Hi All,

Yes I have done a search and read just about everything on NOR Challenge wings, and others who have done their own version here and elsewhere..

BUT

Those discussions were when these were new out, Shaun now does 2 sets, both IMHO look well made and frankly after I start to price up metal and my time damned good value for money, or as I may do a few mods to them, an exellent base from where to start ?. I have had a chat to Shaun this AM and they have been tweaked since build, all is positive with the exception of chequer plate top which I LOATHE - "Burberry for LRs" Chequerplate is IMHO, easily remade tho

I would be interested to know what people who have had then / fitted them / seen them think about them, do they fit well, is the quality as good as they look ?

I am sorely temped to just buy a set rather than spend F hours fabbing them up, they seem well designed, and well made, I think the cage mountings could be tweaked to spread impact loads easily with a traingular brace here and there, a removeable plasma mount for rope off road to go on rather than spool back on, a better way of fixing the rear wing vertical pabnel ends etc etc....and a few other tweaks crossed my mind, ....none of which have made a purcahse any less logical ?

So, before I spend me Dosh, NOR wings.... worth the pennies ?

Ive got 2 sets, the original prototypes as fitted to stefan prachts old truck & the 1st run production versions. From what Ive been told Shauns now doing another version which has greater clearancing on the lower edge below the lights. I have only fitted the production run wings to date but can say that the quality of work is superb. Fitting took a bit of tinkering to get everthing lined up but you can give them some real abuse & they just bounce back.(within reason) The only thing that Im not 100% on is the use of ally for the wing sides. As nice as it looks after a few minor encounters with trees etc, they are starting to stretch quite badly. That being said @ £18 a side Im not complaining. If youve seen Stefans Prachts truck he has had the body sides fitted with an ABS plastic(I think) which he said is pretty resilient to damage. I know shauns supplied this, & this is what I had been considering fitting in place of the ally side panels.
Things worth thinking about are what snorkel you run, do you still need your heater(as the ducting doesnt fit afterwards)& whether or not to fit the inner arces. I left mine off & it makes working on the truck a whole lot easier, but on the downside you do get more muck in the engine bay.
Yes its a lot of money but price up a set of new wings & you wont be far of the price, but your very unlikey to do so much damage to them. I looked at doing th job myself but by the time you buy the tube,bend weld & paint at aint worth it. Shauns was pretty helpful when I was fitting it & didnt mind indepth converations on the phone about how NOR did the fitment.
Adrian

Adrian,

VERY usefull food for thought,
as you say priced up they are good value and seem well made
Thanks for the info above

Nige

Nige , you sound like you have talked yourself into getting a set , so go on dont be a tight wad , FFS buy em

I went for the standard / traditional style ones. Very happy with them, well made but took me a bit of footering around to line them up. Wing skin is 2mm which seems a bit flimsy but surprisingly rigid once it's fixed to the wings. Rather than riviting the panels on, I drilled and tapped the tabs and put in button head stainless allen bolts - removable for servicing and they look nice. Also trimmed down the outer skins and welded tabs to the existing rollcage front hoop to keep the wing panel flush rather than it sitting over the top of the existing cage hoop.
Didn't use the front wing skins - i quite like the recessed lights look. Not fitted side indicators yet - standard ones are going to get broken PDQ so will make something tough up from layers of perspex and yellow LEDs units.
I kept the inner wings on - trimmed the vertical top flange off with the grinder so the wings fitted better - the inner wings do a good job of keeping any forestry debris out of the engine bay - as well as road salt.

I think the front mounting could do with a bit of extra bracing to the chassis - this could be a weld-on job i think
I've not tried them in anger yet but think they will move a bit against trees at the moment. The inner rear fixings on the bulkhead didn't really line up for me (i suspect my bulkhead / chassis is likely to be a bit out of line) - not sure how much extra strength this mounting achieves given the size of bolt and the strength available in the bulkhead.

All in all, well made, good value for money and tweakable to work the way you want. Also very handy having the extra access by easy removal of panels / wings - lot easier than the standard ones.

How much are we looking at for £not worth it? To my mind, even if they do the job then you're paying for someone's time to make them up, so your own time may be cheaper and you get EXACTLY what you want.

On the other hand, if they're 90% of what you want then you avoid the Three Bears engineering. And if you don't make them yourself Nige, world steel prices might not rise in line with the weigh-in value of your car.

?

too hot, too cold, too wide, too narrow, too big, too small.

trial and error fabrication

3 bears engineering

(thats poss a reference to my 3 attempts at a rear winch mounting

1st - tore apart 6mm plate due to leverage & stress
2nd - too heavy
3rd and current just right



Nige

Nige,

I decided to get some after seeing them in action this weekend at the 4x4 Adventures event.

I had a good look at Les Brock's wagon - he has replaced the ali sides and tops with IIRC 4mm sign board plastic sheet. IMHO it'll survive abuse better and 'bounce back' better than ali.

I also saw the sculpted corner version on Martin Stainer's wagon - very nice too.

BTW, how are you planning on getting them? Posted or collected? If the latter, do you want to split costs?

The good thing with NOR wings is that you can use them to make some interesting designs...

RRc-based trayback of a good friend of mine in France...

Before you make any comment... the suspension is not done as yet.. hence the bad arches clearance...

Very Nice tweak.



Right ..................................... . enough dithering

On the basis that they are well made I have done the deed, and a deal done with Shaun (very helpful)

I have a few "tweaking" ideas which once I get them and the 90 stripped to take them I will decide which to incorporate.

The final thing making me go this route was the price of decent tube - Kin hell has it gone up a tad

Fingers crossed - ta for the feedback helping me go this route, its not just the money, I really get the hump when I spend out on something i THINK will save me time, only to find the build quality id rubbish and I then have to alter massively to get to fit (like my V8 Janspeed exhaust for expample) and them wish I hadn't spend the money anmd gone DIY, the feedback for NOR seems to indicate good qulaity well built kit that just needs fettling and tweaking,

Build pic thread may be forthcoming at some time in the future, although I have a few things that will get in the way before I can start

Nige

Nige,
have a look at d&gtuning website, they did a few nice tricks with the front of their trayback which look quite neatD&G tuning
Adrian

Any pics of the NEW NOR wings. Looked on there wbsite but these must be the mk1 versions.

Will they work with anybodies cage?

I have had several loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooog (ish) converstaions
with Shaun at NOR, he sometimes answers the phone with that "OH FFS I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO" tone, which then changes into Mr Helpfull

From what I understand the pics on his website do him little favours - they are the prototype 1st wing made, and much has been tweaked since then and mods made, he is just so flat out (maybe a good sign in UK PLC Credir Crunch times) that web updates I think is number 498 on his urgent list, and when I ordered today around 4.00pm, delivery was advised as F THURSDAY this week THATS impressive.

I will do a report and build, this will shows fitting to a home made (mine) roll cage and the mods I decide to do, then all can see how good or not this bit of kit is.

I am by nature a huge F Pesimist (rarely dissppointed ) but I have a good feeling re NOR qulaity and Product

Nige

If you're looking at the cutaway version, Shaun emailed a PDF of a challenge trayback which has the these version of wings fitted - shows it fairly well.
The regular version was still available when i ordered mine.

Cutaway version has more clearance for steep ditch crossings & banks.
Regular version has more of the Defender look about it.

I did have that too, but thought it was a tad Fugly being a tart

So I have ordered a set of the std wing kit, and its all that Ciderman blokes fault........ as I told him in a PM, .......does he care , pah
To be honest I have far too much on me plate at the mo, work home and family probs / wise - so this is a HUGE time save - even with planned mods, and the cost od CDs has jumped a tad, and thats if I don't F up a bend or 4 here and there .........

Nige

do you think it would be possable to post a pic of these emailed wings up here , im watching this thread with great intrust as im hoping to fit these wings in the near future

Here you go, both the Standard and the Xtreme Wings from NOR :

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Nige

I have to agree there good bit of kit,

I fitted standard challenge wings as I was in no rush I spent a good few days on them, I fitted them marked positions for innerwing, coolant bottles power steering reservoir etc and drilled and tapped them so they all bolt into place, I also made some brackets so the side panel could bolt to the bulk head I put an extra bracket on the tube so the front of the side panel followed the line of the tube better, I then had them and the roll cage powder coated

cheers mate just wat i wanted (save pestering north off road hey)

does any one know who that truck (challenge) belongs to thats exactally what i wanted to do to mine , even down to modding the devon bumper some how

Thats bang tidy. TD5 aswell