Now, the above is me, the engineer, talking and being properly safety conscious. Me the avid enthusiast, and after modding a lot of vehicles in my past, would do the bumper differently. I would design an aftermarket bumper that incorporated the OEM bumper but "caged" it somewhat in tubular aluminum that mounted to the frame horns. Think Defiant Light Bar on steroids. Yes you would have to cut a few holes in the OEM cover and lower grille but I think the look would be there, you could still mount a winch as you can do with the OEM bumper and the tubular aluminum would be fine for bushes and small saplings and the occasional rock in the trail . Keeping the OEM bumper will keep that additional crush zone in the event of an accident. You guys know just as well as I do that if you are running these steel aftermarket bumpers and you hit a rock wall or tree at any speed you are going to bend the shit out of the frame horns right? You are just moving the damage from one area to another.
