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Including a McDonald's break, preparation, organizing
tools etc... this took three hours. It helps immensely to have a four year
old help!
 Here's
the front with the bumper cover removed. You will need Torx bits,
metric sockets with a medium extension. The only difficult part to
removing the front cover is the two bolts up under the wheel wells
are difficult to reach. They are behind a plastic cover that pops
off. The directions that come with the brush guard show their
location quite well. Again, it's a little difficult to reach them
but if you own a socket set- you probably have the skill required. |
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 Here
you'll see (well, kinda) the bracket that had to be installed in
the aluminium front bumper. This is the ONLY part that requires a
tool most people don't have. It requires a pneumatic impact
wrench! The nutserts fit a little loosely in the existing
holes in the bumper. Because of this, only an impact wrench will
get them to expand without just turning in place. My experience
with nutserts in the past has been that a socket will expand
them... not in this case, and the instruction manual states that
as well. |
At this point, it is recommended that you go to
McDonalds and get a number 3, supersize with a Coke. Don't drink any beer
yet, you still have to cut holes in the bumper- you do NOT want to drink
first!
 After
spending 15 minutes in "Time Out," Alec poses with the
newly installed front bumper cover. Note the two bolts protruding
through the bumper cover. Those holes require a hole saw.
Instructions call for some metric size- but damnit I'm an American
so I used a standard hole saw of similar size.
The location of those holes is critical- one mistake and you
have an ugly hole in your Freelander for no reason. Measure 32
times before cutting. The slots down in the silver part of the
bumper cover are scored into the back side- easy.
The rivets that held the license plate mount in place are ugly-
but that rectangular centre section is plastic-welded in place and
cannot easily be replaced. Since I'm required to have a front
plate, I'll use the mount supplied with the brush guard.
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 The
author and Alec pose for a minute with the Freelander. The moment
of truth is near- the installation of the bar itself.
When installing the bar onto the mounts, make sure the washer
on the mounting bolts does NOT get behind the bar itself. That
washer is critical to making sure the bar installs correctly and
tightly.
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Here's the finished product. I will show how the Hella
lights were done on another page later this week. The Land Rover lettering
was done by a local sign shop in the same shade as the paint and in the
exact L.R. font. The cost was reasonable- about $10 or so, depending on
how exotic the color. Note the difference on the picture to the Left-
driver's side is with the optional light guard, passenger side is without.
Personally, I think the light guards make a huge difference in the
"toughness" factor.
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