[keptin]

I first smashed the pretty hella fog lamps about 6 months ago and have been using thick plastic to cover the one lamp that was completely crushed. Both worked untill I went into the mud; destroying them completely. Since they were dead weight, I figured it was time to trim my bumper.

I personally think it looks awesome, and it didnt take too long either. :buttrock:

I used masking tape, then marked it, then cut it using a die grinder. I opted to keep the center of the bumper in place due to the brush guard and steering-bar thing right behind the bumper that I didnt want to remove.

I also relocated the screws that hold the plastic wheel liner in. Cutting the bumper would leave the liner hanging, and this was an easy solution. Im also thinking of fabricating some brackets and cutting out some 3/16th sheet metal to protect the washer fluid reservoir under the bumper.

Sorry for the nighttime final shots, I will post some daytime ones tomorrow.

 

[roverX]

Sweet. I did something similar.

I was in Reno over New Years this past January for that big storm you guys had. I took my rover out and drove in about 5 feet of snow without chains or anything. Went with an ex-military friend of mine who had a bunch of AR's and so forth. Went out shooting. Gotta love those Nevada gun laws! :buttrock:

 

[keptin]

must have been awesome. Sadly, I put the suspension on (which was my first modification) about two months after that storm. Though I was able to (stock) get my rover out of the driveway with a bit of work and shoveling. We came back from vacation to find all our vehicle burried in the garage down a long driveway, mine was in the barn so it had a chance to escape.

That storm was awesome, most snow ive ever seen in reno. We were out of school for over a week, and the avg. temp was probably 25 degrees from the storm till about two weeks after. (usually in reno when it snows even a foot by two days later the snow isnt just gone, but the ground is dry.)



I hope it snows as bad this year now that my rover has some "toys", but I heard it cost reno something like $350k just to clean up after it.

 

[llesra]

looks nice and clean

 

[keptin]

hey, do you guys think I should take advantage of those fog lamp leads and wire up some small ones either right below the bumper's sides or where the wire mesh grill is in the center?

I think it might be cool, btw, Ive always used the fog lamps to supplement my standard lights, when I was driving back it just seemed a little dark.

 

[Serg]

I like that look Keptin! Very clean.... nice job!

 

[roverX]

hey, do you guys think I should take advantage of those fog lamp leads and wire up some small ones either right below the bumper's sides or where the wire mesh grill is in the center?

I think it might be cool, btw, Ive always used the fog lamps to supplement my standard lights, when I was driving back it just seemed a little dark.

I would replace the wires with something that can handle a heavier amperage unless you are going to use the original foglights.

 

[keptin]

Thanks serg.

I gotcha roverx, but I want to put something thats "road legal" underneath. I believe the standard fog lamps were 55watts, and most if not all of the street legal fogs are that, so I wouldnt need to replace the wiring. If I decided to run anything else (ie. not fogs) then I would just rewire the whole thing using a cruise control switch. The problem with the current fogs are that when you switch to high beams, they turn off automatically.


Here are some pictures of what im also thinking of doing, it might help a bit with rocks and what not on the trail, but even more, it can help stop people from messing with it. At school kids will do anything unexpected. Ive had stickers ripped off, some others have had thier aux. lights stolen or smashed, bad stuff. All I think it might take is someone looking up to find a nice pretty blue box with a ton of hoses and wires around it.

I was just thinking of putting a plate underneath, it wouldnt have to be 3/16th, maybe just enough to dissuade people from messing with stuff. It would also just clean things up under there...

 

[keptin]

oh, and heres a pic from today (daytime):

 

[roverX]

Josh,
Cool vids & pics on your site. With what you do, you might want to explore LTR shocks for the front, along with extended brake line. On some of your vids & pics, it looked like you lost some traction when one of your front tires left the ground. I hope Reno gets some major snow this winter too.

 

[keptin]

thanks,

Im not sure OME makes the LTR's for DII's, but ill check it out. I was thinking of lockers too, but that would be in a couple years; they cost a ton. The pic of the spinning tire was from before Ive had the tires and CDL linkage, I usually dont have any problems anymore, but getting some more front travel would be sweet. A lot cheaper thing to do would to get those front swaybar disconnects from slickrock, they look pretty cool and suposedly they really help, especially when you air down.

 

[keptin]

Nope, OME doesnt make the LTR's for Disco II's. Rovertym makes a shock mount convertion piece so I could use Bilstien long travel shocks, but I wonder how mixing suspension brands would work.

EE, "The LTR shocks are very heavy duty and built for extreme conditions like those encountered in the annual Nevada Trophy navigation event that involves long hours of fast driving over washboard and bumpy trails. Unfortunately, LTR shocks are not currently available for the Discovery Series II."

hehe, funny they mension NV, too bad no LTR's

Disco II Front Lower Shock Mounts
Front Shock Mount Set for Discovery Series II
Convert to a standard loop type lower mount $35.00 pr.

 

[roverX]

Just take the sway bars off all together. With the OME suspension set up you currently have, it should take you about 10 minutes to get used to driving without them...just remember...you drive a truck, not a porsche.

You will be just fine mixing suspension brands. Be sure to install spring retainers, top and bottom, front and back, along with extended brake lines. Don't use the spring cones. Noisy as hell and everytime they clang, you'll be wondering if it was them or you breaking something!

 

[Funrover]

looks great...... Take the wheel to that bumper...........I agree with roverx.... Going without swaybars really helps

 

[keptin]

Alright, I took off the front swaybar and tested the rover on the ditch in the front driveway; the results are amazing!

I believe I gained another 4" or so of travel (measured from the side of tire to the fender).

Unfortunately I was only able to remove the bar because I dont have any extended 19mm sockets to remove the things attached to the axle. I will have to go and borrow from a friends tomorrow. I also dont have a camera right now, so I cant show any pics of the crazy travel gain.

 

[Funrover]

Yup..... It is a lot better without the sway bars.. The only thing now it you can't corner as fast.... No biggie though....... Get those pics up

 

[keptin]

Ive got a question now;

Without a swaybar will your tires experience uneven wear? Maybe if one spring is higher than another?

 

[roverX]

No, with MT's you should be rotating them every 5K miles or less anyway to combat the uneven wear issues, although it's been about 10K miles and I haven't rotated yet.

 

[98RRover]

It's just so beautiful (wipes a tear away)

 

[keptin]

Have you experienced any uneven wear issues with your tires that you belived was caused by not have swaybars?

Its only a $150 for the slickrock quick release swaybar things, where as its over a $1k for 5 BFG M/T's