Industry standards question

[GuyG]

Does anybody know what repairing a bullbar to Industry standards actually means? And does bending the metal a second time actually weaken it, ie bent first time in accident, then second time to straighten?

[RoverP6B]

It will depend on the material in which it is made, the amount that it was initially bent and the way in which they go about straightening it.

Ron.

[GuyG]

Its an ARB winchbar, not hugely bent but bent all the same - accident was totally their fault. Its from a non airbag vehicle.

No one can actually tell me what these apparent industry standards are, most do not repair bars they just replace them.

[Basil135]

The term "Industry Standards" itself is vague, however, it would mean to the original specifications, as well as to any applicable Australian Standard.

By bending the bar, and then re-bending it back again, I would suspect that this would create a weak spot, unless it was reinforced afterwards some how.

Now, this weak spot, could give a picky assessor, inspector or someone else, a point to start picking on, unless the original repair can be shown to be as good as the original.

When you think that a bull bar has undergone lots of testing before being allowed on the market, and that testing includes hitting blocks of concrete at a given speed, then they are not going to re-use a bull bar for a subsequent test.

This would be why they probably are not repaired, and are replaced as a whole. If the insurance company authorised a repair instead of replacement, and something happened down the track, it is possible they could be at least partly liable for damages.

[Bigbjorn]

Depending on the original heat treatment if any, a competent metal shop should be able to anneal, temper, repair etc. as necessary, & re-treat as good as new. Talk to a blacksmith or an experienced welder-fabricator.