bull bar options that fit the headlight protectors

[defender_i_hardly_know_er]

Hi, my puma 90s has got those factory head light grills and squishy A bar on the front, and tonight I hit a kangaroo on the way home.

The impact slightly buckled the factory steel bumper bar, and is now pushing on the corner of the car body. I should probably get a decent bar, but are there any bull bars that fit those head light grates?

Here's an idea of how far it sticks out

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/08/1325.jpg

The TJM & ARB website looks like theirs fit pretty close to the body

Or am I going to have to take them off and have 8 screw holes in the body :(

Seems like a waste to pull those bits off - I don't think they're cheap.

[BilboBoggles]

Personally - I'd pull them off, the bull bar will protect the lights to some degree. My experience with those light cages is that they might save a headlight perhaps, which costs about $30 to replace. But any impact damage is transferred to the body instead where the repair bills are several hundred dollars. I'd pull them off, and order some body coloured pop rivets from Land Rover to fill in the holes.

[isuzutoo-eh]

I have what appears to be the same grills on my County, with a genuine td5 era LR bullbar. Before that bar I had a Rovacraft tube style winch bar and had to cut off the bottom couple of rungs and reprofile the lower outer edges of the sides to get any clearance.
I think the bar will sit around the grills rather than interfering with them anyway.

[POD]

I've got the same grilles on the 130, the ARB bullbar fits fine.

[Tomo]

I have got an outback Accessories bullbar, made in WA and also have those headlight guards attached. I will take a photo and post......

[85county]

I've just fitted one of the new Land Rover bull bars (which looks identical to the TD5 era bars) and there is a good 14cm clearance to the headlight surrounds. It was straightforward to fit but I had to modify the angled bracing on the brush bar in front of the diff in order to retain it. Sourced from Melbourne City Land Rover who shipped it at no charge. I'm happy with that.

[defender_i_hardly_know_er]

I've just fitted one of the new Land Rover bull bars (which looks identical to the TD5 era bars) and there is a good 14cm clearance to the headlight surrounds. It was straightforward to fit but I had to modify the angled bracing on the brush bar in front of the diff in order to retain it. Sourced from Melbourne City Land Rover who shipped it at no charge. I'm happy with that.

hmm I like that one, does it have recovery points? I've got the land rover D shaped jate ring thingys which I assume I'd have to remove.

[debruiser]

I've got this - it's a Terrafirma bar.... not sure it's what you want but it will fit with you headlight protectors

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/08/1271.jpg (http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/debruiser/media/P7120028_zps88005737.jpg.html)

Sorry about all the bugs.... i'd been out driving at night time.

[85county]

There are no recovery points on the bar itself. When fitting it, I didn't drill the two extra holes in the chassis as suggested in the installation guide. It's the same setup as the bar on my '85 County which is very strong, so I only used the existing attachment points (3 high tensile bolts on each side). Suggest you attach a bridle and d-shackles to the large rings bolted to the chassis if you ever need to have the vehicle recovered.

[DefenderJim]

I have the new ARB winch bar on my puma with the factory headlight protection. The 2 would not fit on together..BUT, if you trim off the bottom runs on the bar they attach at the perfect height to sit flush on top of the bull bar and line up with the holes in the top, i just then re-used the bottom hinge points to attach to the bull bar.

There are pics in my thread if you want to see them.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members-rides/157409-110-build-up.html

Jim

[Tomo]

Hello,
Here are some photos of my Outback Accessories bar sold by Opposite lock.
The bar is good it is actually their universal design, however their mounts for the defender were a little ordinary. As you can see the passenger side is slightly higher than the drivers side.... I have been meaning to take it off and straighten up the mounts...... Maybe it is because I fitted the bar myself.......
I like how it is a very upright design, therefore if you hit a roo, more chance of it being deflected down and not into the windscreen......

[Leroy_Riding]

I have been battling with a similar decision, I have an old S3 bar at home that I got for free on this forum that I intend on fixing (needs rust repairs and somebracings put back on, and extended mounts for a puma) but I am a little comprehensive as I like the look of the soft A bar and headlight 'cages', but one of my wings has already been buckled due to the coke can strong stock bumper, have you considered making your own low mount bar? this is an idea I am going to look into as the factory bar is essentially a 100x75mm bit of rhs with some chassis mounts on it (yes I know it is a little more than that) thinking of getting a big solid bit of RHS as a replacement that isnt going to bend back into the guard, and all thees new bullbars seem to sit so close I think you would be just as out of action in a roo strike with either.

[defender_i_hardly_know_er]

I have been battling with a similar decision, I have an old S3 bar at home that I got for free on this forum that I intend on fixing (needs rust repairs and somebracings put back on, and extended mounts for a puma) but I am a little comprehensive as I like the look of the soft A bar and headlight 'cages', but one of my wings has already been buckled due to the coke can strong stock bumper, have you considered making your own low mount bar? this is an idea I am going to look into as the factory bar is essentially a 100x75mm bit of rhs with some chassis mounts on it (yes I know it is a little more than that) thinking of getting a big solid bit of RHS as a replacement that isnt going to bend back into the guard, and all thees new bullbars seem to sit so close I think you would be just as out of action in a roo strike with either.

Yeah I really like the look of the soft one I've got on there, no additional weight etc. But it doesn't protect anything. Except maybe the pedestrian :D I've noticed that there's a big woof in the LHS wing now that I didn't see at first. Soooo I'll have to get that knocked back into shape.

Landybitz sell heavy duty steel bumpers

Land Rover Defender Heavy Duty Front Bumper With Running Lights | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-Heavy-Duty-Front-Bumper-Running-lights-/321133076787?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ac505e133)

but at $900 inc delivery......

85county's bar looks OK, I think if you hit something there would be less chance of the bar bending into the bodywork as it doesn't sit so close.

I'll end up getting something and the next roo will plow into the side of the car...:eek:

[BilboBoggles]

I've often thought about making a replacement bar out of some strong RHS. But I reckon one possible outcome of a big roo might be a bent chassis instead of a bent mud guard, I'd guess there would be a lot of force transferred to the front chassis legs, and that might cause them to buckle. Mudguards/wings don't seem too much of a hassle to replace.