Steering guard woes

[cardiff_gareth]

Went to put the steering guard on yesterday and after undoing all the bumper bolts that felt like they were welded on and giving myself a lovely big bruise.......it was about 2" too thin so the bolts that hold it on couldn't be tightened. The guy selling it said it was for a RRC or Disco 1. Does the RRC have a thinner guard ?
If I can make some spacers that are about 1" per side then ok but should I have too, now I am not sure it is the right guard for the Disco :?:

Also the bolt that holds the rear of the guard on, I think its on the steering arm? Won't come out and after hitting it repeatable with a hammer the nut won't go back on. I'm guessing if you whack hell out of it and it don't budge then not having the nut on it won't make a bit of difference :?:

Nothing is ever easy is it !

[karlo]

Some guards fit on the inside of the chassis rails and some on the outside as for the bolt through the panard rod mount lots & lots of penetrating oil and heat sorts it.

[andrew2986]

I helped a mate fit a guard on his D1, it was the style that goes on the outside of the chassis rails. that bolt was a real bitch, finished up with a sledgehammer long breaker bar and a blow torch, then once out just replaced the bolt.( it took quite a while unfortunatly )

[cardiff_gareth]

Ok, garage it is then for the bolt !
The one I have sits on the inside of the chassis rail but it's 2"'s too thin  :?

[Thrasher]

I would not drive it with a part of the steering "unbolted". I know the bolt is in and hitting it seems to not do anything, but a short drive with all the vibration of the 300TDi etc .... you never know.

Could be very messy.

[Evilgoat]

Make sure you put that bolt back in the sterring linkage.

We spent days tryong to get the drop arm off a paj, broke pullers the works.

Then got up one morning to carry on and it had just fallen off overnight.

[Disco Matt]

I must have been lucky with mine - after a good dose of Plusgas and the longest socket handle I could lay hands on it came off undamaged!

Plusgas does seem to be the way to go - the bumper bolts wouldn't move at all with the usual WD40 and spanner/hammer approach. Got both of them off in under 5mins after a dousing with this stuff.

[andrew2986]

wouldnt have thought a garage was needed, get a long breaker bar and work it up and down with a mate hitting it from the inside, get a long smaler bolt to chase it out with once it starts moving, use some heat if youve got some, it will come out..just not a 10min job.
good luck

[Frankie-Boy]

Gareth,

If the guard is two inches too thin to fit on the inside of your chassis rails, It isn't the right one for your motor, it should be a reasonably tight fit either outside or inside the rails, you don't want to have to put spacers in or these will effect the stability of the bolts if you bounce the guard off a rock or something.

When I fitted my guard that big bolt was very tight but did come out eventually, its just a case of perseverance, but don't drive it without the bolt and nut fitted - just in case.

[cardiff_gareth]

Doh, driven it to work this morning and gotta get it home later on, will make sure its a slow drive and aviod the normal route of the M4  8-[

[Guardian.]

STEERING GUARDS VARY A LOT BETWEEN MANUFACTURERS, THIS MUST BE A SINGLE 1 PIECE GUARD? THEY ARE A BIT MORE OF A PAIN, BUT 2" TO NARROW IS PATHETIC, IT IS FINE TO BE SLIGHTLY NARROWER TO ALLOW THE FIT OF AN AFTERMARKET BUMPER AND IF YOU DONT HAVE ONE IT WILL PULL UP, BUT SHOULD ONLY BE ABOUT 12-15MM NARROWER AT THE MOST IN MY OPINION.
WONT ASK WHOS IT IS, BUT, YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A NICE 3PCE!

[cardiff_gareth]

It was an Ebay jobbie, this is the item in question:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180168091514

I've just opened up a dispute for the item so we'll see what Ebay can do, i'll try and measure the dimentions tonight, what was odd that it it has 2 holes either side for bolting on, so thats one for the rear steering thingy, one for the bumper mount and a 3rd not required right by the bumper hole  :?

[stageonesimmo]

That spare hole makes it sound like a Defender item to me - I've got a WOLF guard fitted to my Disco and it has a spare hole due to the disco not having the extra bit at the front of the chassis where the farm-jack post goes.....

Even then though it should be the same width.............

[Guardian.]

defender one would be same width, or there abouts, its not 2" narrower.
at a guess id say thve chopped it up perhaps for an ill fitting home made bumper or something.