Puma steering guard

[Landi]

G'day all, tried to fit the APT steering guard on my new puma the other day, but the holes on the bash plate didn't align with the mounts. They were about 10-15mm out (holes needed to be further apart). Followed the normal procedure, removed the factory tube bar, mounted the plates on the inside of the chassis, followed recommended tightening sequence. Could my chassis be out by that much? I've heard nothing but great things about APT so not sure where the problem is. I'm assuming they're the same for 110 and 90? Mines MY15 110.

[Dopey]

G'day Landi,
Same bash plates for 90, 110 & 130. Same width chassis rails.
I've got two of the guards on my 90's.
Exactly the same measurements of the holes on both guards.

Picture below of the correct alignment of the guard in relation to the chassis rails, make sure that the guard's side pieces are just below where the steel bulges out between the main chassis rail and the jack mount below.

I found that when fitting this guard that I had to loosen the chassis mounts to the side pieces bolts, and do up the bolts holding the aluminium plate to the side pieces, then do up the chassis to side pieces bolts...(hope that makes sense).

My other guard went on very easily, also helped fit a few of these guards to other peoples landies with no issues.

Land rover factory chassis tolerances are not very exact, there is probably a few mm difference between most defenders...

Regards,
Mike.

[Landi]

Cheers Mike, I'll give it another shot when I get the chance. I thought I'd triple checked everything but maybe not. I've got a lot more faith in the guard being right than my skills. Seems like I missed something obvious but can't figure out what.

[Dopey]

Ben from APT is a forum member here as well, his username is "aptfab", if you have any questions, maybe try messaging him, he is a great bloke to deal with.

Mike.

[tonyci]

Landi
When I installed mine , I thought it was not going to fit as well.It is very important to not tighten the bolts beyond finger tight until the end.
Try again if you still have prelims give Ben a call as others have said he is a good bloke and will take the time to help you.
Cheers and good luck.
Tony

[Landi]

Gonna give it another go in the morning, keeping all these great pointers in mind

[scarry]

G'day Landi,
Same bash plates for 90, 110 & 130. Same width chassis rails.
I've got two of the guards on my 90's.
Exactly the same measurements of the holes on both guards.

Picture below of the correct alignment of the guard in relation to the chassis rails, make sure that the guard's side pieces are just below where the steel bulges out between the main chassis rail and the jack mount below.

I found that when fitting this guard that I had to loosen the chassis mounts to the side pieces bolts, and do up the bolts holding the aluminium plate to the side pieces, then do up the chassis to side pieces bolts...(hope that makes sense).

My other guard went on very easily, also helped fit a few of these guards to other peoples landies with no issues.

Land rover factory chassis tolerances are not very exact, there is probably a few mm difference between most defenders...

Regards,
Mike.

We had this issue fitting a Dolium guard to my sons Puma about 6yrs ago.
A bit of adjustment here and there was needed.
We also checked measurements on a few other Pumas at the time,and the differences in measurements between the front chassis rails was a bit more than a few mm...

[loneranger]

I fitted one on the weekend. No issues. As we fitted a bullbar at the same time I sued spacer washers at the back mounts to the chassis to have them straight back and front.

It was one of the easier jobs I've done so far. If your on Facebook APT have a video on how to fit them.

[Dopey]

We had this issue fitting a Dolium guard to my sons Puma about 6yrs ago.
A bit of adjustment here and there was needed.
We also checked measurements on a few other Pumas at the time,and the differences in measurements between the front chassis rails was a bit more than a few mm...

Yes, you are correct in that some may be more than a few mm out....

One member one here has a 90 that he had troubles with, wouldn't track properly....
And major issues with tyre wear...

I showed him how to check the alignment of the chassis using a string line and plumb bobs and straight edges and squares, both of us were amazed as to how much it was out of alignment.

The right hand rear trailing arm mount was 12mm further back than the left one.
The right hand rear spring hanger was out of alignment too, cannot remember how much off the top of my head, but will try and check the records that we made and post if I can find it.

Anyways, a major Landrover dealer ships response when notified of this issue, was to suggest packing the bushes out from the mount the required distance.

In the vertical plane, this chassis was shocking, it was equally as bad in the horizontal plane when checked as well...

I think that this issue is still being looked at by the dealer and Land rover Australia at the moment...

I believe that the vehicle was checked on a laser alignment jig as well and came up with the same measurements that we found.

Anyways, he is asking for the dealer/land rover to replace the chassis with a new one, and I believe that this is probably going to be the best option for Landrover Australia and the owner.

I also believe that a newish Sydney dealership recently replaced a brand new 130 chassis on a customers vehicle because of it being bent and out of alignment from the factory.

Regards,
Mike.

[Landi]

Well luckily it looks as though my chassis isn't too bad after all. Got the guard on today without too much hassle. Traced the initial problem to the weld across the underside of the chassis that was pushing the passenger side chassis mount for the guard out at an angle. Fiddled round a bit though and got it all sitting in nicely. Thanks to everyone and Ben from APT for all the help

[ozrob]

I fitted my APT guard tonight and noticed both mounts were angled out a CM too far for the bash plate holes to line up...
I used my High Lift jack as a puller between both mounting plates till the holes aligned...piece of **** then to get the bolts in.
Nice bash plate.