Hello and thanks for the add! I'm replacing my headlight assemblies on my LR3, and need to remove and replace the grille in order to do so. Access to the lower tabs is blocked by the brush guards and/or the driving lights. It looks as if there are only 4 bolts holding on the brush guard, and I'm hoping to find plugs for the driving lights so I can remove and replace both. Seems simple. Am I missing anything?

For some background, I have a 2005 SE that I've driven over 100K miles over the last nine years. It currently has 143K on the clock, and is better and stronger than ever. I added TerraFirma coils all around, which I like, but sometimes miss the air suspension when towing, etc. I converted the transmission to allow for fluid changes, and it really responded well to fresh ZF fluid. Other than oversized tires, nerf bars, roof rack, back ladder and an upgraded sound/navigation/camera system, it's all stock with the Deluxe 1A6 Hippopotamus Package which includes the aforementioned brush guard and driving lights. I also have a plug-in cooler, because I've envied the HSE models that have that in the glove box. So my wife got me one.

Other notes: Atlantic British has been amazing for parts. That's where I got the transmission conversion kit. And the top photo was taken this spring at the 30A Sand Rover Rally near Destin, FL.Lots of vintage Defenders, etc, there, but with the proliferation of the new-gen Defenders and Discos, the LR3's and LR4's get far more respect than I had anticipated.

Any tips anyone has about the driving lights/brush guard removal would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I have the same brushbar and also need to get to the headlights to change a bulb. I've never really done this, but it sure seems like a person can get to the tabs by rotating the off-road lights out of the way, loosening the grill and pulling it back just enough to expose the headlamp tabs, and pulling them up. I haven't tried it yet; I was actually going to do this tomorrow!

Have you tried to access them yet?

 

I may try tonight. I agree, I may be able to rotate the driving lights out enough to access the lower tabs. But I also wish to change the grill, since I got a better one. That may require removal of the brush guard. I'm wondering if it's just the four bolts going through the brush guard holding it on? And are there nuts on the other end, behind the bumper somewhere?

Any idea what the driving lights may be attached to? Looks like the brush guard.

 

Yes, the lights are attached to the brush guard, and they can be rotated quite a bit.

I agree that for R&R of the grill itself, you'd need to remove that brushbar, especially and in particular if the brackets on the top are still intact. Mine have broken off. I think that there are no nuts behind those holes; IIRC there are tapped holes and those bolts just screw in....or else there are captured nuts, because a few years back I re-engineered the washers that are used so that I could get a tighter fit. It really just involved fab'ing a shorter washer/collar and tightening of the existing bolt. I didn't take the brushbar all the way off, so I really don't know what other fastening methods might be involved.

Also, very curious to see what a "better" grill looks like! Especially since it's mostly masked by the brushbar.

 

I have an 08, with the same OEM brush bar. Your brush bar is missing the 4 protective / cosmetic plastic 'caps' which hide the 4 bolt holes. The first time I tried to remove the brush bar, about 5 years ago, one of the bolts snapped. It was siezed in there, rusted. Took me a very long time to drill through the middle of it, to remove it. Please please soak the bolts for at least a week in your preferred penetrating lube, before attempting to remove the bolts. In other words, assume they are rusted in there. There is not a 'loose' nut which can drop - I don't know if the bumper frame has been threaded, to accept the bolts, or whether nuts have been welded to the back of the bumper frame. But the bolts thread into something solid. Not sure if the inserted ends of the bolts are exposed to the elements, I think they are, but might be difficult to get to - but definitely worth taking a look. To get some penetrating lube onto the bolts. I highly recommend repainting the brush bar if you can get it off - clean it thoroughly with degreaser, use a high quality primer, and your preferred truck bed liner. I did this, it looked like new, and has survived 2 Wisconsin winters so far.

 

nevillusa,

I've been lamenting the loss of those caps for several years, and would love to find new ones. Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated. The original grille/bumper/headlights had 3M clear film from either the dealer or the factory, which looked dreadful after nearly 20 years. Hence, my desire to replace the grille and headlights, as I was told by several sources that the cracked and cloudy film could not be removed cleanly.

I survived 17 Wisconsin winters before joining the circus, and we toured Iraq, Kosovo, the Persian Gulf, the Horn of Africa, the Med, Latin America, and the Far East. After 20 years, I handed off the reins to others, and stayed in Florida. So my bolts weren't too bad at all. They came out with moderate effort, and I was able to replace the grille and headlights with relative ease.

That said. reinstalling the brush guard was a harrowing experience. I wanted to replace the bolts, two of which were rusty. So I went to both Lowe's and Home Depot with one of the bolts to find a match. It seems the bolts are Metric M8, 65mm, but neither store had a match -- either too long, or too short. So I got new washers and reinstalled the original bolts. I wasn't sure about this, as the originals wouldn't thread easily into new M8 nuts, but they went back into the bumper from whence they came, again, with mild to moderate effort.

The brush guard is now back on tightly. However, I didn't like the "feeling" of the bolts going back in. It was not a smooth, linear process. Again, they're in tight, but they effort required to tighten them seemed to fluctuate, so I took it slow and carefully. I didn't feel that sickening, slippery feeling until the very last bolt, where I began to round the head. While the brush guard is on tightly, this bugs me -- knowing that there's a bolt in there on the edge of strippage. If a mechanic down the road hits it with an impact wrench, it's all over.

I'm considering taking this bolt out and replacing it, but the new M8 bolts that I tested didn't want to thread, and I was afraid to apply too much torque. It seems like the nuts are either welded to the frame, the frame itself is threaded, or the bolts are going somewhere inaccessible, and unrepairable. I can leave it for now, or for the foreseeable future, but right now, it's a monkey on my back. What would you do?

​​​​​The good news is, the headlights look and work beautifully, and the new (used) grille literally popped right in. The resulting "facelift" makes the LR3 look at least ten years younger.

 

Sorry if this was already stated but if you are getting rid of the brush guard I will purchase it from you. Let me know.

 

No plans to get rid of the brush guard as of now, but if the threaded part in the bumper/frame goes and it gets wonky, then I definitely will. Thanks!

 

FWIW, I just changed a running light (internal to the headlamp assembly) without removing the brush bar, and I have the off-road lights and a block heater chord coming out of that grill.

 

Good news, I currently have my Brush Guard off (doing a complete Winch rebuild, along with front end freshen-up), so I was able to take a closer look -

• The bolts thread into a big nut, looks to be welded onto front of bumper frame.
• These nuts are big (one side to the other) enough to allow rethreading, and there will still be plenty of nut-metal. If you need to.
• Depth of each nut is the same, approx 12mm.
• 
  
  
  
  
  Thread does not continue into bumper frame.
• Bolt hole for top 2 bolts seems to go right through the frame - at least 130 mm. Therefore bolt length can be much longer than original
• Bolt hole for top 2 bolts does NOT seem to go through the frame - goes in approx 35mm, from surface (front) of nut.