Thread: Cosmetic stuff - flares, bars, racks, wheels etc. Show me what you've got

OK,

I'm going to premise this with the statement that I want to steal your ideas for my own RRC.

In my quest to have my ultimate RRC, I need some examples of what others have done to their's...

Let me extrapolate a little.

The vehicle is currently a bog-standard ardennes green 3.9L ZF4sp BW TCase 10spline 3.54:1 open diff wheezing turd of a truck. Well, not quite, but it does have redeeming qualities and some equally abominable ones.

The missus did remark that "It's so ugly it's cool" and I'm not sure if she meant me or the RRC but let's assume the latter, and this is why I need to de-uglify it.

Flares. They exist - out there... somewhere. Problem is, all I can find are pics of the LRA trapezoidal type, "type 2" and "fatboy" both of which I do not particularly like. I'm wanting to find a round profile set, which mimicks the existing panel step-line on the guards. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually find anything 'solid' for this application.

I did remember that australian made rubber (Wheel Arch Flare) makes wheelarch flares in 3 types, and perhaps this may be where I end up, but even then, I do not believe they have enough "reach" to cover the possibility of running an ET-25 16x10 rim with 35's (example only - I currently have standard wheels and a set of eagle alloy 058's which are 16x7 ET8)

Has anyone got a link or a picture of an aftermarket flare kit or know where I can find the LRA series 1 flares (apparently not made anymore, according to Andrew).


Next item on the list: Bars.

I have ARB bars on the vehicle. They are fine-ish. I also have an LRA 2" body lift sitting here in a box ready to go in, which means the bars will be raised also, and the rear bar will be modded.
However, I'm not a fan of the rear bar, except for the fantastic job ARB did on the tow hitch.... well the strength of it. The angled tongue is a PITA, but I digress.

I was looking at
Rangie1.jpg
(I think it was Vern's) lifted '86 RRC and noticed he'd clearanced the rear guard and used a hefty 3x2 box section around the sides. I didn't mind that idea. I also recently saw an outcast offroad rear bar, which was quite appealing, except it used round pipe for the wraparound section, and I'm not a fan of pipe-bars on a car that is essentially a big slab-sided box with sharply defined angles. Pipe-bars look s-house imo and are best left for retards in hiluxes.

I will be modifying the centre section of my front bar to re-mount a winch, so it can be bolted on the vertical axis as well as the horizontal. I will also be moving it a little further forward to enhance airflow through the grille. Originally I was going to change the setup to a high-mount, but am re-investigating some options from Runva and Tmax with larger spools so I can get a longer rope out. (40m) Originally I was investigating a hydraulic pto option, but I am now back to a simple electric setup, since it's not worth my while, and the possibility of being stalled in a river would mean no winch with a hydraulic setup.

Snorkel. I've seen a couple. I'm not sure what to think. I would appreciate others thoughts / pics.

Roof rack. On the other recent thread regarding roof racks for RRC's I noticed the tradesman oval alloy rack. It's looking the business for the money. I was looking at a hannibal rack, but the price, shipping delay, ordering timeframe and overall 'unknown' (despite knowing the G-Wagen guys love them) is a big minus for me. Plus, Tradesman are made here in australia, not in saffa. I prefer to spend my money on local made products.

Spare tyre relocation:
Yeah, I'm slightly annoyed by this.
Because I need the space inside the car, I will be relocating the spare. Problem is, most people I know who have relocated it to the rear bar have had issues with this. The alternative is of course, to put it on the roof rack, but this means the roofrack becomes a permanent fixture and the tyre is also now a swinging pendulum far above the centre of gravity - not ideal.
I do remember the discussion a few months ago about 're-bracing' an LRA mount on the arb rear bar to take the weight of a 33 or 35, but one of my gripes with this is rear access. The top section is not able to be opened unless the spare sits more than 12 inches away (stupid) and obviously access to the lower section means swinging it away - which may not always be possible, especially in my garage, should the situation occur where I need to work on it.

Wheels.
Please post pictures of your wheel/tyre combination. Like I said, I have a set of standard 3 spoke RRC wheels and a set of eagle alloy 058 wheels.
11393156_10204429968964934_4910447009255171305_n.jpg
But I'd like to see pics of others, like the dynamics etc - just to see how they look ON the vehicle.

Slide rails:
I was looking at APT fabrications rock slider rails ( APT Stubbie Rock Sliders | Discovery 1 | Range Rover - APT Fabrication Custom Land Rover Parts & Accessories ) to replace the standard plastic stuff. Only issue I see with them is they don't have a steptread built into the sliders. with a 2" body lift and a proposed 3" suspension lift coming, I know I will need assistance alighting to and from the vehicle, never mind the missus... she already has trouble as it is.

Does anyone have any recommendations with regards to the sliders? because some say only mount them to the chassis rails and others vehemently disagree with this philosophy.

One other (perhaps unusual) item I am looking for is an external sun visor - a metal one. Do they exist? These guys ( Windscreen Sunvisors - Roof Rack World / Sunshade Products ) only do mesh ones, and they are not available in solid metal. Does anyone have one (or know of one) they wish to get rid of?
It's probably the only strange item on the list, but I see a considerable merit in having one fitted. Particularly for my knees not getting sunburned.

Any other thoughts / ideas / suggestions etc would be appreciated. I'm not averse to having pros & cons of the ideas debated...

thanks!

Originally Posted by Mercguy

That 8274 high mount sure looks the business.

Best all rounder