Just been the winning bidder on eBay of some LR Black side tube, not arrived yet (obviously) and I have seen the fitting instructions on the ownersinfo website

But how hard are they to fit?

Would it be worth asking my local LR dealer to see if they could fit them?

Last edited by npinks on 10th Sep 2008 9:36 pm. Edited 1 time in total

What is the tool thats required to do the job

It looks like a rivet gun, but it doesn't look like a rivet that you have to use it on the onwersinfo website

http://www.ownerinfo.landrover.com/extfree...003840.pdf

Its a rivnut tool, it's used to expand the nutserts in the car. Can't install them any other way

Regards

Paul;

If you buy one can I borrow it, as I can't find the one that I had

Dealer fitted mine npinks so can't help old boy, but they do the job a treat, as I found out at Tong off road day. They are set at the same level as the exhaust pipe, which hangs below the body and the pipes took the scrapes and crunches. Both are now badly scratched and rusting and one is dented too Can't believe I find this funny but we had such fun they are a gentle reminder

And a whole lot cheaper to replace than a set of sills Carlfraz! I have just replaced a set of LR sidesteps on my Def90 after 6 years heavy offroading and much crunching and squashing, but I still have lovely sills!
They only got replaced as the MOT tester considered them dangerous to pedestrians..................... how many pedestrians do you get on an offroad site?? How can carbon have a footprint, it has no feet?
Now driving - RRE Coupe Dynamic Lux Auto with Plus pack, Fuji White, Ebony, SD4 with tow pack
Gone - 2010MY FFRR TDv8 Stornoway and Ivory, Privacy - the pace of a TDv8 RRS, the incomparable grace of a Range Rover
Gone but will be missed- RRS Tdv8 HSE Stornoway Grey with Ebony Leather
Gone (only a little missed) RRS Tdv6 2.7SE Giverny Green/Aspen
Defender 90 County HT in Epsom Green

Maybe he was worried about them 'surfing ' the side of your car as you drove your local high street

rivnut tools, this sound complicated, might see how much they are at my local autospares shop, but most likely

see the dealer and have them look at fitting them, let them get dirty and at least they'll know what they are doing, well i presume they will.

All i have to do now is wait and see if they arrive for my ebay seller

I fit them myself and didn't need to use a rivetnut tool. I fabricated a tool, similar to what's described on this site for installing nutserts on a BMW http://www.understeer.com/xbrace.shtml My apologies, I don't recall what size bolt I ended up using, I just took the nutsert to the hardware store with me.

Overall it wasn't hard, the first side took over an hour and of course the second side was less than half of that. Take care removing the plastic trim, it's easy to break the clips that hold it in place.

It's been several months now but I'm happy to try and answer specific questions. Greg East
Loveland, Colorado
USA
'08 LR2 Hers
'93 740i Mine
'87 944 turbo Mistress

Thanks for the advice everybody

my dealer has quoted £68 to fit so i shall allow them the pleasure

If anybody else is looking for original side bars the chap i bought them from has another set available in black and also a chrome set (£250 starting bid)

I got mine (Black) for £127 inc p&p posted monday arrived tuesday

better than the dealer price of £285+vat plus fitting

eBay Item Number eBay Item No. 220171778422

Just to confirm that a rivnut tool is not needed. I just used a 7mm ring spanner between the stud and the rivnut then tightened the stud with a 10mm socket. A bit of wood came in handy to trap the 7mm against the car body as it tightened , much easier than expected.
The fiddliest part was refitting the plastic trim as it has press stud type things that need aligning properly. the job took about 1.5 hours.
I put a blob of copper grease on the big studs that mount the tube itself as these need to come off to remove the tube if you need to use the jack, I don't want these to be rusty/seized in the future if I need to change a wheel.

The tubes themselves seem a fair way off the ground but I think the whole car is riding high on the suspension and will settle down after a few miles.

Last edited by chicken george on 10th Sep 2008 9:18 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Hi,

I bough a rivnut tool from ebay, but it took a fair amount of effort to fit the rivnuts, had to cheat an compress the rivnut tool with a G-cramp.

Took me about 2 hous but a fair amount of that was trying to find the tools that I needed, overall its a fairly straight forward job if you follow the instructions.

Regards

Paul;

rivnut tool on ebay - search for "Freelander 2 side bar ftting tool M6 Powerful Uk ltd" and yes the spelling of fitting is wrong on ebay its not my typo here

I have linked here but it will probably go out of date???

[url]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Freelander-2-side-bar-ftting-tool-M6-Powerful-Uk-ltd_W0QQitemZ170266252350QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170266252350&_trkparms=72%3A1301|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14[/url]


edit link doesnt work but you get the idea I hope  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Looking at the fitting instructions from the Landrovers info site it shows that the tubes need to be removed to jack the car, can anyone confirm this?

they don't need to be totally removed


You just use the tire lever to slacken the bolts to allow them to slide out to give room for the jack to be situated

That was what i was told anyway  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Many thanks, it seemed a bit of a daft design if they did need to be removed totally.