Thread: ARB Bar vs. Tubular bar

Just as an interesting topic, what are everyones opinons on ARB's bull bar versus a Tubular winch bar for the defender.

Pros and cons, likes dislikes and past experiences.

Pete

Depends on which tubular winch bare you have in mind. I've had a Rovercraft tubular winch bar and the new style ARB bull bar.
This post has photos of my car with each of the two types of bullbar.

Weight
Winner: Rovercraft
The ARB bar is 58Kg. From memory the Rovercraft bar was about 32Kg. When I switched to the ARB bar I put some heavy duty springs in the front to cope with the extra weight at the extremity of the vehicle.

Protection
Winner: ARB
ARB bar wraps around the front quarter panels. This was the one factor that led me to swap from Rovercraft to ARB. Also, the ARB bull bar has better headlight protection and overall it will do more in the way of preventing a roo from coming in contact with the bodywork.

Installation
Winner for simplicity: Rovercraft
Winner for flexibility: ARB
The Rovercraft bar is a simple bolt on installation using the existing 4 bumper bar bolts plus the two horizontal bolts. It can only mount in the one location. The ARB bar comes with a mounting kit that gives you a degree of flexibility with vertical and horizontal placement. This also gives you the opportunity to completely screw it up. I installed my own, but for the price, ARB installation represents decent value.

Clearance
I've been happy with the clearance and approach angle of both bars.

Winch Mounting
Winner: Personal Preference
If you have the right Warn winch then it will probably fit the ARB bar prefectly. I have a 12,000lb Ironman winch (grey model not black) and the clutch handle is very difficult to access on the ARB bar and can't actually be used because it fouls on the body of the car. I also had to cut part of the front grille to fit the Ironman. On the plus side, I like the way the winch is concealed inside the ARB bullbar and how it shields my synthetic rope from the sun.
The Rovercraft bar mounts the Ironman winch very easily, but the rope is exposed to the sun and needs a protective shroud to shield it from UV rays.

Number Plate Mounting
I found the number plate mounting on the ARB bar to be easier. I made up my own bracket for mounting the number plate on the Rovercraft bar and was very happy with the result.

Recovery Points
Winner: Personal Preference
Both bars have twin recovery points that are aligned with the box sections of the chassis.
The ARB has recovery points low on the bull bar. If you leave shackles in them they they will be the first thing that will hit when you approach a rock step. Otherwise they are good.
The Rovercraft bar requires the recovery points to be purchased separately. They are swivel-type and fit though existing holes in the bar and are held in place with cir-clips. A good arrangement, but I had to file out the holes to get them to fit which stripped away the power coat. Also, they didn't swivel well due to the position of the cir-clip. Seems like it was designed without consideration of the thickness of the powder coat. Due to the diameter of the hole in the recovery point a 3.25t bow shackle must be used. You must also be careful with which brand of bow shackle you buy because the shackle pin of some brands is too large to fit in the recovery point's hole.

Colour
I prefer black so neither bar presented a problem. You can however (at addtiional cost) have the ARB bar keyed the the colour of your vehicle.

Indicators
The ARB bar comes with built-in indicators. This is because the ARB bar partially obscures the defender's indicators. The Rovercraft bar doesn't obscure the indicators, and therefore does not need (or have) built in indicators.
The ARB indicators drain enough current to trick the car into thinking that there's a trailer attached and therefore causes the "trailer" symbol on the dashboard. It's not a problem, but it does annoy some people (eg me). I replaced the incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs which reduced the current to the point where the trailer light no longer comes on.

Hi-Lift Jacking Points
The Rovercraft bar features 2 round style hi-lift jacking points.
The ARB bar also features 2 round style hi-lift jacking points, but you can also fit the tongue of a hi-lift jack in the area just above the recovery points.
The jacking points on the Rovercraft bar have a better finish quality.

Light & Antenna Mounts
Both have two light/antenna mount on the top of the bar. The ARM mounts are higher than the Rovercraft mounts. The ARB bar also has an additional 2 low mounting points for lights.

Aesthetics
I used to have a very strong preference for the Rovercraft bar, but the new style ARB bar has grown on me. Your call.

Price
I paid about 40%-50% more for my ARB bar than I did for my Rovercraft bar. Both bars were purchased new. Not sure what they go for at the moment.