shamirj
15th March 2019, 11:17 AM
hi all,
Having bought a cheap RAI off ebay, i went about installing the item on my D3. Have a look at this, the holes don't line up at all. So out came my drill bit for grinding till the holes lined up somewhat better then this (pic 1 & 2). Make sure before fitting that the holes actually line up. Poor manufacturing processes and lack of quality control netted me this item.
Next was the two holes you need to drill onto the guard and then place a special nut secured into place so no need for spanners behind the hole. My holes ended up slightly bigger and so the special securing nut rotated. So thought to make a bracket and weld on some nuts and hold into position. then a miracle happened. I remembered saving some brackets of series Land Rovers from many years ago which had nuts secured to plates of steel perhaps off radiator support panel? so went on the hunt and found this item (pic 3). And yes the spacing and thread were spot on, so no change required. Much better then original securing rings provided.
My next thought was to liquid nail into position from the rear and screw down to dry (pic 4). This shows it drying in position and the original provided with the RAI kit. Also leaves a very smooth flat surface for the RAI to sit onto the guard without any nut (face) protruding out of the guard like the original did. Happy days.
Having bought a cheap RAI off ebay, i went about installing the item on my D3. Have a look at this, the holes don't line up at all. So out came my drill bit for grinding till the holes lined up somewhat better then this (pic 1 & 2). Make sure before fitting that the holes actually line up. Poor manufacturing processes and lack of quality control netted me this item.
Next was the two holes you need to drill onto the guard and then place a special nut secured into place so no need for spanners behind the hole. My holes ended up slightly bigger and so the special securing nut rotated. So thought to make a bracket and weld on some nuts and hold into position. then a miracle happened. I remembered saving some brackets of series Land Rovers from many years ago which had nuts secured to plates of steel perhaps off radiator support panel? so went on the hunt and found this item (pic 3). And yes the spacing and thread were spot on, so no change required. Much better then original securing rings provided.
My next thought was to liquid nail into position from the rear and screw down to dry (pic 4). This shows it drying in position and the original provided with the RAI kit. Also leaves a very smooth flat surface for the RAI to sit onto the guard without any nut (face) protruding out of the guard like the original did. Happy days.