If you intend to take your van off roading or green laning, then your lights will be very vulnerable to damage. Given that these lights are now becoming very hard to get and command high prices, a set of light guards make good sense. This review covers the light guards for the VW T3 / T25 and fittings for other vehicles may differ.

These light guards are relatively inexpensive, well made from metal and hot-dipped, plastic coated and come with all the fittings. They are quick and easy to fit, with the rears using the existing screws that hold the light cluster in. The fronts require you to drill three small holes into your grill for each and screw in the plastic cable P clips that hold the guard in place.

So, what do we think of them? They look quite good when installed, but care should be taken not to damage the protective plastic coating, as any crack will allow water in and they will soon rust and flake off the coating. So when fitting the rear set, take care with the supplied aluminium spacers, spending some time to deburr them and remove sharp edges. Don’t over tighten them and consider replacing your tail light screws with zinc coated or stainless steel. The fronts are easier as the P clips are plastic and there’s little risk of damage during installation.

I would also recommend thoroughly checking them over after any off-roading and after green laning, especially where bushes have hit the light guards and act quickly to repair any damage. They will protect against small bushes and shrubs striking the lenses, but will not stop stones or bigger branches. To protect against stones they need an acrylic sheet over or behind them.

The main downside of them is the attachment method for the front guards. Because they attach to the plastic grill, they are only as strong as the grill and its attachment to the van. If they get snagged, there’s a high risk they will damage the grill. I’d like them to fit to the metal work, although I can’t see how that would be achieved. In their current configuration and with the plastic coating they are quite light duty. If there was a heavy duty set available, which wrapped around and fitted to the bodywork, I’d fit those in preference.

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They are available through eBay in black or white and come in square, round and South African twin headlight versions and other vehicles are available too.

By thelittleredbus