'03+ ARB Combination Bar on a '98-'02 LX470 (2 Viewers)
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hoser
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Question for '03+ owners...
I just received the instructions for the ARB bumper (thanks dclee) and it states:
"3. To fit chassis brackets to chassis rails, cut off the lower section of chassis mount."
"4. Mark out a line level with the bottom of chassis rail, and cut off using a hacksaw or a angle grinder and touch up bare metal with paint."
Now, I thought the lower chassis rail was THE difference between the pre and post '03 years but according to the instructions, you are supposed to cut that piece off for later models as well? Why do they even have two different ARB combination bars? (besides the curvature of the front grill being slightly different)
I just received the instructions for the ARB bumper (thanks dclee) and it states:
"3. To fit chassis brackets to chassis rails, cut off the lower section of chassis mount."
"4. Mark out a line level with the bottom of chassis rail, and cut off using a hacksaw or a angle grinder and touch up bare metal with paint."
Now, I thought the lower chassis rail was THE difference between the pre and post '03 years but according to the instructions, you are supposed to cut that piece off for later models as well? Why do they even have two different ARB combination bars? (besides the curvature of the front grill being slightly different)
I got the ARB fogs and they're fine, about as good or maybe a tad better than OEM (not that that's a ringing endorsement). They actually have a decent cutoff, and definately fill in the illumination pattern below and to the sides of the truck. And they do maintain a factory look, which to me was important given how much we paid for this thing (the truck, not the bumper... well, OK, the bumper too!). Plus, I hated the plastic fillers, sort of like dash button blanks - I just wonder what they're for and I have an irrational need to fill them...
Yup, had to make the cut on my `04. Not sure what other differences there might be.
I think you hit it with the shape of the grille. I think that's the only difference.
On my '03, the ARB mounting bracket just slid on directly...no cutting necessary!
Probably. The Sahara bar is a lot lighter, so I would imagine the mounts are engineered differently.
Does the 03+ bar have the plastic cut outs/receptacle for the driving lights only? My brand new 02 bar does not have the plastic cut outs. Just curious.
The accordian part looks the same. Are they rated for the same size winch? Looks like the combo bar has 4 bolt holes per side for the wing while the sahara has 3 on each side. Otherwise, my guess is the difference in weight are the hoops and hoop support.
Not sure if this is their purpose, but I wired them in as daytime running lights. I can't remember what the directions say, but I think that is how ARB intended it.
But works for me, I don't know what else I'd do with those lights.
The combo bar will support up to a 10K winch according to ARB, though from what I understand most people put in a 12K without problems (this is just like the old 80 Series bar). The Sahara I believe is only rated for up to 9 or 9.5K.
hoser
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The ARBUSA guy I spoke with said the lower part of the Sahara and Combo bar are near identical. But the Combo bar is rated for up to an M12000 winch while the Sahara can use up to an M10000 winch.
The Combo bar mounts use the two bottom bolts, one in the front (where the old crush beam bolted onto) and one last bolt that goes horizontally (looking from the front of the vehicle), which you need to drill.
There's no way mine would fit without cutting that piece off. Unless, maybe there was a cut-out in the mount that allowed it to be "shoehorned" over the frame rail.
The Combo bar mounts use the two bottom bolts, one in the front (where the old crush beam bolted onto) and one last bolt that goes horizontally (looking from the front of the vehicle), which you need to drill.
There's no way mine would fit without cutting that piece off. Unless, maybe there was a cut-out in the mount that allowed it to be "shoehorned" over the frame rail.
hoser
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- #35
Apparently, all years have the same or very similiar frame horns. The area that differs is part in front of the grill. The LX's, or at least the 98-02's, also have a additional metal bracket that supports the trimming pieces under the headlight/grill.
I'm fairly certain the '03+ Combo bar will bolt up just fine to your 98-02 LC. Worse case, you'd have to trim part of the bumper around the grill area.
I'm fairly certain the '03+ Combo bar will bolt up just fine to your 98-02 LC. Worse case, you'd have to trim part of the bumper around the grill area.
Just got done installing the 03+ combo bar on my 2000 with no problems. I did have to trim the frame horns just as the ARB say.Thanks to Hoser for being the first and taking the plunge.How is every body wiring up the small marker lights?
The 03+ LX's have a metal lip that sticks out beyond the grille across the entire front of the vehicle, so the bar slides over this lip. The instructions for the 03 LC/LX sahara bar say you need to bend some bracket out of the way, but I didn't have to (maybe it only applies to the LC or 98-02 LX?)...just threaded the 6 bolts that hold the bar to the mount, propped the bottom of the wing with a 2x4 on a floor jack and jacked it up, pushed the bar over the body lip and hit the 6 bolts w/ the impact wrench. There is no rubber strip between the bar and body like on the LC. Piece of cake once I got the idea of using the floor jack. Otherwise, you need a buddy or strong wife to hold up the bar while pushing it in.
Spliced and soldered off the wires from the nearest light (for the LX, I spliced off the corner parking light, as it's pretty well protected from the elements behind there). For the turning signal, the LX has it in the bumper rather than in the headlight/corner light like the LC, so I cut off the factory end and soldered that to the ARB wires. Anything soldered was shrink-wrapped, splicers were electrical taped, all wires put in split loom, looms wire-tied down. The ARB connector isn't that good. I had one go out intermittently on the left side (turning signal), replaced it with out of those tubular-shaped connectors like used on the ARB fogs.
IIRC, the LC has redundant turning signals (both the corner lamps and on in the headlight unit). I would probably splice off the corner lamp and run it in parallel for redundancy. If it goes out, no biggie, since the corner turning signal/parking light still works.
This is what I did. Actually makes quite a difference in visisbility of the lamp (to other drivers).
I wired my little clear lamps the same way, but spliced into the daytime running lamp circuit. They're not very bright, so it was almost not worth it, but sometimes I get OCD about stuff like this, i.e. if it can be hooked up, I want to hook it up!
