Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 5-10 minutes per finisher / 20-30 minutes for all four | Applies to: 1999-2004 Land Rover Discovery II (Discovery 2 / Disco 2 / L318)
Nobody thinks about rain gutter finishers until one disappears on the highway and now your roofline looks like a tooth is missing.
On the Discovery II, the front finishers sit at the upper A-pillar corners and the rear finishers cap the back ends of the roof drip rails. You might hear them called drip rail finishers, roof gutter trim, drip rail trim, or just "that little black plastic piece that flew off." Small parts, big variety of names. But when they crack, warp, or launch themselves into traffic, the whole truck looks unfinished in a hurry.
This is an easy job. The only trick is not getting too enthusiastic with the trim tool and scratching the paint, or fighting the wrong side like it owes you money.
Before You Start
A quick reality check: the Land Rover workshop manual does reference the side and rear drip rail finishers, but mostly as parts to remove during larger body and panel repair procedures — not as a dedicated replacement guide for the corner pieces. So this guide combines what the factory literature supports with practical install notes that line up with the Discovery 2 parts layout and how these trim pieces actually behave in the real world.
Translation: this is still an easy job, but we're not going to pretend Land Rover wrote a beautiful little service bulletin for a 20-year-old piece of trim.
One useful tip before you even pick up a trim tool: do this on a warm day if you can. Old Discovery 2 exterior plastic gets more brittle when it's cold, and these corner pieces are a lot more likely to crack instead of popping free cleanly. If you're working in winter, park in the sun for a while first or hit the area with a heat gun on low. Five minutes of patience saves a lot of snapping and cursing.
What You're Replacing
This guide covers the front and rear corner rain gutter finishers only.
It does not cover the long side drip rail finishers or the center rear roof rail trim.
Front + Rear Finishers
| Side | Part Numbers | Side | Part Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Left (LH) | AWR6711 / DBC101690 | Rear Left (LH) | DBC101410 |
| Front Right (RH) | AWR6712 / DBC101680 | Rear Right (RH) | DBC101400 |
Related Drip Rail Pieces
You may see these in the catalog — they're the longer side pieces and center rear trim, not the corner finishers covered here:
| Piece | Part Numbers |
|---|---|
| Side LH | AWR6703 / DBC101630 |
| Side RH | AWR6704 / DBC101620 |
| Center rear | AWR4418 |
If your truck is missing more than just the corner pieces, double-check what actually flew off before ordering parts. Discovery 2 roof trim likes to leave in stages.
What You'll Need
Parts
Front finishers
- Front Rain Gutter Finisher — Left (AWR6711 / DBC101690)
- Front Rain Gutter Finisher — Right (AWR6712 / DBC101680)
- Or: Front Set (Left & Right)
Rear finishers
- Rear Rain Gutter Finisher — Left (DBC101410)
- Rear Rain Gutter Finisher — Right (DBC101400)
- Or: Rear Set (Left & Right)
Tools
| Tool | Notes |
|---|---|
| Plastic trim removal tool | Do not use a flathead unless you enjoy touching up paint |
| Clean rag or microfiber | For cleaning the mounting area |
| Mild cleaner | Soap and water works fine |
| Isopropyl alcohol | If the mounting area is greasy or has wax buildup |
Optional But Useful
- Step stool if your truck is lifted or on oversized tires
- Masking tape to protect nearby paint if you know you get impatient with trim tools
- Heat gun on low for cold weather installs
Fitment Notes
These parts are handed. Left and right are not interchangeable.
If a finisher looks close but refuses to sit down at the leading or trailing edge, stop and confirm you didn't swap sides. That is way more common than anyone wants to admit.
On the front corners, the finisher sits at the roof gutter end near the windscreen side finisher / A-pillar trim. In practice, those parts overlap more than people expect. If the A-pillar trim is already loose or removed, install the rain gutter end piece first, then reinstall the A-pillar finisher over it. If the A-pillar trim is still in place and secure, you can usually replace the front corner finisher without fully disassembling anything else.
If the front piece won't slide fully home, don't force it. That usually means the adjacent pillar trim is trapping it and needs to be loosened slightly so the gutter finisher can tuck in where it belongs.
Step 1: Remove What's Left of the Old Finisher
If the old part is still hanging on, start with a plastic trim tool and work gently from the outer edge.
Use light outward pressure and work a little at a time. If the old part is brittle — and after 20-plus years on a Land Rover roof, it will be — it may come off in pieces. That's normal. These things are not known for retiring gracefully.
If the truck is cold and the trim feels stiff, let the vehicle warm up in the sun before you start prying. Heat gun on low works too. Just don't use a flathead screwdriver unless you're also planning to touch up paint afterward.
If the finisher is already gone, clear out any broken plastic still stuck in the mounting area.
What to Watch For
- Broken clip fragments still lodged in the gutter end
- Dirt packed into the mounting recess
- Rust starting where the part has been missing for a while
- Wax or dressing residue from previous detailing
If you see rust, deal with it before installing the replacement. A fresh finisher over active corrosion is not a fix — it's a cover-up.
Step 2: Clean the Mounting Area
Wipe the area down with a clean rag and mild cleaner. If it feels greasy, hit it with isopropyl alcohol and let it dry.
The new finisher needs to sit fully against the body and locate on its OEM mounting points. Dirt, old tape, leftover adhesive, or broken plastic fragments will keep it from seating flush.
If you're replacing a front finisher, take a second look at the nearby A-pillar / windscreen side finisher while you're there. The workshop manual shows that trim is retained with clips and spring clips — if it's already half loose, sort that out before calling the job done.
This is also a good time to inspect the gutter corner itself. If the finisher has been missing for a while, check for bubbling paint, seam sealer cracking, or the beginning of corrosion at the upper windscreen corner. These trucks are old enough now that small trim jobs sometimes turn into early warning signs for leak or rust problems you'd rather catch early.
Step 3: Test-Fit the New Finisher
Before you start pressing, test-fit the part dry.
Set the finisher into place and confirm:
- The shape matches the corner correctly
- The front or rear edge follows the body line cleanly
- The locating tabs line up with the mounting area
- The finisher sits naturally without twisting or rocking
If it looks wrong, it probably is wrong. Recheck the side and part number before forcing anything.
At the front corner, make sure the new piece is actually slipping under the adjacent pillar trim where it needs to. If it's sitting on top of that trim instead of tucking under it, it may look almost right but it will never sit fully flush.
Step 4: Install the New Finisher
Once the fit looks right, press the finisher into place evenly.
Use firm hand pressure at the mounting points and along the body-contact areas until the part seats fully. You're looking for a flush fit with no edge sticking up into the airflow.
For the front pieces, pay close attention to the overlap near the A-pillar trim. That's the easiest place to mis-seat the finisher. If you had to loosen adjacent trim to make room, don't fully button that trim back up until the gutter finisher is sitting correctly.
For the rear pieces, make sure the part follows the roofline and doesn't sit cocked toward the D-pillar side trim.
If the part is seated correctly, it should look like it belongs there — not like it was negotiated into place.
Step 5: Final Check
Once installed, check each finisher by hand.
You want:
- A flush fit to the surrounding body lines
- No rocking when pressed lightly
- No visible gap at the leading or trailing edge
- No trapped debris underneath
If one corner is sitting proud, remove it and find out why. Leaving it half-clipped is how parts become road debris again.
If you disturbed adjacent pillar trim during the job, give that a quick final check too. A gutter finisher can be installed perfectly and the nearby trim can still be one clip away from making a run for it later.
Troubleshooting
The finisher won't sit flush. Confirm left versus right. Again. Then check for broken plastic left behind from the old part, and make sure the nearby trim isn't physically blocking the new finisher from seating. Also verify the body edge isn't bent from prior damage or a bad trim removal attempt — it happens.
The front finisher fights the A-pillar trim. The front corner piece and the windscreen side finisher live very close together. The gutter end usually wants to go in first and the pillar trim goes back over it. If the pillar trim is already in place and blocking the new finisher, loosen it enough to let the gutter piece tuck underneath properly.
The part feels loose after install. Clean the area again and inspect the mounting surfaces. If the truck has damaged mounting points or distorted sheet metal from previous repairs, that needs to be addressed. Don't use a giant blob of adhesive as Plan A.
Can I use adhesive? Factory fitment relies on the correct part locating on the correct mounting points. Adhesive is best treated as a last resort for damaged vehicles, not the standard install method.
Do I need to remove the pillar trim completely? Usually no. On most trucks, especially at the front, slightly loosening adjacent trim is enough. Full removal is more work than this job needs and just creates more chances to break clips that were minding their own business.
A Note on NLA Parts
This is exactly the kind of part that turns a perfectly decent truck into an internet scavenger hunt. The originals crack, disappear, or get broken during removal years ago, and then suddenly everyone is hunting the same little piece of plastic that Land Rover stopped making a long time ago. Dealer parts systems list these as "obsolete" or "no longer available" — and used ones from junkyards are usually just as cracked as the ones you're replacing.
It's also worth knowing that these finishers aren't purely cosmetic. On the Discovery 2, the gutter finisher corners sit right over the panel seam joints where water intrusion starts. If the trim has been missing long enough for the seam sealer to dry out and crack underneath, you're looking at the beginning of the roof leak and wet headliner problems that Disco 2 owners know too well. Replacing the finisher won't fix an active leak, but it protects the area from getting worse — and it gives you a reason to inspect the sealer while you're up there.
Wrap-Up
This is one of those five-minute fixes that makes the whole truck look less tired. No horsepower gained. No off-road bonus points. Just a Discovery 2 that looks complete again and leaks a little less.
If you're doing all four corners at once, take an extra minute to inspect the rest of the roof trim while you're up there. If one piece left the chat, the others probably aren't far behind. And if you spot cracking seam sealer or the start of corrosion at the front gutter corners, deal with it now instead of learning about it later when the headliner starts getting ideas.
Got questions? Tag us on socials or hit us at info@treedylabs.com. Show us the build when it's done — we actually want to see it.