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anyone in here ever installed the oem bumper brush guard? I was thinking of getting it from the dealer and just have them install it, but they want an arm and a leg for it. I saw some online for around $400, from the diagram it seems easy enough to install, but I don't want to screw it up if there are some drilling required.
I did buy and install the brushguard on my own. I'm pretty handy, but no mechanic by any means. The hardest thing was getting the bumper off, and you will have to take it off completely. IF your land rover dealership is cool enough to print you some instructions for just getting the bumper off, then you're golden. Pester them, especially if you're a repeat customer. Mine wasn't so cool, so it took a couple hours to figure out that when all the bolts came out, the bumper was still magically "snapped in" where it wraps around to the front wheel wells. That's not so easy to figure out just by looking. If you're comfortable under the car, then go ahead and give it a try (I didn't put it on a lift or anything). Give yourself a couple hours to figure out how the bumper comes off.
After that, it was a matter of CAREFULLY lining up where to drill the holes and put the paper template. Take into account the angle of the bolts. I got some lipstick and put it on the end of the bolts when starting to dry fit and it helped me to see where to drill by making a small mark on the bumper.
Then it all went back together. It took me about 5 hours total. It would have taken 2 if I'd have had instructions on getting the bumper off without trial and error. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but I was just trying to get it done with a bored, testy girlfriend pacing around my house and glaring until I was finished.
I'll say this: This was the hardest install I've done of factory equipment so far (most likely due to my removing bumper blindly, but successfully). The other things I've installed are the roof rails, tow package, and mud flaps on my 2008 LR2. In their defense, and when they were weakened by my persistence, the dealership service department did print off the instructions on removing the back bumper for the tow package, and it made the job infinitely easier, albeit ultra time-consuming, which is why the install is so expensive, but possible.
The Roof Rails and Brushguard is what is really "missing" from the LR2 as far as making it look like a capable SUV. I've also put a size wider and taller tires on the LR2, which gave me 1" of lift and a smoother ride, with cheaper tires. They fit on the stock wheels. I don't remember the sizes, but I'll write about it more when I take some pics and find the right forum.
Feel free to write if you have any questions or want some pics!
I would love to see some pics of your setup. I also wanted to upgrade my tires, but it's hard to find all terrain tires for my 19 stock wheels. I wanted to downsize my wheel size but it seems harder now a days to find a wheel smaller that fits.
OK
I snapped a couple pictures of the grille guard this morning. I'm quite happy it all went on there straight, because the paper template you have to cut out and apply for your drill holes requires some finesse and forethought. Measure and dry fit 5x and drill once . I'm pretty anal about the fit though when I'm putting a drill bit through my front bumper!
About the tires, I've got the 19" wheels and have put P255/60 R19's on mine. They are both wider and taller. And because they're taller, the sidewall doesn't come any closer to the suspension behind the tire, even though the surface of the tire is wider. I thought I was going to have to get spacers, but that turned out not to be the case. The shorter the tire, the more bulge on the sidewall. Inversely, as here, the taller the tire, the less bulge from the sidewall. This is a really nice fit, no spacers needed, no rub. The only thing that's different is that you'll manually have to correct the 6% increase in speed/milage/odometer over what the car's instrument panel will register (you're going faster than what the speedo is saying!) I've had these on there about 15k miles and no complaints! No decrease in mileage (possible increase actually) and the ride is smoother, with a little added clearance, and your rig looking more like a capable SUV and not so much of a car. Tires in this size range are cheaper and wear better.
I really use my LR2 for hauling my small boat, a small trailer, a roof rack, and off roading in central Arkansas. It's quite capable and dependable. That's my two cents. Let me know if you have any other questions or insights.
Cheers!!
OH, this tire size calculator was very helpful: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html . The OEM tire size was 235/55 R19 (the tire is 55% taller than it's 235mm width, with a 19" wheel diameter, if you didn't know)
LR2 brush guard
. I'm pretty anal about the fit though when I'm putting a drill bit through my front bumper!
