Hi,

I have an 08 LR3 with a factory installed Brush Bar, Land Rover Part # LR005237. It has 2 'broken' plastic brackets, that should attach the unit to the vehicle towards the top, and above the Grill. Anyone know if I can buy these separately? Otherwise, I guess I'll fabricate something out of aluminum.

Attached is a picture of me desperately trying to find some off-road action, on a snowbank outside my house.

Should be able to head off-road soon - Just waiting for a new Winch Remote Control to arrive. Some people have reported corrosion and rust damage inside the Warn Winch 9.5 xp gear and motor assembly, so I took mine apart and cleaned everything up, and will re-grease the gears.

 

Under the Land Rover LR3 Genuine A Protection Bar item, BP Utah in their LR Accessories section for the LR3, shows part number VUB502880 as being the hardware kit; also a couple of jpg's of your missing top brackets so there you have it.

British Parts of Utah-Land Range Rover Sport LR4 LR3 LR2 Discovery Defender Freelander Genuine OEM Accessories Parts

I enjoyed the snowbank picture - kind of looks like outside my door, but can't see the pavement yet.

 

Call Lucky8, (716) 898-8153 give them the part number (VUB502880) looks like a allmakes part number he should be able to get you squared away. Great customer service, good prices and quick shipping.

 

plastic mounting brackets for a brush guard.... I guess it is only protecting your 3 from brush!

Just my opinion, but you would be much better off to fab up some simple brackets from steel or aluminium flat stock.

wait a tick... these brackets attach to the plastic grill which is only snapped into place? Perhaps making the metal brackets longer and attaching them to something with a bit more substance would be a good idea. Also, I wonder how much difficulty this adds to changing light bulbs in the headlight units. I plan to install an ARB winch bumper and I have heard that it is impossible to change the high beam bulbs with this winch bumper in place.

 

Thanks Everybody,

Really appreciate the quick responses. Just spoke with Lucky 8. The mount kit is more than $150, so I guess I'll be fabricating something out of aluminum. Just what I need - Another project! I'll try to do it in a way that is 'repeatable', i.e. share the plans here, so that other people can make them or take the plans to a metal shop.

See pic of me in my 03 HSE last summer, I seem to have come across a slight puddle...

Will probably be doing the same thing in the LR3 soon.

 

My view is about the only really effective bumper is the ARB style that sits about a foot ahead of the original bumper. You have a place to mount lights and the winch and when it hits something, there is not much to bend back and destroy the grill etc. This I think is why the brackets on the LR rubber one that feed back to the grill are plastic; their purpose is to impede vibration but are not intended to transfer bending loads back to the grill.

Apparently even with the ARB, changing headlight bulbs is impeded, (not certain why), but at least one is not removing parts.

The LR pipe style brush bar is good for mounting lights and antenna etc, and might be better for fending off brush but that is about all. The rubber one is designed to be pedestrian friendly and better looking; that is its main claim to fame.

LR has a brush bar for the D4 that looks pretty good; pictures on page 5 of the link below but the ARB style is still probably the least worst overall.

Forum thoughts on D4 BULL BAR RUNOUT - $2,675 fitted - Australian Land Rover Owners

 

nevill: If you'd care to make a second set, I'd be willing to pay the cost of materials and a 6-pack...if you could please estimate what that might be.

Damn brackets were never any good in the first place, and mine broke on me just last week.

 

I agree that the Brush Bar I have is mostly 'cosmetic', and the only reason I'm bothering to replace the Brackets is to eliminate vibration, in order to reduce the stress in the other areas that connect the Brush Bar to the vehicle.

Sidenote, I don't have a machine or tool that can 'bend' flat pieces of metal in a way that is 'precisely repeatable', so I may just run to a local machine shop and get them to quickly fabricate something.

I will definitely report back what I come up with though, and maybe pay for a dozen or so to be made, knowing that there seems to be a market for something stronger than the OEM plastic brackets.

 

I agree that the Brush Bar I have is mostly 'cosmetic', and the only reason I'm bothering to replace the Brackets is to eliminate vibration, in order to reduce the stress in the other areas that connect the Brush Bar to the vehicle.

Sidenote, I don't have a machine or tool that can 'bend' flat pieces of metal in a way that is 'precisely repeatable', so I may just run to a local machine shop and get them to quickly fabricate something.

I will definitely report back what I come up with though, and maybe pay for a dozen or so to be made, knowing that there seems to be a market for something stronger than the OEM plastic brackets.

 

Agree on the reason for doing it; avoiding vibration/stress. Looked at it yesterday; probably don't want to make it too beefy, since it's being connected to a plastic grill anyway. ...better to have the bracket be the weakest link rather than the grill.

I have one good bracket, and one good female end on the brush bar; problem is that they are not on the same side! I am going to try and remove the good bracket without ruining it...then try to get my hands on two more of those funky fasteners that connect the brackets to the grill. Otherwise, I will come up with my own way to fasten it.