Thread: D4 Bull Bar & Handling

Good luck getting aftermarket shocks for them, I reckon they have all given up on trying after all the previous issues.

These may be OK. Arnott Front AIR Strut AS 2570 Land Rover Discovery 3 Range Rover Sport | eBay

They have a warranty and it looks like the shock is different to what I had previously. They only do fronts though.

Interestingly, we had an englishman who had driven his D3 (G4) overland to Australia at our club outing earlier this year. He was running the Koni dampers and claimed to have had no problems. He was running a front winch but had the standard bumpers. The D3 had plenty of other gear and would have been heavy though.

Originally Posted by ADMIRAL

Ditto on the access. If you want to remove the light assy completely, loosen all the mounting bolts, and drop the upper bolts out both sides, swivelling the bar forward enough to clear the lights. From memory, the bar doesn't have to go very far to allow access.

If you are fitting the OL bar yourself, the instructions are crap, ( and barely legible ) and time should be spent thinking ahead if you want to avoid wasting a lot of time backtracking.

I haven't noticed any change in handling from the fitment of our bar, however the shocks are now stuffed. Several long runs on corrugated gravel have seen to that . Definitely softer/wallowing since the last big trip. Haven't made up my mind on the replacement yet. I want to confirm if Bilstein and Koni have fixed their issues, or I stay with OE.

The OL instructions are crap, I would suggest using the ARB instructions as they are a lot more comprehensive, however the fitment is slightly different so double check before cutting flares and inner guards.

You can get the lights out by unscrewing the plastic plate from the back of the light unit.

I intend to get OL in Mitchum (Victoria) to fit the bar and winch, the bloke I spoke to claims to have done a few D4's and seemed to know his stuff.
I have also heard from a Land Rover Independent specialist that Bilstein shocks still have issue's, not sure what the issue's are.
Cheers
Tony

Have to say I noticed a big difference after fitting the bar and Sniegy will confirm this. Steering heavier, more under steer, and harder ride. However I'd notice an even bigger difference if the car collects a roo without the bar!

Jools