Bullbars. Are they worth the money and effort?

[tt92]

Something of a wordy preamble:
Recently I hit a kangaroo at fairly low speed in a Corolla, and the damage to both was considerable. Thirty years ago I hit a kangaroo at high speed in an Alfa Spider. (Don't ask)
Neither of these cars had a subframe and I imagine that the damage to either would have been as great even if any kind of bullbar was bolted to them somewhere. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I've just bought a 1993 Vitara and where I will be driving it, the odds are that I will one day hit a kangaroo. Will I be any better off if I fit some kind of bull/nudge bar? I can't see where such a bar would be attached if it does exist. I can't see any sort of chassis/subframe. Once again, please correct me if necessary.
The car is a two-door hardtop and has a short wheelbase.

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

you should be able to fit one it has a chassis.
a steel bar would be the go. alloy bends too easily in my opinion.

[RockyF75]

I hit a tree bang on at ~40kph. Very glad I had a bar. Was able to drive home at least. Still had a lot of damage but it would have be heaps worse without one.


Where I live roo's are very common, and I would rather have a bar and not need it, than the other way around.

If you can fit one, do it.

[chimpboy]

There's definitely a chassis down there somewhere, and I would say a roo bar is worth the effort.

[bogged]

I can't see any sort of chassis/subframe. .

100's of zooks out there with bars.
The other thing is will you ever want to fit a winch? Do you use your zook offroad??

Where I live no roo's are very common, and I would rather have a bar and not need it, than the other way around.

If you can fit one, do it.

x rockyf75ty

[thehanko]

as long as its solid enough. the weak ones are a risk for causing more damage in some cases.

eg, you clip a roo with a corner and would have damaged say indicator and front qtr, but cause it had a pos bar it then bent back onto the bonnet, head light etc plus you are also down a new bar which can be big bucks.

you want a bar solid enough to withstand a decent hit (whilst being aware this means the hit has transfered through to your chassis.

but you need to include the loss of your bar (or at least the potencial for its loss as an additional risk in the event of an impact.)

nudge bars will be useless as the dont protect enough of the car and are weak as S***.

[Evski]

ARB bull bar. They are heavy but then you have an excuse to upgrade the suspension

[coxy321]

Any bar is better than no bar. I assure you - Vitaras and Sierras both have mounting provisions for bull bars.

A few months back i did an endo on a rock embankment after popping over a rise. The hit bent the mid section of my bar and damaged a seal on the winch, but there was NO body damage. Doing the same without a bar would have cause major damage to the front end.

If you have full comprehensive insurance, bull bars are not repairable, so they write them off even with the slightest damage.

[cj]

Try looking UNDER the Vit

[pongo]

I imagine that the damage to either would have been as great even if any kind of bullbar was bolted to them somewhere. Please correct me if I am wrong.

You sure as shit are wrong. Lost count of the amount of roos my 4runner collected when i was in bungendore. Even got a pair in one go. I had a ARB bar and sold it without a scratch on it from the roos. next door neigbour had a Disco with arb bar and was pretty well on par with me for roo hits.

Then there was the time i hit one in my jag at night on the hume near marulan. Roo went throught the huge grill and took out the radiator and power steer cooler. Had to try and hitch cause of no phone service then call nrma for insurance, then go back out with the tow truck then had to wait for a lift i arranged.

was on the f3 sat morning just been about 4am in the girlfriends magna and saw a roo bouncing along the shoulder. Gee that would have been a great start to a fully prepaid long weekend retreat in Coffs.

[bender4865]

Another tip, go the full bull bar and not the nudgebar, it's very rare you'll hit the roo square in the front, the protection is going to be a lot more helpful if it covers the whole front of the car

[brad 93hilux]

Another tip, go the full bull bar and not the nudgebar, it's very rare you'll hit the roo square in the front, the protection is going to be a lot more helpful if it covers the whole front of the car

X3
nudge bars are only for a nudge in traffic or holding up spotties...

Ive hit heaps of big roos in my lux and the bar is still straight as the day it was bought, i hit a huge roo at 110 the otherday and still no damage..

Go the ARB bull bar, they have been tried and tested and i don't personally know of one that has bent from a roo... Don't go a shite alloy one, may as well not have a bull bar

Brad

[spamwell]

there is a tjm bar in for sale section at the moment !

[Matt_85Lux]

without a bull bar:





Maybe on the extreme side but I'm sure you get the point

[Goatse.AJ]

without a bull bar:





Maybe on the extreme side but I'm sure you get the point

Cool WTF was it????


Definitely go a bar if you can afford it. Make sure it's a bumper-replacement type though. I've seen too many people with the ones that fit over the bumper on Vits and Sierras that think it'll give the same protection. They don't!

[stampy4x4]

Oh yay I'd love to be the panel shop that got that job!


Back to the OP. Can you even still get a bullbar for a 93 Vitara except maybe at the wreckers??

[ISUZUROVER]

WTF was it????

IRC it was a small deer (Reh in German = roe deer)

[cj]

Can you even still get a bullbar for a 93 Vitara except maybe at the wreckers??

ARB

[tt92]

A tube bullbar from ECB is almost half what I paid for the car.
The more impressive-looking ARB bar is about $200 less, at $1300, fitted, at a place in Bega. They gave me a thick, glossy ARB catalogue which must have cost a bomb to produce.
After shelling out for rego, transfer fees, a couple of minor repairs, I can't afford either just yet.

[Matt_85Lux]

WTF was it????

IRC it was a small deer (Reh in German = roe deer)

yep it was a deer, I think it hit at 140 can't remember if that was MPH of KPH though

[Ruffy]

There is a reason why Harold don't like 'em in the burbs... cos when you hit shit it damages the shit you hit!..

A bar is worth it, but i'd say if your going to go smacking roos around, insurance is far more important

[-Scott-]

without a bull bar:





Maybe on the extreme side but I'm sure you get the point

Cool WTF was it????

I think it was a BMW.

Looking at the damage, where where the animal hit, where it ended up etc, I reckon the gap in my ARB bullbar would be a similar size to the one the animal went through, so a bullbar might not have prevented that accident.

A front number plate didn't prevent it, either.

But we're missing the bigger picture here. What if that hadn't been a deer, what if it was a small child? Won't somebody think of the children? We must ban BMWs!

[chikoroll_]

WTF was it????

IRC it was a small deer (Reh in German = roe deer)

yep it was a deer, I think it hit at 140 can't remember if that was MPH of KPH though

240KPH on the autobahn

[alien]

as a fellow zuk owner, i can offer the following sound advice:
lift it till the roo has no option but to go under the wheels!! =P

[cooki_monsta]

i think the bmw had the taste for blood, cos it certianly swallowed that deer whole like a snake

[SKITLEZ]

yeah is say a bull bar is the go hey, pretty decent speed the beamer was doing, nice aim but straight through the grill.



recon thats a pretty good example dunno where'd you'd find one though.

stop you ending up with roo sushi on your engine....

[grimbo]

maybe also avoid driving at dusk and dawn and if you do alot of night driving get some decent lights

[lokka]

yeah is say a bull bar is the go hey, pretty decent speed the beamer was doing, nice aim but straight through the grill.



recon thats a pretty good example dunno where'd you'd find one though.

stop you ending up with roo sushi on your engine....

Id hate to hit a roo at speed with that POS ya mite as well not have a bar that looks like one of them pommy scrub bars ya see on yuppie rangies LOL

EDIT it is one of them Grimace pommy scrub bars WOFTAM

[Gwagensteve]

Bwahahahahahaha

Years ago, a mate's mum was driving a vitara with that kind of "under the bumper" mounting bullbar. Sadly, the very lightly tailended her husband, who was driving a new 420SEL merc.

Damage to both vehicles was massively, massively higher because of the stupid POS bullbar on the vitara. It folded up immediately and creased the boot of the SEL, and took out the bonnet of the vitara along with the bumper and grille.

if the car hadn't had a bar, it would have been a light brush of bumpers.

I commute through roo country and do so in a road car, without a bull bar. In my case, I would have hit more roos if I drove a car with inferior braking and handling, so I won't commute in a 4WD, I pay my insurance, and I hit a roo every couple of years.

However, I do admit that if you're travelling in remote areas, there's good reason to fit a FUNCTIONAL bull bar, because, as has been pointed out, you might not be able to call your insurance company. In that case, IMHO the only functional commercially available bull bar for a vitara is an ARB bar. The others are for show.

Steve.