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REFERENCE: 2019+ Power Wagon Armor

MDethloff

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Here we go!

I wanted to address the longstanding issue of it being almost impossible to put lights in a good location on the Power Wagons. I also wanted to offer serious protection to the intercooler on the diesels. This is the new Intercooler/Winch skid plate for the HD's. It is a true armor package, completely mounted to frame members with M12 bolts with no reliance on the ultra thin sheet metal of the bumper. I'm thinking of offering it in two versions, annotated below: a silver, bare aluminum & stainless model that pairs awesome with the chrome front ends, and a powder coated black aluminum/carbon steel model that matches the black front ends. It's formed from 1/4" aluminum plate for the main center section with steel bracketry inside allowing some adjustment to open/close the gap near the center of the bumper. This is set all the way down (largest gap) in the pics.

It can be run simple as the main center section with an aluminum filler plate (with venting for improved airflow on the diesels), or it can have a protective stainless steel cradle with a 20" Baja Designs S8 light bar in the center with built in adjustability from the front and an anti-theft feature (you can adjust it from the front but have to remove the entire cradle to fully remove the bolts from the light bar).

On the sides we have armored brackets that mount & protect a pair of Baja Designs Squadrons (stainless if bare, steel if powder coated), which bolt to the frame bracketry and flanges of the main plate.

Adding onto the sides are a pair of stainless brackets pointing a pair of Baja Designs Rock Lights at what I think is the ideal spot for navigation and close-in lighting; just high enough that other cars on the road cannot see the light itself as a safety feature!

On the front of the main plate is a port for a NOCO plug. This can be blocked off with a stainless filler plate if not in use. The NOCO plug can be either run as a single or double extension that allows you to keep your block heater, battery tender, or both, always plugged in internally, and gives a really easy external port to plug an extension cord into when you're parked. It's weatherproof when closed up and not in use. No more reaching under the bumper to get your block heater; no more dangling block heater cords during winter; and no more popped hoods for battery tenders!

Let me know what you guys think!
:)

Marcus
IMG_5196.JPGIMG_5199.JPGIMG_5197.JPG
 

jetrinka

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Here we go!

I wanted to address the longstanding issue of it being almost impossible to put lights in a good location on the Power Wagons. I also wanted to offer serious protection to the intercooler on the diesels. This is the new Intercooler/Winch skid plate for the HD's. It is a true armor package, completely mounted to frame members with M12 bolts with no reliance on the ultra thin sheet metal of the bumper. I'm thinking of offering it in two versions, annotated below: a silver, bare aluminum & stainless model that pairs awesome with the chrome front ends, and a powder coated black aluminum/carbon steel model that matches the black front ends. It's formed from 1/4" aluminum plate for the main center section with steel bracketry inside allowing some adjustment to open/close the gap near the center of the bumper. This is set all the way down (largest gap) in the pics.

It can be run simple as the main center section with an aluminum filler plate (with venting for improved airflow on the diesels), or it can have a protective stainless steel cradle with a 20" Baja Designs S8 light bar in the center with built in adjustability from the front and an anti-theft feature (you can adjust it from the front but have to remove the entire cradle to fully remove the bolts from the light bar).

On the sides we have armored brackets that mount & protect a pair of Baja Designs Squadrons (stainless if bare, steel if powder coated), which bolt to the frame bracketry and flanges of the main plate.

Adding onto the sides are a pair of stainless brackets pointing a pair of Baja Designs Rock Lights at what I think is the ideal spot for navigation and close-in lighting; just high enough that other cars on the road cannot see the light itself as a safety feature!

On the front of the main plate is a port for a NOCO plug. This can be blocked off with a stainless filler plate if not in use. The NOCO plug can be either run as a single or double extension that allows you to keep your block heater, battery tender, or both, always plugged in internally, and gives a really easy external port to plug an extension cord into when you're parked. It's weatherproof when closed up and not in use. No more reaching under the bumper to get your block heater; no more dangling block heater cords during winter; and no more popped hoods for battery tenders!

Let me know what you guys think!
:)

Marcus
View attachment 53593View attachment 53595View attachment 53598
Holy smokes just hurry up and take my money already!
 

el_barto

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Nice! Looks much stouter than the CJC guard, and modular! Are you going to have add on pieces that reinforce the bottom edge of the rest of the bumper?
 

jetrinka

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Nice! Looks much stouter than the CJC guard, and modular! Are you going to have add on pieces that reinforce the bottom edge of the rest of the bumper?
Agree. I'll be replacing my CJC with one of these for sure. I've always wanted some additional lighting but there's not a spot I like on the truck to put it.
 

Poolmonkey

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I can see putting one on a diesel for intercooler protection but don’t think it’s for hanging under my PW. Approach angle trumps lighting which is otherwise easy enough.
Still waiting for that trans guard, though….I worry mostly about the crossover pipe
 

MDethloff

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I can see putting one on a diesel for intercooler protection but don’t think it’s for hanging under my PW. Approach angle trumps lighting which is otherwise easy enough.
Still waiting for that trans guard, though….I worry mostly about the crossover pipe
I get what you're saying, and yes it's possible to hit it, but the reality is that if you're approaching an obstacle *that* high, you can't drive straight at it. You would just plow your bumper or steering linkage into it if this skid wasn't there. If you're coming up on a rock or ledge that's that tall you need to approach it at a diagonal so you get early tire engagement. The same goes for breakover and departure which are way worse on these trucks than approach, if you went straight over an obstacle of that height you'd just cut your driveshaft in half. Yeah you can certainly hit it, but I think it'll be rarer than it might seem at first glance. When people crunch their bumpers they normally hit the corners for the same reason, and not the center. If you did hit it would you rather hit a section of 1/4" plate armor that's mounted to the frame, or a free hanging section of .030" bumper sheet metal? Just some things to think about. These things will occasionally get hit when, if they weren't there, you wouldn't have hit anything - but the same story is true for rock sliders.
 

UglyViking

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Apologies if you said it in a past post but what is the plug for on the passenger size of the plate?
Engine block heater for Diesel trucks in cold temp. Diesel works on compression, so the block heater helps keep it warm.

@MDethloff I really dig what you've done here. Added benefit over the other options available, and looks super stout. I'm sad that I'm going to be getting a new bumper soon or I'd hit you up to order one.
 

JeepingNet

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Really interested to see what price is going to be on that front skid/light mount. I right now have the plug just hanging out in front of my PW since I had it plugged in a few days when we got down into the -30/-40s here. That would be a much cleaner install. I also love how low you get those lights for fog. Interested in seeing more for sure and pricing.
 

el_barto

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I get what you're saying, and yes it's possible to hit it, but the reality is that if you're approaching an obstacle *that* high, you can't drive straight at it. You would just plow your bumper or steering linkage into it if this skid wasn't there. If you're coming up on a rock or ledge that's that tall you need to approach it at a diagonal so you get early tire engagement. The same goes for breakover and departure which are way worse on these trucks than approach, if you went straight over an obstacle of that height you'd just cut your driveshaft in half. Yeah you can certainly hit it, but I think it'll be rarer than it might seem at first glance. When people crunch their bumpers they normally hit the corners for the same reason, and not the center. If you did hit it would you rather hit a section of 1/4" plate armor that's mounted to the frame, or a free hanging section of .030" bumper sheet metal? Just some things to think about. These things will occasionally get hit when, if they weren't there, you wouldn't have hit anything - but the same story is true for rock sliders.
Can confirm, my bumper has a little dent on the left corner.

i was approaching a deep washout, perhaps not at an aggressive enough angle, front tire dropped in and then the bumper scraped on the other side of the wash. I’m guessing this is why corners get beat up because drivers are trying to approach the obstacles at angles
 

MDethloff

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Apologies if you said it in a past post but what is the plug for on the passenger size of the plate?
The NOCO plug is essentially a bulkhead mounted extension. You can either run a single or dual extension model (so you'd have one or two plugs inside the armor). You can keep your block heater and/or a battery tender permanently hooked to the NOCO, and then when you're parked you can just plug an extension cord into the NOCO to power them. This way you don't have to fish out or dangle the block heater cord during winter, and you don't have to pop the hood or dangle a harness for a battery tender. It's a nice ease of use accessory.
I think the design is freakin awesome. I would just have to figure out what to do about my front license plate.
Thanks man! I think the flip-up front plate holders are the solution, and you could run a powered one on the same circuit as the light bar if you wanted to run a bar.
 

Wobly

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I think the design is freakin awesome. I would just have to figure out what to do about my front license plate.
I just folded mine under and secured it with self-tapping screws after it was "almost" ripped off many times.
 

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MDethloff

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Nice! Looks much stouter than the CJC guard, and modular! Are you going to have add on pieces that reinforce the bottom edge of the rest of the bumper?
Good thinking! We actually looked at doing that, making wings that extend out across the bumper for a cleaner, angled mating between the parts, but it's too much of a stretch to do. There isn't something great to brace against so I don't think it would really be doing anything out at the locations that normally get hit; I think it'd actually just get hit more on the ends which is kinda just making things worse, so I decided to just keep the skid narrow.
 

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