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Bullbars. Are they worth the money and effort?
Moderators: toaddog, TWISTY, V8Patrol, Moderators
Bullbars. Are they worth the money and effort?
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.
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.
Im here for the sausage!
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.
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.
Last edited by RockyF75 on Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
60 + Turbo, 33"s :armsup:
100's of zooks out there with bars.tt92 wrote:I can't see any sort of chassis/subframe. .
The other thing is will you ever want to fit a winch? Do you use your zook offroad??
x rockyf75tyRockyF75 wrote: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.
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***.
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***.
*there's a rock, drive over it :) there's a bigger rock, drive over it :twisted: there's an even bigger rock, oops broke it :oops: Upgrade broken bit :bad-words:
Goto *
Goto *
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.
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.
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.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.
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.
X3bender4865 wrote: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
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
3.0L turbo diesel, 4" lift, bud's front housing, track assasin cv's, air lokker front + Rear, beadlock'd 37 stickies, high steer, 15.5" travel ranchos, high pinion diff and coils on the rear
Cool WTF was it????Matt_85Lux wrote:without a bull bar:
Maybe on the extreme side but I'm sure you get the point
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!
bru21 wrote:What happens in goat, stays in goat!
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.
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.
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
A bar is worth it, but i'd say if your going to go smacking roos around, insurance is far more important
[quote="Uhhohh"]As far as an indecent proposal goes, I'd accept nothing less than $100,000 to tolerate buggery. Any less and it's just not worth the psychological trauma. [/quote]
I think it was a BMW.AJFeroza wrote:Cool WTF was it????Matt_85Lux wrote:without a bull bar:
Maybe on the extreme side but I'm sure you get the point
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!
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Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 8:28 pm
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 8:28 pm
Location: West of Woodridge, North of Ipswich, South of Oxley, East of Wacol
240KPH on the autobahnMatt_85Lux wrote:yep it was a deer, I think it hit at 140 can't remember if that was MPH of KPH thoughISUZUROVER wrote:IRC it was a small deer (Reh in German = roe deer)AJFeroza wrote:WTF was it????
'98 Jackaroo
Bullbar, 32" muddies, Homebrew Timber centre console, Homebrew 3" Stainless rubber bend snorkel, Homebrew Steel rear bumper, Campervan interior
Bullbar, 32" muddies, Homebrew Timber centre console, Homebrew 3" Stainless rubber bend snorkel, Homebrew Steel rear bumper, Campervan interior
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 LOLSKITLEZ wrote: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....
EDIT it is one of them Grimace pommy scrub bars WOFTAM
Cheers
Chris
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I can fix your F'ups for a fee .......
Chris
Questions $20ea Answers for said Questions $100ea
I can fix your F'ups for a fee .......
BwahahahahahahaSKITLEZ wrote:
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.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
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