Steering guard varieties - Advice please...

Ok so this has probably been covered a million times but having trawled through the search forum for the 1st 10 pages, nothing came up.

I need a steering guard and I've read various different reviews on different makes / styles so, here are the questions:

Does a steel one really effect your steering due to the weight being so far forward?

Are ally ones just a waste of time as they're not so tough?

Does a solid "sheet" style guard cause any issues with engine cooling as some advertisers point out their's with holes in helps cooling...can only be fractional?

How do you get round the Jate ring / recovery issue if the guard doesn't incorporate recovery points?

Thanks for any help in advance.

The weight of a steel one vs ally is minimal, the strength of a steel vs ally is noticable. Remember the disco is 2 ton of metal, a few extra KG infront of the wheels isnt going to make any difference!

As for cooling, rubbish, total rubbish, there is nothing to cool there! I will say though that the holes make it easier to clean the steering guard out!

As for recovery, if you have eyes on your bumper (or planning to get an HD bumper with them) then theres nothing to worry about. I am currently using two 10 ton race recovery straps, I do plan to make a better solution but I have used them a few times and they show no signs of issues. You can get other alternatives, best thing to do is go tghrough suppliers websites and see the alternatives...

ive got an ally one on my disco (second hand from billing ) and it dents quite easily but not to the point where its exposed any steering arms so still works for me pretty well.

the holes some have in them is more to stop them acting like a shovel through sloppy mud and water so it can pass through it rather tan build up in-front of it.

The other thing i would look for is 1 or 3 piece guards. 3 piece means you can take the front plate off without taking the hangers off everything which makes jobs a lot faster.

And as for recovery eyes, as jon said, HD bumpers tend to have them on, or look at getting a pair of jate rings

i have an ally one about 8mm thick with holes in it and its poop, bent it like a feckin banana at the weekend hitting some frozen ground on the bounce so to speak, if i was to buy a new one it would be steel all the way, be aware that sometimes a guard is actually a hindrance rather than an advantage, it reduces ground clearance a tad in front of the axle, reduces approach angle and can act like a big bloody plough if you need to reverse out of deep thick mud.

i weighed up the options and decided to keep mine but there are some who decide against them.on the reversing out of thick mud thing, mine is bloody awful at pushing everything up the inside of the guard, the holes only make it easier to clean out too, if you have a 300tdi they are massively effective at cooling anyway.

I've tried steering guards, got fed up with them either causing the front to lift in mud and snow meaning loss of traction, or when reversing out dragging so much into them I get stuck!!

I then went to Sumo bars and never looked back.

I have now bought one of these LAND ROVER DEFENDER STEERING GUARD TDCI/ PUMA NEW | eBay

I know they are designed for Defenders but with a small amount of fettling it'll fit nicely.

Glad you bought this up as I have looked at these and wondered how much difference there would be in the fitment...what kind of "Fettling" are we talking about? Any pics of fitment?

And why's defender stuff so much cheaper?

I've not fitted it yet but have offered it up and it looks like a new couple of holes drilled in the chassis will be it.