SDDave

Just a quicky, the new guard that James has is the trial model and the correct location for the drain plug hole has been put in place for the next generation. As he says it will be either a fit over un-damaged existing crown wheel casing or complete hack off and replacement of the original(IE- Fully Welded). A word of warning on the fit over style of track rod protectors,box. Many have been doing them for some years, both here and in the states. The trouble is, if there is an ingress of stones or slurry mud the track rod can become trapped or jammed in its bi-lateral movement from lock to lock. They can require as much if not more TLC as our original full width axle guard. Food for thought!! Dave

Stephen, Glad to hear it got there in one piece, hopefully, the extra long bit you wanted didnt get bent! Be nice to see some pics of it fitted. Cheers Dave

Stephen, The guard is attached by the anti roll bar bolts as well, making 11 bolts. Please cosider a 10mm 8.8 bolt has a shear strength of some 6 tonnes + (Not Set Screw where the root of the thread would need to be considered). I have sent you an email regarding the commercial side, wouldn't be appreciated here, been out of the office half term. Dave

LOL, thanks all. Mark, Glad to here you got yourself sorted, take your old guard to Sodbury,they sell well up there. Dave

Thanks Tony Dave

James, Thanks for getting my post up. Mark, It doesn't look as bad as I thought it might!! If you extended the front mounts so as they could be bolted to the chassis at the axle end, and filled up the holes beneath the ones you have drilled with weld you will have done the trick. How much side plate is left above the new hole? If less than 20mm add a bit. By removing the front section of the guard it obviously leaves a bit of tank exposed, if you decide to extend the front mounts you could add enough material to rejoin the piece you cut off to cover the tank again. Being so close to the axle it is less likely to ground out anyway, worst scenario being full suspension compression. By doing this not only will it give you the added strength for towing but also stop the guard being forced into the tank on hard grounding. If you do the above you will have covered all angles and it should be fit for towing. What sort of weights are you thinking of towing? I always try to over engineer this guards in the event of trailers with bad breaks. At the end of the day if your brakes are up to spec you should be OK. Hope you guys don't mind me joining the forum, if there is any advise I can give I am always happy to do so. Dave, Southdown.