Thread: Opposite Lock Bull Bar on a Discovery 3

Bellow is a copy of a letter I have just sent to Opposite Lock regarding one of their Bull Bars I had fitted to my 2007 Discovery 3.

If you are fitting a Bull Bar you might find it interesting reading.



30^th June 2017



Opposite Lock - Dandenong
Unit 4/97 Monash Drive
DANDENONG VIC 3175



Dear Opposite Lock-Dandenong,

I purchased and had fitted your Opposite Lock Post Type Steel Premium Winch Bull Bar to my 2007 Land Rover Discovery 3 at your Dandenong store on September 12^th 2014. Which at the time and after considerable research, I chose your Bull Bar based on your reputation, being fit for purpose and astatically I preferred its looks over other brands.

Whilst I had previously purchased the Ironman 9500lb Monster Winch with Synthetic Rope, I was advised when booking my car in, that they don’t usually fit winches that are not part of the Opposite Lock product range due to warranty issues, but it was verbally agreed that if there would be no warranty claim made for fitting they would fit the Ironman winch to the Bull Bar and was quoted accordingly.

On the day of fitting the Bull Bar, I received a phone call from Opposite Lock informing me they were having trouble fitting the winch and it will cost extra to complete the job. This I agreed to and informed them that they could have the car an extra day if required.

Later, I then received another phone call to inform me that they couldn’t fit the winch, due to the way Ironman has set the winch up and it requiring the motor housing to be rotated which they weren’t prepared to do.

Wanting a winch fitted, I quickly calculated my potential loses and discussed purchasing a compatible Opposite Lock winch which they could fit. Unfortunately, I was then informed they didn’t have the winch I wanted in stock and wouldn’t be able to get one in time to finish the job due to other vehicle bookings, therefore reluctantly agreed to have the Bar fitted without the winch.

You can imagine my disappointment with this unsatisfactory outcome for a job that seemed very straight forward.

I did nothing about getting the winch fitted until November 16^th 2016 when I went back to Prestige Off Road, Burwood, where I had previously purchased the winch from, to organise them to fit the winch to my Opposite Lock Bull Bar. They expressed no problems with doing the work and was quoted $250.00.

On the day of fitting the winch at Prestive Off Road, I received a phone call from Jono stating they were having trouble fitting the winch due to there being a ‘large steel beam’ across the front of the car stopping the Bull Bar sitting in its correct position with the winch in place, which is no fault of the Ironman winch or its setup.

Jono then informed me that they had contacted Ferntree Gully Opposite Lock for advice and where told to cut away the beam so the winch would fit. Thankfully, the team at Prestige Off Road considered this to be structurally damaging to the car and contacted Ritter Australia, Land Rover Specialists, where they were told that indeed it was a structural beam and should never be removed or altered.

Jono also informed me they contacted Opposite Lock Head Office, where someone finally admitted that there were some Bull Bars for the Land Rover Discovery 3 produced with incorrect winch bolt holes locations and new holes will have to be drilled into the Bull Bar to enable the winch to be fitted correctly.

Jono was very apologetic, for this now involved extra expense and time without my car.

The end result, thanks to the professionalism and persistence of the team at Prestige Off Road I now have a Bull Bar with winch fitted to my car and I also thank the assistance of Ritter Australia.

I have never been contacted by Opposite Lock to inform me there may be an issue with my Premium Winch Bull Bar, nor has there been, to my knowledge, an offer of compensation for the work required to fit the winch when they were alerted by Prestige Offroad, that they were dealing with a faulty product.

It has cost me an extra $398, two extra days without my car and the security of a winch on my car for the period it took me to get it fitted due to an Opposite Lock’s faulty product

Without prejudice and in anticipation.



Regards,
Bruce Ninnis
0408 300 594


CC:
Prestige Offroad - 88-94 Highbury Road Burwood Vic 3125
Ironman 4x4 - 2-8 Bessemer Drive Dandenong South Vic 3175
Ritter Australia - 112-116 Highbury Burwood Vic 3125
LROCV - PO Box 962 Mt Waverley Vic 3149
Pat Callinan Publishing P/L - PO box 3078 Blaxland East NSW 2774
AULRO.com - L319 Discovery 3 & 4 Forum

I got the same story from ARB when I wanted my Domin8tr winch fitted to my new bar.
So I rotated both the gearbox and the motor to suit the ARB bar and asked if I could fit the winch to the bar myself before they fitted it when it finally arrived.
I wasn't allowed to do this myself but for an extra $100 they would fit the winch.
All they did was to bolt the winch onto the bar, No wiring was connected and the bolts weren't even tensioned properly.
This BS about not being able to fit the winch was just a ploy for them to flog me a $2000 winch that I didn't want and Seriously $100 to slap an already configured winch onto a bar and fit 4 bolts was a bloody rip off.