How to fit a steering guard to a Land Rover Discovery
As I have been green laning a lot recently, I decided I wanted to give the underside of the Discovery some protection, so the first of the under body modifications was the addition of a steering guard.
There are many steering guards available, 1 piece, 3 piece, with or without jacking & recovery points, so you have to weigh up what you want from your guard.
I wanted a steering guard that had hi-lift jacking points and recovery eyes incorporated into the design, so another Ebay search come up with the goods!
I had already modified the front bumper so access to the recovery/jacking points was unrestricted, and the lack of front valance aided the fitment of the steering guard.
Fitting a steering guard doesn't take long (about half an hour) because you use the existing bumper & steering drop arm bolt. You have 1 other bolt that comes with the kit which just slips into an existing hole in the nearside chassis leg.
So let's get on and show you how it is done.
Fitting a Land Rover Discovery Steering Guard
The steering guard I chose, was a 3 piece design, which helps when it comes to fitting it.
The photo on the right shows what it looks like when loosely assembled on the ground.
To complete the job you will need:
- Socket set
- 14/15mm ring spanners
- WD40 or similar
Note: You may find it useful to spray some WD40 onto the bumper and steering arm bolts the day before you want to carry out the job - just gives the WD40 time to soak in! Most of the Discovery's I have worked on have had no problems undoing the bolts, but worth checking the condition of the bolts before you start.
1: There are 4 bolts that hold the bumper in place - 2 on each chassis leg. You need to loosen all these bolts - leave the top 2 on each side in place for the time being.
2: As I had a 3 piece guard, I fitted the nearside first steering guard mount first. Take out the 2 bumper bolts, move the guard mounting plate into position, and replace the bolts through the holes. Replace the nuts/washers on the end of the bolts, but don't tighten them up just yet.
3: Now move to the back of the guard mounting plate, and use the supplied bolt to fit through the existing chassis hole. (This is the hole that would hold the steering drop arm on a left hand drive vehicle) Again, do this bolt up loosely.
4: Repeat 2 above for the offside mounting plate.
5: You will now need to undo the nut on the steering drop arm. Mine took a little bit of persuading to come undone with a breaker bar, so use plenty of WD40.
Luckily you only have to undo the nut, you don't have to withdraw the bolt.
So with the nut off, the mounting plate will now slide onto the bolt, and you can replace the nut and make sure its on tightly.
6: Now you can mount the actual bash plate onto the steering guard mounts. Fit it loosely, so its just held in position with the nuts and bolts.
7: You can now tighten up the 4 bumper bolts, and the nearside rear bolt.
8: Tighten up the bolts holding the bash plate in position and the job is complete!
This is how it looks once completed. (Remember the bottom valance has been removed)
As you can see from the last photo, the front plastic binnacle that holds the number plate is still restricting access to the jacking points. The recovery eyes are accessible however.
I will either cut the plastic away in front of the jacking points, or removing the whole plastic binnacle and everything should be ok.
Now the steering guard is in place, I have peace of mind that the steering bars are being protected whilst off road. In addition, I know I can use the hi-lift jack on the front of the vehicle, and I have good strong recovery points should I get stuck.
1 piece of bolt on equipment has solved 3 problems associated with off roading a Discovery - awesome!
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Tags: 200tdi, 300tdi, discovery, fitting a steering guard, How To, land rover, modifications
