DIY install of ARB Deluxe Bar on NT SWB

[entropy]

The guys at ARB shook their heads when I told them I was going to install the Deluxe Bar on my NT SWB. "You do know this is one of the most difficult cars to do a Deluxe Bar install on don't you".

Sounds like a challenge - right?

I had downloaded the installation instructions before ordering the bar, so I pretty much knew what I was up for and was well prepared. The ARB instructions are excellent and easy to follow.

I push a pen around the desk for a living, so was a bit apprehensive at deconstructing the front of the vehicle, measuring and cutting the existing front bar with a jigsaw in order to form the wing infills, drilling the numerous holes of varing sizes into chasis components, not to mention taking to the car with a grinder to cut off surplus bits of metal. At ARB they say they can do a complete install in about 6 hours. It probably took me double that, but the result is excellent and I could not be happier with the way it all went.

I did it to learn more about the vehicle, and I guess also saved myself around $350 in installation costs. Whilst no walk in the park, as long as you are prepared to take your time, check, measure, and re-measure it's very achievable.

Here are some pictures.

[CeeJay]

Good job - very neat. Shows it can be done at home!

[grey ghost]

hi mate well done , i live in perth hills wa , just got new rx gunmetal grey pajero , looking at putting the same black arb bar on mine , how hard was it mearusring and cutting the flares to suit the bar?? im a fitter/welder by trade and still not sure about fit the bar myself , but ive had some bad exprices in past on my triton , will fitters fitting aftermaket suff and stuffing it up , so now i want to do the work my self ??? cheers grey ghost wa

[entropy]

Hi Grey Ghost

Without doubt cutting the flares and the wing infills from the existing front bar had me the most worried prior to the install. ARB supply a template with the fitting instructions. It's printed onto an A3 sheet of paper and it's pretty good, except that you have to sort of wrap the template around the job to get the measurements just right. The template includes some key reference points to make you job a bit easier, like "this point must line up with the lower corner of the headlight" or "this line must be XX millimetres above bottom edge of bar" type of thing, so its pretty easy to see if you're doing it right.

There's nothing to making the actual cuts - I used a jigsaw with a blade suitable for cutting metal, and masked everything well to make sure no scratches. I used a metal cutting blade because when cutting the wing infills out of the front bar there is an inch or two of metal to cut through. The rest is plastic so its just like a knife through butter. If you're a tradie you'll have no probs.

Handy hint if you decide to do a self install. The kit comes is a (big) box, and all the fixings (nuts, bolts, screws, zip ties - everything needed) come lumped together in a couple of plastic bags. Nothing is marked as to what is to be used for what. So before starting the job I went through and sorted everything out - luckily the packing list included with the instructions gives a breakdown of what parts, including fixings etc, that you need for each task, so it was pretty easy to just go through and tick off the list, then seal and label the fixings for each task into those zip lock lunch bags. This meant that when I was attaching the under wing pans (for example) I could go straight to the marked bag and have everything I needed right there.

If you haven't seen them already you can download the fitting instructions from http://www.arb.com.au/products/arb-p...-bars/3434170/

cheers
Peter

[grey ghost]

hi mate thanks for the info

cheers ian wa

[grey ghost]

hi also can you use the pajero fog lights , or do you have to buy arb ones to suit that bar?? what do think of the lift kit on your pajero?? you happy with it?? how much was your lift kit??

thanks for your help cheers grey ghost wa

[entropy]

Unfortunately the Pajero fogs don't fit into the "new" style ARB bar. I opted for a set of ARB fogs, which I self fitted as part of the installation of the bullbar. Cost $77

I have a set of raised lovells springs and bilstein shocks, plus a set of polyairs. Couldn't be happier with the difference made to both on and off road handling - well worth the dollars. I bought them all off Pearcie (from this forum) as a package. Stock prices are on his website http://www.bushskinz4x4.com.au but I see he's got 10% off at the moment, so ask him for a quote.

cheers
Peter

[grey ghost]

hi entropy , sorry didnt reply ealier , been away working, going to order my new black arb bar tomorrow (6 week wait to wa) i will get the arb fog light kit too thanks for your help cheers ian wa

[entropy]

No worries Ian - I look forward to some pictures of your install.

[grey ghost]

hi mate got my new arb black bar home yesterday
its says on it ns model is this the right bar as ours are nt or are the ns and nt models both the same in the front ??

cheers ian wa ps whats model your bar??

[entropy]

Hi Ian

From the invoice mine is product number 3434170. This ARB deluxe bar fits Pajero 2007 till current. Fits NS/NT, and no difference between long or short wheelbase.

Hope the install goes well.

cheers
Peter

[grey ghost]

thanks mate will check that number think its the same, wont be fitting for couple weeks till mate helping me gets back from hoildays , will keep you posted and put some photos up when all done

cheers ian wa

[grey ghost]

hi mate just finshed fitting bar , looks good how did you go with wiring up the fog lights and indiator lights in bar?????????? as the wiring and plugs dont match , did you wire them straight into the main indicator lights????

cheers ian wa

[entropy]

G'day Ian - just back from tripping round Oz for a couple of months, so didn't see this earlier. You'll have fixed this already, but here's what I did anyway. For driving lights I used the wiring loom off the OEM front bar by cutting off the original connectors and soldered on the connectors for the ARB driving lights. For parking lights and indicators just a matter of splicing in to the wiring at back of each headlight unit. Was very tight in there but managed to splice into the wiring on the drivers side and solder a good connection. On the passenger side best I could do without taking the whole headlight assembly out was to use those snap on wiring jointers that came in the ARB installation kit.

Wiring has survived some pretty rough tracks since the install (I'm still shuddering after the corrugations on the Mereenie Loop), so must be OK.

Cheers
Peter

[Silver Streak]

G'day Ian - just back from tripping round Oz for a couple of months, so didn't see this earlier.
Wiring has survived some pretty rough tracks since the install (I'm still shuddering after the corrugations on the Mereenie Loop), so must be OK.

Cheers
Peter

Talking about corrugations there Peter, how does the Deluxe Bar go with the Pajero?? In doing a bit of research, I came across a thread, where people were complaining about how much the bar would vibrate (side to side) enough to be felt through in to the cabin of their vehicles. Admittedly they were talking about Prado 120's, where they claim the problem wasn't with the bar itself so much, but the mounting points on the vehicle itself, not being rigid enough and not far enough apart?? to get a nice solid mounting.