding.
Now onto the install:
1. Remove the stock bumper. I disconnected all the lights by taking out the bulb housing because the connections were not cooperating. Its easy you just grab the plug and turn it the bulb will come out with it. The only thing holding the factory bumper on is to bolts. Here is a bad picture that might help if you are having trouble locating them.
2. Remove the frame caps that are welded on. This was accomplished with a sawzall and a 4.5 inch grinder. If you don't have these tools available you can buy them all for under a 100 dollars at harbor freight. Here is a shot of them removed. You will see them when you take the stock bumper off.
3. Now at this point you can use the two existing stock mounting points and put the new bumper on. I wanted to mount it more securely so I decided to remove the stock tow hitch assembly. There are two holes on the top of the frame that continue through to the other side. By using these holes you can mount a large brace that comes with the new bumper. This wasn't too much extra work.
4. Cut off the factory tow hitch. Be cautious as you are cutting and grinding near the gas tank. Here are some before and after pics.
I cut into the underside a little too much when taking off the tow hitch. Don't panic if you cut too far you can always weld it back together!
5. At this point i was able to mock up the new brace and test fit the bumper. After i made sure everything bolted in place i took the bumper off. I ground all the cuts I had made smooth and primered all the exposed metal in a couple coats of flat black. Some of you guys who live back east may have to spend some time cleaning up rust you find.
6. The lights go back on using the existing factory hardware. You will lose the side markers on the stock bumper because there are no provisions for them on the new bumper. I covered the conections with some electrical tape and zip tied them out of the way.
Here are some pics of the finished product:
Thanks again to Adrian and the guys at
www.4x4ag.com for there help and good customer service.
You will need the following tools: 8mm socket and wrench. 11/16 socket. 10mm allen, 12mm allen. 22mm socket. Sawzall and grinder.
The factory instructions are pretty lame but I will attach them to this post.
Good luck and see you on the trail.
Description & installation guide.
The SR rear bumper is made from 5mm steel for maximum strength, there are no plastic end caps that are so easily damaged. Red reflectors are retained to comply with Ministry of Transport requirements.
The profile of the bumper is reduced to increase departure angle and clearance. There are two positions for using a Hi-lift type jack adapter.
The original bumper chassis mountings are used and re-inforcing plates supplied. SR recommend these re-inforcing plates are welded in place. Also supplied is a “C” mounting bracket with an optional Swivel Recovery Eye which is secured to the rear chassis cross member tow bar attachment points. This provides a four point fixing to the chassis for the SR bumper and allows you to recover vehicles without using a towbar (which would significantly reduce your departure angle).
For maximum strength of installation any corrosion in the chassis, the bumper mountings, rear chassis cross member or the tow bar attachment points should be repaired before installing the SR rear bumper.
Please Note
This guide was prepared immediately after installing the rear bumper on a Discovery 200 Series 5door model and while care has been taken in the preparation of this guide SR cannot be responsible for any installation of the rear bumper; nor it’s subsequent use if the installation was not performed by SR.
List of Parts
1 x Rear bumper
2 x 14mm Cap head bolts
2 x 14mm Nyloc Nuts
2 x 14mm Washers
1 x Double Captive M12 Plate (2002-0051/P)
2 x Caphead Bolts
2 x Rectangular re-inforcing plates.
1 x Mounting bracket for swivel recovery eye or jaw and pin.
4 x 12mm x 50mm bolts
4 x 12mm Washers
4 x M5x6mm Bolt
4 x 12mm Washers
2 x Lightguards (2002-005G)
or 2 x Blanking Plates 2002-0053P
Optional:
1 x Swivel recovery Eye
1 x Jaw and pin
Tools
Scriber or marker pen
Round section (rat tail) file
Soft face hammer
Long shaft blade screw driver or magnet
Metric spanner set
Metric Socket set
Allen Key
Fitting Guide
1) Remove the original bumper and perform any remedial work as necessary eg repair or preventative corrosion work.
2) If fitting a swivel recovery eye, put it through it’s mounting bracket and place the mounting bracket on the rear chassis cross member where two vertical tubes pass through the chassis. Once the bracket is installed, the surface facing rearwards should be vertical. Secure in position with the double captive plate provided. (Note: it maybe neccessary to trim the lower edge of the mounting bracket to stop it fouling on the seam in the lower surface of the chassis rear cross member.)
3) Ensure the re-inforcing plates fit behind the original bumper chassis mounts. If they foul on the weld beads trim the re-inforcing plate to fit. (SR recommend that these plates are welded to the rear of the chassis mount for extra strength, the hole in the re-inforcing plate should be positioned as centrally as possible to aid installation.
4) With an assistant lift the bumper into position and loosely fasten the top two bolts above the swivel recovery hole in the bumper. Loosely secure the lower two bolts.
5) Move the bumper to align the large hole in the bumper with the swivel recovery eye protruding from the bracket previously fitted to the rear cross member.
6) When you have successfully passed the swivel recovery eye through the large hole in the rear bumper (magnet or screw driver pushing from behind the bumper) or they are in alignment, fasten the four bolts, bottom two first, so the bumper is pulled down on to the swivel eye mounting bracket, do not tighten fully at this stage.
7) Fit the bumper to the original chassis mounts using the cap head bolts, re-inforcing plates etc supplied. Fully tighten the four bolts around the swivel recovery eye and the two cap head bolts.
8) Fit the two rubber grommets to cover the head bolts.
Scorpion Racing Rear Bumper Install w/pics.
Linear Mode
