Fitting new Wheel Arches

With the new wheels fitted and an MOT looming the old standard wheel arches were no longer providing sufficient coverage for the wider rubber.

There are a number of after market options available and I needed a 2 inch wider product as a minimum. There is a James Bond Spectre option which frankly, was a little too much……so I went for the Britpart Off Road option DA2366, these screw on rather than using the flimsy plastic trim fixings and I could get them from Paul Light Land Rovers, thus saving the carriage.

When they arrived, I had thought that they might not fit around the rear arches because of the lockers – I grabbed one out of the box and offered it up – it seemed just about OK, so I thought no more about it.

A week or so later I got around to fitting the arches – the fronts and the rears are different (obviously!), but I had offered a front arch up at the rear. Anyway, I got on with fitting the fronts. The Perentie wheel arches are not quite “true” so it took a while to get them in place so that they looked symmetrical. Britpart supply self tapping screws and covers but these pull through the arch too easily so I replaced them with stainless steel pan head bolts with washers – these look better as well.

The other issue was that the original front arches extend further into the arch than the Britpart ones and cover the gap at the back of the the inner arch which prevents mud getting into the engine bay.

The solution is to cut the outer section off (the bit above the holes) and to use the existing holes in the original arch and car wheel arch to fit the inner section back to the vehicle.

So onto the rears…………..I tried all ways to get them to fit and look good without blocking the locker doors, but it was not happening. I considered altering the locker doors, but in the end it was easier (and less expensive) to buy another full set of wheel arches and use the fronts on the back. The spare rears will go on e-bay and I will get my (most!) of my money back.