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Originally posted approx. 26th March 2016.
Edited 5th April 2016 due to new info available.
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Picked up the new GLX yesterday, and now starting to fit her out; first is the Nudge Bar.
I could have got the Bar installed by MMAL, but I am retired and my time is my own, so decided to buy the Bar and install myself.
First up, let me say that if you value your time, or not handy with the tools, get it installed by a Dealer. The instructions say allow 1.5 hours for the installation. That may be by a mechanic that has done it a few times before, has all the tools handy, has a workshop manual and doesn’t get frustrated easily! The workshop manual may be a moot point too, because 1.5 hours would not allow any reading time. I took about 7.5 hours, but I was definitely ‘feeling my way’. [Edit: time should be less with the new info]
I don’t intend to go through each step of the installation, because if you want to do it yourself you will get a set of instructions with the Bar. I will, however, make a number of points about different Steps.
Step 1: “Remove the Radiator Grille, Upper Bar Cover, Front Bumper Assembly and Front Splash Shield Front from the vehicle – refer to the workshop manual for instructions”
Well, this took me the bulk of the time as I don’t have a workshop manual and I didn’t want to break anything.
The items referred to above may make sense to the guy who wrote them, but in essence you need to remove the following:
· The plastic cover over the top of the radiator – easy, a number of those plastic clips with the ‘philips’ screw in the centre. If you don’t push down while you unscrew, they come out fine.
· The Right and Left plastic splash shields under the front of the wheel arches. Not so easy… MM have used some special plastic clips that are difficult to remove without the right tool, or a tool made to suit. I made one - see a separate topic I have put on the forum, titled ‘Tool for Removing Special Speed Clips’.
· The Upper Half of the Grille. The top fastenings are easy to see, but there are two white plastic clips and 4 black plastic wedge clips holding the bottom. I took a while trying to determine the best approach, but in the end just got my hand in behind and pushed – it comes out surprisingly easily.
· The Front Bumper Assembly. There are several easily seen and accessible bolts through the front, but the top corners at the rear need some jiggling, and maybe manipulation of the plastic clips (see photos). Then there are two bolts behind the plastic shroud around the fog lights. [Edit: Refer to the Owner’s Manual for info on changing the fog light lamps – it explains how these shrouds can be removed from the front of the vehicle. – even so, I found they didn’t come off easily.
· I decided to remove the metal pan under the radiator (4 easy bolts) as it makes it a lot easier to do the installation of the Bar Mounting Brackets
Steps 2 and 3: Cutting the Holes in the grill for the Mounting Brackets. I think MM could have done something a bit more attractive than having to cut two large holes in the Grille. When you have cut the grille material and cleaned up the cut surfaces (filing, sanding, or a sharp chisel) I suggest running a black texta over the cuts as this will help hide the cuts.
Steps 4 to 7: Cutting back the Air Guide Panels and Wheel Arch Splash Guards. Use tinsnips, hacksaw etc, but I found it best to clean up with a sharp chisel – carefully!
Steps 8 and 9: Installing the Mounting Brackets. Two bolts (horizontal) are easy, but one vertical bolt goes down through the top of the chassis, and they provide a ‘nut’ in the form of a steel block with tapped hole, and a bit of wire welded to it. You need to bend the wire and feed the block into position to accept the bolt through a hole in the side of the chassis.. Sounds easy. I spent close to an hour trying to get the block into position on the left hand side, and man was I getting frustrated. I had a light, a mirror and a lot of cursing before I noticed that there is a hole in the bottom of the chassis that is in line with the top hole. I laid under the car, and looking up through the bottom and top holes I could see the steel block, and the bolt was in place within 5 minutes. Right hand side was the same, 5 minutes.
The rest of the job is straight forward enough, as long as you remember which bolts screws and clips go where.
As with all information I put on forums, I take no responsibility whatsoever if you follow my words and break something. I will provide info where I think it will help, but the rest is up to you.
Cheers,
glids
Edited 5th April 2016 due to new info available.
----------------------------------------------------------
Picked up the new GLX yesterday, and now starting to fit her out; first is the Nudge Bar.
I could have got the Bar installed by MMAL, but I am retired and my time is my own, so decided to buy the Bar and install myself.
First up, let me say that if you value your time, or not handy with the tools, get it installed by a Dealer. The instructions say allow 1.5 hours for the installation. That may be by a mechanic that has done it a few times before, has all the tools handy, has a workshop manual and doesn’t get frustrated easily! The workshop manual may be a moot point too, because 1.5 hours would not allow any reading time. I took about 7.5 hours, but I was definitely ‘feeling my way’. [Edit: time should be less with the new info]
I don’t intend to go through each step of the installation, because if you want to do it yourself you will get a set of instructions with the Bar. I will, however, make a number of points about different Steps.
Step 1: “Remove the Radiator Grille, Upper Bar Cover, Front Bumper Assembly and Front Splash Shield Front from the vehicle – refer to the workshop manual for instructions”
Well, this took me the bulk of the time as I don’t have a workshop manual and I didn’t want to break anything.
The items referred to above may make sense to the guy who wrote them, but in essence you need to remove the following:
· The plastic cover over the top of the radiator – easy, a number of those plastic clips with the ‘philips’ screw in the centre. If you don’t push down while you unscrew, they come out fine.
· The Right and Left plastic splash shields under the front of the wheel arches. Not so easy… MM have used some special plastic clips that are difficult to remove without the right tool, or a tool made to suit. I made one - see a separate topic I have put on the forum, titled ‘Tool for Removing Special Speed Clips’.
· The Upper Half of the Grille. The top fastenings are easy to see, but there are two white plastic clips and 4 black plastic wedge clips holding the bottom. I took a while trying to determine the best approach, but in the end just got my hand in behind and pushed – it comes out surprisingly easily.
· The Front Bumper Assembly. There are several easily seen and accessible bolts through the front, but the top corners at the rear need some jiggling, and maybe manipulation of the plastic clips (see photos). Then there are two bolts behind the plastic shroud around the fog lights. [Edit: Refer to the Owner’s Manual for info on changing the fog light lamps – it explains how these shrouds can be removed from the front of the vehicle. – even so, I found they didn’t come off easily.
· I decided to remove the metal pan under the radiator (4 easy bolts) as it makes it a lot easier to do the installation of the Bar Mounting Brackets
Steps 2 and 3: Cutting the Holes in the grill for the Mounting Brackets. I think MM could have done something a bit more attractive than having to cut two large holes in the Grille. When you have cut the grille material and cleaned up the cut surfaces (filing, sanding, or a sharp chisel) I suggest running a black texta over the cuts as this will help hide the cuts.
Steps 4 to 7: Cutting back the Air Guide Panels and Wheel Arch Splash Guards. Use tinsnips, hacksaw etc, but I found it best to clean up with a sharp chisel – carefully!
Steps 8 and 9: Installing the Mounting Brackets. Two bolts (horizontal) are easy, but one vertical bolt goes down through the top of the chassis, and they provide a ‘nut’ in the form of a steel block with tapped hole, and a bit of wire welded to it. You need to bend the wire and feed the block into position to accept the bolt through a hole in the side of the chassis.. Sounds easy. I spent close to an hour trying to get the block into position on the left hand side, and man was I getting frustrated. I had a light, a mirror and a lot of cursing before I noticed that there is a hole in the bottom of the chassis that is in line with the top hole. I laid under the car, and looking up through the bottom and top holes I could see the steel block, and the bolt was in place within 5 minutes. Right hand side was the same, 5 minutes.
The rest of the job is straight forward enough, as long as you remember which bolts screws and clips go where.
As with all information I put on forums, I take no responsibility whatsoever if you follow my words and break something. I will provide info where I think it will help, but the rest is up to you.
Cheers,
glids
Just finished installing it on the roof, she's bright
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