Fitting Side bars

Hi, I am thinking of fitting side bars to my Cali, is this an easy operation or not and what are the things to watch out for?

Hello Mate

I found it quite straightforward although you do need the Cali jacked up quite high to give you good access, The VW kit has very good instructions and basically consists of -per side- two brackets, screws and the chrome bar.
The only slight complication is that the plastic shrouding that covers the cills need a small cut where the bracket penetrate through for connection to the underside of the Cali but is easy enough.
I screwed the brackets to the chrome bar and then offered up the bar complete with brackets to find the positions the loosened all of the screws, attached the bar/brackets to the Cali and then tightened everything up tight. Hey Presto !! Have fun.

Hi Cliff's,

I'm also thinking of fitting these once the weather improves so thanks for your input, do I take it that the mounting points are already provided in the chassis?

Chris

Hi Chris

Good Point, Yes they are, in the form of captured machine screw thread,
possibly M 8 or M10, but all in the perfect position from the factory to take the side rails.
By the way - just a bit of cheek usually gets a 10% discount from VW Parts.

make sure you buy the genuine VW ones as the ones on Ebay are bad quality metal and you wont be able to jack up the van

Well.... just Fitted a pair today and they look GREAT.
I went for the "Steelworks" set (they have a Ebay shop) on the recommend of a couple of other owners. They are exact copies of the VW ones EG 2 solid brackets that lock into the existing holes in the sills and a polished side rail thats held by 2 M10 captive bolts, They even come with the VW fitting instructions . Quality of the welds looks great as well as the Quality and finish of the rail. Took me about 2 hours to fit (i'm no Mechanic) As Cliff says you need to jack up your truck as high as you can and both front and back is even better. The cutting of the Splash guards is easy on the near side, but a pain on the drivers side as the front guard is huge to accommodate the blown air heater, i found it easier to only remove the outer bolts and swing the splash guard down as this section has some horrid to get at bolts in the Alli heat screen then after fitting the sidebar swing it back into place and mark it with a pencil and cut in Situ. the guards cut well with a pair of sharp wire cutters... hope this helps...

Whoops Forgot to add
There are loads of tiny self tapping bolts holding the splash guard in place and an electric screwdriver with a mini socket attachment is a real time saver....
And the Steelworks Bars are 200 quid Delivered :-)
S

An 80yr old couple were seen shagging furiously up against a fence. For 40 mins they shagged like Bastards. Arms and legs going everywhere until they fell to the floor. Christ she said “you didnt Fuck Me like that 50yrs ago! To which the old man replied “50 yrs ago that fence Wasnt Fucking electric!