Photo: Warn
The Ford Motor Company rolled out the sixth-gen Bronco last year with a rather curious brush guard, as in a metal bar that blocks the B R O N C O lettering on the front grille. The Blue Oval rectified this problem by raising the guard, but the aftermarket hasn’t learned from Ford’s mistake.
Take a look at the Warn Elite front bumper with a grille guard tube. It looks very nice indeed, but it’s a second-rate design because it blocks the forward-facing camera. In order to retain the camera’s functionality, the off-road specialist from Oregon offers the Elite front bumper without a grille guard tube and an optional relocation kit for the winch’s control pack from atop the winch. But anyway, the installation instructions reveal another problem.
“This product is not compatible with factory driver-assist systems such as adaptive cruise control and parking assist systems,” reads the said document, although the latter part isn’t correct because the bumper features two sensor brackets. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the elephant in the room is the winch. If you equip the bumper with a winch, you also block the rectangular opening that feeds air to the intercooler. Considering that a Warn-equipped Bronco is certain to see off-road shenanigans, you need as much cooling as possible.
If aftermarket companies would do a little bit of research before pushing out a design before competing aftermarket companies, the automotive world would be a better place. As such, you’re better off purchasing the heavy-duty modular bumper from Ford. Be warned, however, that the automaker’s front bumper also obscures the front-facing camera if equipped with a winch.
Care to guess how much Warn is asking for the cool-looking bumper with a guard tube, minus the relocation kit and winch? Make that $1,700, which is quite a bit more than Ford’s $825 modular bumper and $300 brush guard.
“This product is not compatible with factory driver-assist systems such as adaptive cruise control and parking assist systems,” reads the said document, although the latter part isn’t correct because the bumper features two sensor brackets. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the elephant in the room is the winch. If you equip the bumper with a winch, you also block the rectangular opening that feeds air to the intercooler. Considering that a Warn-equipped Bronco is certain to see off-road shenanigans, you need as much cooling as possible.
If aftermarket companies would do a little bit of research before pushing out a design before competing aftermarket companies, the automotive world would be a better place. As such, you’re better off purchasing the heavy-duty modular bumper from Ford. Be warned, however, that the automaker’s front bumper also obscures the front-facing camera if equipped with a winch.
Care to guess how much Warn is asking for the cool-looking bumper with a guard tube, minus the relocation kit and winch? Make that $1,700, which is quite a bit more than Ford’s $825 modular bumper and $300 brush guard.
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