Armor Part 2: 4xInnovations Front Bumper, Winch & Skid Plate

After the rock sliders went on, the next step was to paint the other pieces of armor in preparation for installation as well.  More rattle can bedliner to the rescue!

For the front bumper, it was also the best time to install a winch.  The truck weighs approximately
4,000 lbs, so an 8,000 lbs winch would be more than sufficient.  Though there are several companies making winches these days, I decided to go with a well known, very trusted name: Warn.  The Warn M8000 fit nicely inside of the front bumper.

Under the front bumper, painted a fairly bright red is the skid plate.  No other undercarriage protection was purchased, the theory being that if I hit a rock on the skid plate, I'd back off and try a different line, rather than just keep going.  I wasn't doing anything so crazy that all of the extra weight from additional armor under the truck would be justifiable.  In fact, if it weren't for the winch, I'd likely not have wanted the extra weight of the front bumper either.

Inside the front bumpers resides a pair of KC HiLites Rally 400 4" round driving lights.  These halogen lights are likely not as bright as similar LED lights, but they are 55 watts, just like the OEM fog lights.  This meant that these lights can be wired up to the existing fog light wiring, and can still use the fog light switch on the turn signal stalk.

Unfortunately, although the holes in the bumper are advertised for 4" lights, with the mounting bracket for the Rally 400's, the lights are unable to be pointed straight forward and look a little too far down.  The fix?  I plan on installing a pair of KC HiLites Gravity LED 6" driving lights on the top of the bumper. Then I can also have the happy face light covers!