LR3 Brush Bar Installation tips

[stanstheman]

Installed the Non-Winch Brush Bar on my new LR3 Last week. Here is what I learned. The instructions are all pictures - nothing written. First, to answer a common question, the bumper DOES NOT have to be removed. Essentially, you will be using a 33mm hole saw to cut the two mounting holes thru the bumper. The instructions show measuring down from a fixed point on each side of the bumper where the two vertical styling indents are (one on each side). You will understand the above much more when you get the instructions with the kit. It shows to drop down 70mm from the top point and to be centered on the vertical depression to mark the center of the hole saw drill. First off, you will be more accurate if you add one mm. (make it 71mm). I drilled the passenger side at 70 mm and was ONE mm too high. When I dropped down to 71mm on the drivers side I hit it right on center. Also, you can use a hole saw 1 or 2 mm smaller (in inch measurements) as most of us don't have a metric hole saw set! Once cut, there is about one inch of space behind the bumper then you will see the threaded hole in the frame for the mounting bolt. If you want to be right on the mark, here is what I would do if I was doing it again. Take the saw blade off the hole saw and just use the center drill first to drill the initial centering hole. Then take a probe (or a flashlight) and see if you are directly over the threaded hole. You probably won't be. Now you can adjust one direction or another before you saw the hole. If after doing that, you still find that you are slightly off, you can use a dremel tool to correct the alignment. the reason you use a hole saw is that a bushing goes around the bolt in that hole. If you are off by a millimeter or two, don't fret because the front mounts on the bar will cover the hole by at least 2 mm on each side. The underframe (bottom mounts) are straight forward (not drilling required). You can do this complete installation job in less than one hour and as most Rover dealers charge around 400 bucks to mount the bar, don't be afraid to do it yourself. Remember though before you use the final hole saw on the front mounts, just use the center drill first. That way you can't mess it up.

 

[duckdive]

Thanks for the info Stanstheman, I just bought the brush bar and am going to
have a go at installing it myself. All seems pretty straight forward, but I do have
one question for you. How far away is the threaded hole from the surface of the
bumper? The reason I ask is when I drill my pilot hole to get things lined up I don't
want to drill into the threads. Took your advice on saw size 1 1/4 inches (31.89mm)
Thanks again for the added instruction.

 

[nwoods]

Be carefull with that brush bar. It is NOT a nudge bar. The bolts are the only thing preventing it from bending up and into the front of your car. Some chaps on www.disco3.co.uk forum have experienced some pain and suffering when they gently stuffed theirs into a steep sand dune.

It looks pretty good and will protect your front end from plant life, but don't rub it up against anything stiffer than a bush or bad things could happen.

 

[duckdive]

Thanks for the advice nwoods, no I didn't plan on pushing trees out of my path.
Just wanted to keep "plant life" as you said off the grill, and for aux. lighting.

 

[BazLR3]

Installed the Non-Winch Brush Bar on my new LR3 Last week. Here is what I learned. The instructions are all pictures - nothing written. First, to answer a common question, the bumper DOES NOT have to be removed. Essentially, you will be using a 33mm hole saw to cut the two mounting holes thru the bumper. The instructions show measuring down from a fixed point on each side of the bumper where the two vertical styling indents are (one on each side). You will understand the above much more when you get the instructions with the kit. It shows to drop down 70mm from the top point and to be centered on the vertical depression to mark the center of the hole saw drill. First off, you will be more accurate if you add one mm. (make it 71mm). I drilled the passenger side at 70 mm and was ONE mm too high. When I dropped down to 71mm on the drivers side I hit it right on center. Also, you can use a hole saw 1 or 2 mm smaller (in inch measurements) as most of us don't have a metric hole saw set! Once cut, there is about one inch of space behind the bumper then you will see the threaded hole in the frame for the mounting bolt. If you want to be right on the mark, here is what I would do if I was doing it again. Take the saw blade off the hole saw and just use the center drill first to drill the initial centering hole. Then take a probe (or a flashlight) and see if you are directly over the threaded hole. You probably won't be. Now you can adjust one direction or another before you saw the hole. If after doing that, you still find that you are slightly off, you can use a dremel tool to correct the alignment. the reason you use a hole saw is that a bushing goes around the bolt in that hole. If you are off by a millimeter or two, don't fret because the front mounts on the bar will cover the hole by at least 2 mm on each side. The underframe (bottom mounts) are straight forward (not drilling required). You can do this complete installation job in less than one hour and as most Rover dealers charge around 400 bucks to mount the bar, don't be afraid to do it yourself. Remember though before you use the final hole saw on the front mounts, just use the center drill first. That way you can't mess it up.

How far away should you be from the ridge in the bumper on the side of the hole? 71mm down from the top of the bumper and how many mm away from the ridge? Very frustrating!

I am looking a nicely used (tabular) nudge bar that does not have the mounting hardware (installation kit), can those be purchased separately?

Thanks.

 

[foggdog]

The directions seem to show 4 holes need to be drilled in the bumper. Is that correct?

 

[foggdog]

The instructions for the brush bar seem to show 4 holes being drilled into the bumper . is that correct? your post states 2 and the parts I got only includes attachment parts for 2 holes. just curious why they show 4?