Protecting stuff up front

[Frankpapa]

A little brush with a little brush at the Gulch, and the right fog light you see in pics below was hanging out. The plastic mount is cracked and can possibly be fixed. But before doing that, I want to move the lights farther back... and think about more protection up front.

What do you guys think would look good with the custom bumper? Everybody always notices it... don't want to screw that up. Maybe grills on the lights would be enough, or go for a full grill guard?


http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/wjcando/DSC00586.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/wjcando/DSC00693.jpg

[Pacifier]

Get an actual off-road front bumper with a stinger and a radiator hoop, and sale the batman bumper you currently have on it. Just my honest opinion.

[Frankpapa]

But I love my batman bumpers, LOL, and they're matched front a rear.

"BATMAN, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, BATMAN..."

[MudyCJ]

I would remove all together or replace with cheap expendable lights.

These are nice to
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41847PZNaCL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[Frankpapa]

Thanks, Jeff.

Yeah, I thought about simplifying the look by removing the fogs.

Still leaves the question of whether I ought to put a hoop on there, and how that would go with the batman look. :tinysmile_kiss_t:

[H2_RECOVERY]

A place where Robin can swing!

Frank Eddie said he would make a hoop for it and a bar to protect the lights. All you would need to do is go down there and spend a day but call him first.

[toy_tundra]

First thought was a 3-hoop stinger, all angled out a little to protect the lights. But I'm not sure how that would look with that particular bumper. Might look really cool if done right. Or you could get lower profile LED bars for the bumper...mmmmm, that would be coooool.

[MudyCJ]

You know you want to


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kjisMm3M9Y/SxPeAEH8k0I/AAAAAAAAK_0/w26J6g_TRbw/s1600/truck-lights-batman-1.gif

[Pacifier]

You know you want to


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2kjisMm3M9Y/SxPeAEH8k0I/AAAAAAAAK_0/w26J6g_TRbw/s1600/truck-lights-batman-1.gif



LOL...... Your are officially no longer Frankpapa, we will call you Batpapa from here on forward.....

[Frankpapa]

LOL...... Your are officially no longer Frankpapa, we will call you Batpapa from here on forward.....

Oh come on, I'm having an identity crisis as it is. :tinysmile_cry_t2::tinysmile_fatgrin_t

[ThinkMud]

hey Frank, what tie rod do you have? is it a complete steering system? i don't like the stock TJ's tierod connected to the drag link.. just feels cheap.

[Frankpapa]

hey Frank, what tie rod do you have? is it a complete steering system? i don't like the stock TJ's tierod connected to the drag link.. just feels cheap.

It's a Rock Krawler X Factor set up. Mike called it gen 2.5 -- has some gen 3 parts.

[ThinkMud]

nice! I was actually of thinking of ordering that one, haha... so i'm guessing it's holding up good so far. it looks BEEF.

[Frankpapa]

nice! I was actually of thinking of ordering that one, haha... so i'm guessing it's holding up good so far. it looks BEEF.

I think Will has same system, so maybe he and Mike will pipe up too.

Biggest problem I've had is that the eye of the knuckle wallowed out, and repairing that was a b!tch. Whether the beefy steering contributed or it would have happened anyway, who knows. There was also damage/wear on some pieces of the heim joint/bolt assembly, so I ordered new parts from Rock Krawler while I was at it. Those people were very helpful.

[TheYeti1775]

A little brush with a little brush at the Gulch, and the right fog light you see in pics below was hanging out. The plastic mount is cracked and can possibly be fixed. But before doing that, I want to move the lights farther back... and think about more protection up front.

What do you guys think would look good with the custom bumper? Everybody always notices it... don't want to screw that up. Maybe grills on the lights would be enough, or go for a full grill guard?


http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/wjcando/DSC00586.jpg


I think the LED solution would work best for you Frank if you don't want the Stinger/Radiator Hoop Protection.
Your wiring is already in place, just put the LED lights into the bumper. Set them back just enough that the bumper itself protects them but you still get the benefit of fog lights.
If you get creative you could have a set of four, one in each hole of the bumper.

[ThinkMud]

I think the LED solution would work best for you Frank if you don't want the Stinger/Radiator Hoop Protection.
Your wiring is already in place, just put the LED lights into the bumper. Set them back just enough that the bumper itself protects them but you still get the benefit of fog lights.
If you get creative you could have a set of four, one in each hole of the bumper.

that might get in the way of the Zombie slicing effect of the bumper...

[Frankpapa]

that might get in the way of the Zombie slicing effect of the bumper...

Yeah, I worry more about zombies than I do fog. :D

Actually, Bill, that's not a bad idea. When the lights were on, they might make the bat bumper look especially evil.

[ThinkMud]

you should worry about zombies more then fog:)

actually, you may need some big UV lights to help for the night time only zombies...

but seriously, sinking in some smaller LEDS inside the zombie blades would be cool and keep the lights safe from trees, bones, or whatever you decide to slice and dice, haha..... not sure where you guys are getting batman stuff from, we called it a zombie slicer the first time we saw it at the gulch!

(i'm not knocking the bumper, i think it looks wicked, seriously, better then mine!)

[TheYeti1775]

you should worry about zombies more then fog:)

actually, you may need some big UV lights to help for the night time only zombies...

but seriously, sinking in some smaller LEDS inside the zombie blades would be cool and keep the lights safe from trees, bones, or whatever you decide to slice and dice, haha..... not sure where you guys are getting batman stuff from, we called it a zombie slicer the first time we saw it at the gulch!

(i'm not knocking the bumper, i think it looks wicked, seriously, better then mine!)
New solution.
Frank buy yourself a full on custom bumper, and sell TM your old one. :D

[Turtle]

I like the idea of mounting fogs so that they are inset and protected. When I had my JK, I fabbed a steel bumper for it that had cut-outs for the factory fogs, had them set back about a half-inch from the front of the bumper. I am actually considering doing a similar bumper for my LJ, now, but I would have to find a set of stock JK fogs or locate some aftermarket lights that were small and cheap. I've seen some 3.5" HID fogs, but those are way more than I want to spend.

[Turtle]

Let's see if I can figure out how to post a pic . . .

http://www.marylandjeepclub.org/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=8637&mode=view

[Turtle]

Here's a pic of the backside; I just took some galvanized steel strapping, measured and cut to make (not pretty but very sturdy) brackets.

http://www.marylandjeepclub.org/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=8636&mode=view