Seat Covers

[danrhiggins]

With my LR4 checked in at the dock and presumably on a truck to the dealer it is time to move from thinking about accessories to getting some. I know there are other accessory threads but I did a search of a couple and didn't find what I was looking for. So here goes:

- Seat covers. OEM or is there a better 3rd party? ($294 for the front set, OEM online)
- Rubber floor mats. OEM $152 online for the 1st and 2nd row. Black.
- OEM underbody protection. (Yep, the aluminum kind) 2014, non-winch version. $631 online. (I know they're not the best but would the be good for minor stuff like tree roots or loose rocks. And could I install them myself.)
- Seatback storage. OEM $105 online.

BTW, I am also thinking of having ClearMask put on the front. They would replace the lettering. If I have them (this would not be the dealer but an indy that they use and that only does high end vehicles) replace the letters they could possibly do black. Do you all think black letters would look better on my Bronze LUX? All the other letters will be gray. (The door handles will be bronze like the body and the wheels will continue to be gray or anthracite.)

 

[umbertob]

Actually, the OEM front skid plate (made by Mantec for Land Rover) is pretty sturdy, it's a thick chunk of aluminum that looks good while managing to be light and easy to install on your own. My main beef with it - besides its price - is that it doesn't extend very far under the chassis like the handful of aftermarket options available as alternatives - which are also made of aluminum. But it is a nice bit of kit.

 

[Finlayforprez]

I agree with Umberto above, the OEM plate is a nice fit and made quite well - it just doesn't extend under very far.

I have the OEM mats and cargo mat, they are really nice. I also have the OEM seat covers that I use once in a while and they are not bad, but not as high quality as some other options. I have heard great things about Wet Okole seat covers and their fit and protection. Personally, I would go with aftermarket with the seat covers.

The black lettering does look good with the Nara Bronze, as I have posted photos of it on my 2011 where I switched out all the lettering to black, as well as the other accents. I actually like consistency, in that if you have black letters, then I would like to see black vents, grill, wheels, etc. The Nara Bronze looks great with the silver though and the letters match the silver grill quite nicely, though on the 2014, you do have some black on the grill so I think it would go very well. Better than on a 2013 or earlier. You can always switch out the lettering, as I created a thread a while back detailing how I created a template.

 

[epiclr4]

Actually, the OEM front skid plate (made by Mantec for Land Rover) is pretty sturdy, it's a thick chunk of aluminum that looks good while managing to be light and easy to install on your own. My main beef with it - besides its price - is that it doesn't extend very far under the chassis like the handful of aftermarket options available as alternatives - which are also made of aluminum. But it is a nice bit of kit.

Umbertob, I see that you use the ASFIR front skid plate. Do you use any of their other products? It looks like from crawling under my vehicle the weakest point I see is the Transmission/Transfer Case area. There is nothing there to protect the oil pan of the Transmission and there is some sort of wire/connector on the bottom of the transfer case just dangling down there waiting for something to hop up and grab it.

 

[umbertob]

The weakest points down there, in my opinion, are the low hanging EAS compressor with that flimsy plastic cover, the sills in general, and the delicate underbelly of the fuel tank. Regarding the transfer case which is also at risk: The T-case plate I wanted (from Tactical 4x4) needed some mods when they fit me for my rock sliders and fuel tank plate. I understand from other owners that they later modified it to fit MY13s like mine - not sure if Land Rover made any additional changes down there on MY14s - so I guess T4x4 would be a good place to contact if you wanted to add first class protection for it.

Tactical only "does" stainless steel, which is stronger than aluminum but much heavier of course. I never got around to getting that plate from them, but I know other forum members (Finlayforprez is one) who successfully installed it on their recent build LR4.

I only got the front skid plate from Asfir, the rest of their offerings looked a bit iffy for the LR4 and a few owners did report fitting issues with some of their undercarriage protection accessories, as most/all were originally designed for the LR3 and not the LR4 (even the front skid plate I own: Although it fits the LR4 just fine, you can tell by its tapered front end that it was designed for the 3.)

 

[Finlayforprez]

As Umberto mentioned above, I have the Tactical 4x4 rock sliders, gas tank skid, and transfer case skid on my 2013 LR4. They are all very nicely made and offer great protection, but they are extremely heavy. The trade off for good protection is even worse gas mileage. I know Umberto drops his gas tank skid plate when he is not off roading, so that does help a bit, but my LR4 is not really my daily driver, so it's not too bad. I also added an ARB front bumper, so at this point, I don't care much about saving weight.

The Tactical 4x4 transfer case skid plate was modified in the last year to fit the LR4, but I am not sure if there have been any changes on the 2014 that could impact any of these products. With the change of the compressor system in late 2012, Tactical 4x4 had to start supplying a new EAS bracket to fit the air compressor. Before you buy anything, I would speak to Eric over at Tactical 4x4 and confirm fitment on a 2014. Though, I would be very surprised if he knows for sure this early in the model year.

Before I got my ARB front bumper, I had a GN Vehicle Protection front skid plate, which was very nice. It is aluminum and did extend under the vehicle a decent amount, though not quite as much as the ASFIR plate. However, it fits quite a bit better. Unfortunately, GNVP stopped carrying LR4/Discovery 4 skid plates. They have the LR3/Discovery 3 skid plates available, but not sure how well they fit. As for other ASFIR products, I have heard from various people that all of them require some modification to fit the US LR4. In fact, Urban Offroad stopped being a distribitor because he felt they were not well made and too much modification was needed to fit the LR4.

As always, I agree with Umberto, the EAS/air tank is especially vulnerable, as is the gas tank and perhaps transfer case, but it all depends on what you plan to do with your LR4. Even with a lot of protection, I would not do crazy rock climbing!

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Regards, David

 

[danrhiggins]

No crazy rock climbing here. In fact, maybe with a bit less protection I'll be wiser about where I try to go! I think I'll start with the OEM stuff for this year. The most we will do is the Alpine Loop near Ouray and even there I will likely avoid the more extreme trail options. Of course all this may change after my training with Bill Burke next month! ;-)

The reality is that 80% of the time this will be my "get around" vehicle. I don't need to commute to the office every day but I will be using it almost daily to get somewhere around the city. So I don't want to load it up with too much weight.