Rovacraft Steering guard - 4wd Expo

[5teve]

Hi guys

has anyone fitted their steering guard purchased from Rovacraft at the 4wd action expo thing? And have you had the following issues?

Tried to fit it today.. Brackets only just fit (and i had to space them out to fit around the roo bar. Looks like the hole centres on my deefer are right on the upper limits.

The main failure is the fact that the guard doesnt fit. The notches that are cut out to clear the chassis rails arent cut back enough When you go to tighten the plate to bracket bolts up the plate hits the chassis long long before the plate meets the bracket face. Probably need to be back by about another 10mm, so its not even close to being right! My only option without cutting the guards is to space them out from the bracket by 10mm. Which means a full new set of longer bolts, spacers etc etc..

Thanks

Steve

[HangOver]

will it fit a RRC, want to sell it? :D

if you ever need a hand i'm just around the corner, not that i could be much help on this occasion.

For new bolts i always go here but just because I work near there:
Total Fasteners‎
1/156 Kewdale Rd, Kewdale WA 6105‎ - (08) 9353 2720
the shop is called mullings fastners, don't knwo why its got a different name to its telephone listing.‎


There's probably several nearer

[rick130]

will it fit a RRC, want to sell it? :D

if you ever need a hand i'm just around the corner, not that i could be much help on this occasion.

For new bolts i always go here but just because I work near there:
Total Fasteners‎
1/156 Kewdale Rd, Kewdale WA 6105‎ - (08) 9353 2720
the shop is called mullings fastners, don't knwo why its got a different name to its telephone listing.‎


There's probably several nearer

Because Mullings Fasteners bought a whole bunch of fastener companies on the east coast and now go by the name of Total Fasteners for the group.
I actually have their web page open in another tab as they bought Valley Bolts here and I couldn't remember their name so had to do a search.

[Gav110]

Not sure if they are the same, but mine was from RovaCraft - fitted by Mulgo. See link: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/106445-finally-arrived-new-puma-110-zermatt-silver.html#post1276935

[5teve]

will it fit a RRC, want to sell it? :D

if you ever need a hand i'm just around the corner, not that i could be much help on this occasion.

For new bolts i always go here but just because I work near there:
Total Fasteners‎
1/156 Kewdale Rd, Kewdale WA 6105‎ - (08) 9353 2720
the shop is called mullings fastners, don't knwo why its got a different name to its telephone listing.‎


There's probably several nearer

Thanks for the offer hangover :) if its doesnt fit mine it aint fitting yours.. :D like i said its about 10mm out.. not just a few mm

Nuts and bolts arent a problem.. i know most of the places (being a mech eng) its more of a curiosity to see if anyone else has had the issue.. as im surprised they are so far out.

As Rovacraft had the container arrive days before the show im sure they wouldnt of had time to test fit them.

spacing it off the brackets shouldnt be an issue should it?


Not sure if they are the same, but mine was from RovaCraft - fitted by Mulgo. See link: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/106445-finally-arrived-new-puma-110-zermatt-silver.html#post1276935

Its certainly similar but its hard to compare with. im assuming Mulgo had no issues with it hitting the chassis rails?

Does yours pick up on the tiedown eye bolt and the Panhard rod bracket (lh side) and original steering guard bolt (rh side) too?

Thanks guys

Steve

[NCF 110]

I bought one at last weeks show , fitted it on Monday , and yes I had to cut both brackets and widen the holes , also had to cut a little from each side at the top of the main plate (the silver one with the big holes ) , just used a grinder with a metal cutting wheel and a round file to make the holes bigger , it fitted ok with a little fiddling .Hope this helps

Cheers Stew

[GlenM]

I got mine on my D1 without too much trouble. Loosely fitted the brackets to the guard and the holes on the brackets lined up well with the holes in the chassis. A couple of welded on tow hooks got in the way of the brackets a bit but the brackets just ended up bending around the hooks as I tightened the bolts. I've got an ARB bar on the front. All fits nice and straight.

[5teve]

I got mine on my D1 without too much trouble. Loosely fitted the brackets to the guard and the holes on the brackets lined up well with the holes in the chassis. A couple of welded on tow hooks got in the way of the brackets a bit but the brackets just ended up bending around the hooks as I tightened the bolts. I've got an ARB bar on the front. All fits nice and straight.

Same process i used.. but still no go :( now bought washers to space things out so it should work.. But.. i still have the issue of no support behind the guard as the brackets wont touch... thanks for the info...


I bought one at last weeks show , fitted it on Monday , and yes I had to cut both brackets and widen the holes , also had to cut a little from each side at the top of the main plate (the silver one with the big holes ) , just used a grinder with a metal cutting wheel and a round file to make the holes bigger , it fitted ok with a little fiddling .Hope this helps

Cheers Stew

Thanks Stew... sounds like you had similar issues. When you say you had to cut some from the top of the main plate so you mean the horizontal bit of the notch each side? mines needing about 10mm cutting back. Did you finish the bare metal with anything?

Thanks

Steve

[dcale]

Hi guys

has anyone fitted their steering guard purchased from Rovacraft at the 4wd action expo thing? And have you had the following issues?

Tried to fit it today.. Brackets only just fit (and i had to space them out to fit around the roo bar. Looks like the hole centres on my deefer are right on the upper limits.

The main failure is the fact that the guard doesnt fit. The notches that are cut out to clear the chassis rails arent cut back enough When you go to tighten the plate to bracket bolts up the plate hits the chassis long long before the plate meets the bracket face. Probably need to be back by about another 10mm, so its not even close to being right! My only option without cutting the guards is to space them out from the bracket by 10mm. Which means a full new set of longer bolts, spacers etc etc..

Thanks

Steve
Steve,

I also bought a steering guard at the expo and mine also has the same issue. I contacted Rovacraft last week and they asked me to send photos. So far i have not heard back from them. Will ring them tomorrow to see what their solution is.

[Allan]

will it fit a RRC, want to sell it? :D

if you ever need a hand i'm just around the corner, not that i could be much help on this occasion.

For new bolts i always go here but just because I work near there:
Total Fasteners‎
1/156 Kewdale Rd, Kewdale WA 6105‎ - (08) 9353 2720
the shop is called mullings fastners, don't knwo why its got a different name to its telephone listing.‎


There's probably several nearer

Mr Metric Osbourne Park are the people north of the river

Allan

[lardy]

doesn't surprise me too much I bought rock sliders from them that did not fit anywhere near the 130 without butchery ...sure the law is ..should be fit for purpose

[NCF 110]

Same process i used.. but still no go :( now bought washers to space things out so it should work.. But.. i still have the issue of no support behind the guard as the brackets wont touch... thanks for the info...



Thanks Stew... sounds like you had similar issues. When you say you had to cut some from the top of the main plate so you mean the horizontal bit of the notch each side? mines needing about 10mm cutting back. Did you finish the bare metal with anything?

Thanks

Steve

Hi Steve , yes I cut around 6mm from the notchs on each side , filed them smooth and sprayed some silver paint over the cuts . They fit with some work , my defender is a 1993 110 with a heavy duty roo bar ( not sure of the make )

Cheers Stew

[5teve]

Steve,

I also bought a steering guard at the expo and mine also has the same issue. I contacted Rovacraft last week and they asked me to send photos. So far i have not heard back from them. Will ring them tomorrow to see what their solution is.

I'd be interested to hear the solution there.. keep us posted. I know it was cheap and all that. but its a fairly simple thing to get to fit.. i'm guessing their supplier screwed up! I didnt particularly want to get the angle grinder on it as i didnt want to break the paint, i dont think i'm going to have a choice tho!


Hi Steve , yes I cut around 6mm from the notchs on each side , filed them smooth and sprayed some silver paint over the cuts . They fit with some work , my defender is a 1993 110 with a heavy duty roo bar ( not sure of the make )

Cheers Stew

Thanks Stew... yeah the brackets on mine interfere with the bar but thats easily fixed by spacers to get round it, or chopping the bar / bracket back, this i dont have an issue with as they cant account for all combos. I dont know if 6mm would do it on mine... probably be close. Does yours clear the chassis? or is it touching?

Thanks for the info there guys....

Steve

[5teve]

Well the spacers dont work as a temp solution.. the plate is that rigid (which is good) that when i put washers between the bracket and the plate it spaces it away that much that nothing lines up and i cant tighten the rear bolts without bending something..

Its angle grinder, an official mod... or return :(

Any joy with an answer?

Steve

[scott oz]

I purchased one of their guards last year and was assured that it was a "bolt on". (2001 110)

Finally got aroumd to putting it on and now way will it work.

So have now purchased one for a forum vendor.

[dcale]

5teve, spoke with the guys yesterday and they said that the brackets were manufactured wrong. They advise I could cut it to fit or return it.

[5teve]

Hmm... thats not particularly helpful!

If i cut it.. i have to repaint it.. so i may as well use coutersunk bolts and make it neat...

they arent issuing new brackets then? i noticed too the bracket is a bit squeezy around the steering damper.. oh well... as always if i want something doing i'm better designing and building it myself! As i do it every day... sometimes its just nice to buy something someone else has done!

Thanks for letting me know...

Steve

[stuee]

So have any of you guys returned the brackets to Rovacraft or modified them yet. I went to fit mine on the disco tonight and only succeeded in fitting one bracket (drivers side). I will have to space out the passenger side bracket or cut the tie-down point to make it fit. Other modifications are that I will have to notch the bash plate as Land Rover in their infinite wisdom remove the factory recovery points when the nudge bars were fitted so now our after-market recovery points interfere with the bash plate.

I havnt even been able to get it close enough to see if it touches the chassis but my unit does not even have any notches in the plate (I could be mis-reading what you guys are referring too though.

I will be cutting approximately 2"x3" of the top of each corner of the bash plate to accommodate the recovery points so I hope that will remove any chance of it hitting the chassis rails too.

Anyone got any pics of theirs installed yet?

[stuee]

An update to fitting my guard (still somewhat relevant I hope for people searching even though this is the defender forum) is that I got some spacers for the passenger side bracket to avoid the chassis ties down points and cut the bash plate to fit around my after-market recovery points. Did all that to find out that the brackets are too close together (by about 5mm) and there is not enough bolt left to add in any more spacers:mad:. This now means source a new bolt for one side only or elongate the holes. I'm going to go the longer bolt but that sucks because none of the fastener joints are open weekends :mad:.

I've got a temporary bolt from Bunnings (not HT) to check that it will fit up without further modification so I'm going to give that a crack after my coffee :cool:. When its all fitted up I will post up some pics for future reference.

Edit* Sorted the bolt problem. The 160mm bolt holding the old steering guard was HT and the same size as the bolt that was too short in the front. Swapped them about and its all sweet. Plenty of spacers in now, trial fitted and bash plate back off to paint the cut outs. Should all be finished tomorrow :D

Edit Edit* Pics added in my members thread if people want to see what I've had to do to fit my guard.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members-rides/72120-stuees-97-v8-disco-2.html#post1289229

[5teve]

Hi Stuee

Thats pretty different to the defender guard! it looks like the defender guard didnt need quite so many mods.. re-drilling and a bit of grinding... the brackets pretty much fitted just a little tight. it was the bash plate which needed the main work..

Mine is on.. not causing any grief.. so respray time shortly to get the cut edges sealed!

Glad you got yours sorted tho...

Steve