Bull Bars

[cairnsrover]

what can anyone tell me about bull bars.

I see that LR produce a plastic looking version which is about one grand new. I haven't seen one up close but my first impression is that it sits very close to the bodywork and in my experience of hitting roos they tend to push bull bars into the body work.

I did see a photo of a L322 with a "proper" aluminium bull bar however I am guessing this would stuff up the air bags ?

Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated

[Scouse]

I'm sure ARB do/did one for the RR. There's one that comes into work sporting an ARB bar.

[Tombie]

Not for an L322..

If there is an L322 with an ARB bar then it is a custom modified job.

[Scouse]

I'm sure it has an ARB sticker fitted & it's a bumper replacement type bar.
It's in here regularly (what a surprise!!) so I'll see if I can get a photo next time.

Everytime I see it, I ask myself why would ARB make a bar for these & not the P38.

[VladTepes]

ARB suck. I asked them about whether they'd make / adapt a bar for an airbag equipped Classic (my LSE) and they pretty much told me to **** off.

[Scouse]

If there is an L322 with an ARB bar then it is a custom modified job.I've asked the Q & it turns out it's a modified D2 bar.

[Daniel]

I've owned all sorts of RRs including Classics, P38s and currently the L322.

All have had bull bars with both the L322 and the P38 being the factory ones, and I've hit roos with them all.

I also almost wrote off a brand new Pajero fitted with factory aluminium bull bars after 2 roos hits - one on the way home from the Panel beater after picking it up from repairs from the first hit.

The Toyota Prado somehow evaded all the roos but then a stone went through its radiator core which was unprotected and sat like some sort of stone scoop low under the bull bar - what was Toyota thinking of?

I also used to operate a Toyota s80 LandCrusier and went through about 5 bull bars over the 10 years that I owned it from hitting roos.

In the end it makes very little difference as even the ARB bars ended up being thrown away from roo strikes.

Surprisingly with the advanced brake, stability and supsension systems on the L322 I've suffered the least damage of all the vehicles I've owned even though I've hit roos three times thus far with it. The damage has however been down the side and the rear bumper as the legs thrash about after the front strikes/glances.

Even though the factory bar on the L322 seems flimsy it does the job probably beacuse of its flexibilty.

[cairnsrover]

have just managed to find a genuine bull bar for the L322.

Has anyone any experience of fitting them. I have been told its easy which comment always worries me.

I believe I will have to get a kit for the parking sensors.

Any information appreciated

[Daniel]

have just managed to find a genuine bull bar for the L322.

Has anyone any experience of fitting them. I have been told its easy which comment always worries me.

I believe I will have to get a kit for the parking sensors.

Any information appreciated


G'day

I don't have access to my L322 at present as I'm still in Europe - back in a couple of weeks. My selling dealer fitted my factory nudge bar whilst I watched - real simple - just need to cut holes in the original plastic bumper cover to allow the mount bolts to go through to the threaded sockets underneath.

However as with yours, my L322 has front park sensors and they need special covers in the nudge bar kit which did not come with the kit when the dealer got it. The fixing/mount bolts are hidden under the park sensor covers.

I guess the only "difficult" part is to obtain the template dimensions for the mount bolt holes. Your installation kit should have the templates for the drilling. If not and if you can wait a couple of weeks I can provide those dimensions to you by removing my nudge bar and measuring it out.
It only takes 5 minutes to remove and replace the whole assembly.

regards, Daniel.

[PAT303]

I must admit that the last time I drove across Oz I missed about 50-60 roo's because of the handling and brakes on my L322,the one thing I did hit was a duck at Bourke and it smashed the clear cover off the headlight. Pat

[Daniel]

Yep, one can't beat the ABS, EBA & DSC on the L322 compared to the Jap 'rap.

It's amazing how often Jap 'rap owners want to compare their toys with LRs but safety can't be beaten.

During my 10 years of ownership of a Toy I went through about 5 ABR bull bars and lots of panel damage when the bull bars were pushed back into the bonnet and mud guards.

In my 10 years of ownership of the P38 & L322 I've only hit wallabies with minor panel damage. On the L322 I came to an emergency stop and then the wallaby decided to run into me at full speed.

[PAT303]

The one good thing about DSC is that it can be switched off,my brakes got very hot north of Broken Hill as it was working full time.My L322 is getting hooked up today as it has a miss when driven slowly,gas it up and it rockets along but cruise at 60 and it coughs and carries on. Pat

[Daniel]

The one good thing about DSC is that it can be switched off,my brakes got very hot north of Broken Hill as it was working full time.My L322 is getting hooked up today as it has a miss when driven slowly,gas it up and it rockets along but cruise at 60 and it coughs and carries on. Pat

We've got a Renault Espace here in Europe - picked up brand new and now has 9600 km on it. It also has an off switch that disables both ETC and DSC. Handy when one wants to do a hill start as otherwise the turbo lag combined with the electronic hand brake amkes it difficult to keep the thing moving forward.

Please let us know what the results of the diagnosis are?

[PAT303]

Mate,looks like your right about the tranny fluid.My auto was filled with something,most likely Transmax Z and the hicup looks like it's the tranny not knowing what gear to select.I'm going to get it flushed again in town and get it filled with the castrol fluid Holden use in the SV6 bomberdoor which uses the same GM box.I'm alittle annoyed that the auto specailist I took it too didn't check weather the right fluid was used. Pat

[Daniel]

Mate,looks like your right about the tranny fluid.My auto was filled with something,most likely Transmax Z and the hicup looks like it's the tranny not knowing what gear to select.I'm going to get it flushed again in town and get it filled with the castrol fluid Holden use in the SV6 bomberdoor which uses the same GM box.I'm alittle annoyed that the auto specailist I took it too didn't check weather the right fluid was used. Pat

Hi Pat - sorry to hear about the AT issue.

I'm not sure if I posted it on this forum or another in response to Phil.
There is no Castrol product suitable for the RR td6 tranny!
Although the td6 shares the same tranny as many other GM vehicles its the valve body that requires the exact spec ATF.

Look up my other post to see the ATF specs that do meet the GM specs.

Castrol lubrication representatives specifically warn that none of their products are suitable for either RR td6 or for the BMW td6 trannies and should NOT be used under any circumstances.

Hope this helps! - Daniel.

[PAT303]

Mate I found your posts on another forum regarding the tranny oil,I'm abit worried about the gearbox's being only good for 100,000 miles,mines almost done that. Pat

[Daniel]

Mate I found your posts on another forum regarding the tranny oil,I'm abit worried about the gearbox's being only good for 100,000 miles,mines almost done that. Pat


Yeah, I only assume that the 161k km applies to typical pommy shopping trolley use - ie lots of stop start driving and in earlier 2003 td6 L322 models. Mine is also approaching that mark and all I've noticed is a slight vibration noise when doing 60 kph and backing off on a very smooth AC surface. As with all auto trannies it's the valve body that fails first and that's why the ATF is so critical. I've imported filter kits and plan to change my ATF and filter as soon as I get back from Europe.

We've had some fun driving some boggy tracks in rural Poland this week. Testing the Espace's ETC to its limits. Can't wait to get back home and drive the goat tracks that we call highways in NSW. One thing that I'm not looking forward to is the stupid attitude we have to enforcement of road rules. We've now driven just short of 10k km throughout Europe - seen 2 highway patrols. The last was when we drove past a radar gun wielding HP in Lithuania at 145 kph in a 90 kph zone and all they did was indicate that I should slow down. When will our cops loose the attitude they gained back in the rum rebellion?

So is your tranny fault induced power shudder there for good or did they remove the fault code that induced it?