Bullbar

[WAG]

Hi, I'm new to the group, just brought a small farm and I am adding some stuff to my discovery 3 to make it more practical. Can anyone advise me on a decent bull bar? The guys at the local 4x4 shop are pushing an ARB winch bar fitted at $1932.00 is this good value?

Many thanks

:huh:

[Bigbjorn]

In one word, no! Bloody amazing what some people charge for a few metres of tube and channel electrically glued together. Have a look on here, the Trading Post/Weekend Shopper/Quokka, & the E-bay stolen goods redistribution scheme.

[sclarke]

For a Disco 3 bar thats prob a good price fitted.
Seeing they have Airbags and so forth...........

[Phoenix]

For a D3 bar there are only a few choices. The ARB one is expensive because it relocates a couple of things, and I believe has had to be crash tested. They are a good bar however to all accounts.

[rovers1952]

went the ARB route for me, same price, very expensive but it a no brainer given its engineering and compatability.

[Bushwanderer]

When I bought my D3 November last, one of the first things I checked out were bullbars. At the time, the only one available was from ARB. Although expensive, it suited me (as I had been VERY happy with my ARB bar on my D1).

Buy a good brand and you won't regret it.

Best Wishes,

[Blknight.aus]

ARB ones are good bars (thats been done to death) but the new ones are exxcy as they are


airbag complient
pedestrian impact compliant (for when you go on your muderous baby smashing tours through school zones at 120KPh in reverse drinking coffee with one hand and talking on a mobile phone with the other as all the sydney sider hug a tree groups make out we do)
complient with the regs for not interfereing with the throw of the front lighting
winch compatable (mostly havent seen the new d3 one up close and personal yet)


looking at the setup of the front end of the D3 and based on some older modles price ranges Id call $1800ish for a bar fair to middling on price but its worth it if you purchase some other stuff at the same time they are usually willing to come down on price a bit And if you get sneaky they did have a discount membership card. I worked it out after I haggled them down on a pirce for some lighting and electrical gear that with the cost of membership Id recoupe it all on the discount for the lighting gear alone. so get the membership card with a purchase of some middling cheap gear and then come back and buy the bar a week later.

[Sleepy]

pedestrian impact compliant (for when you go on your muderous baby smashing tours through school zones at 120KPh in reverse drinking coffee with one hand and talking on a mobile phone with the other as all the sydney sider hug a tree groups make out we do)


:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:

[rmp]

In one word, no! Bloody amazing what some people charge for a few metres of tube and channel electrically glued together. Have a look on here, the Trading Post/Weekend Shopper/Quokka, & the E-bay stolen goods redistribution scheme.

Brian, you need to look at the engineering involved in a modern bar. If you did you wouldn't have made this comment. Years ago you'd have been right, but now modern bars require various component relocation (the D3's washer bottle, for example is in the front guard), airbag compatibility engineering/testing, airflow checks, winch testing, regulations compliance and even careful styling. I have spent quite a bit of time with ARB going over their bar design process.

It is not just a few tubes welded together any more. That's where your money is going.

Also consider the market for D3 bars will be a lot smaller than say LC200s, so companies need to consider that when they set their margins. Yes, they could sell more bars at a lower price, but the amount sold won't vary much if the price was dropped to $1500 or increased to $2500, people either want a bar or they don't, and if they do they'll pay for the quality.

[Bigbjorn]

Brian, you need to look at the engineering involved in a modern bar. If you did you wouldn't have made this comment. Years ago you'd have been right, but now modern bars require various component relocation (the D3's washer bottle, for example is in the front guard), airbag compatibility engineering/testing, airflow checks, winch testing, regulations compliance and even careful styling. I have spent quite a bit of time with ARB going over their bar design process.

It is not just a few tubes welded together any more. That's where your money is going.

Also consider the market for D3 bars will be a lot smaller than say LC200s, so companies need to consider that when they set their margins. Yes, they could sell more bars at a lower price, but the amount sold won't vary much if the price was dropped to $1500 or increased to $2500, people either want a bar or they don't, and if they do they'll pay for the quality.

and here was me thinking $500 was bloody excessive (still do).

[rmp]

In the case of a Defender bullbar, I'd agree. The Defender doesn't require any relocation, styling is easy, no airbags and the exact same design can be used for many, many version of the car, and there are a lot of people wanting it so sales volumes are high. None of those factors apply to the D3 or similar vehicles which are harder to design for and far, far lower volumes. That's why you struggle to find modern Range Rover accessories; if the manufacturers thought they could make a buck there they would, but the demand doesn't exist.

[87County]

and here was me thinking $500 was bloody excessive (still do).

me too... guess it's just that we're getting old Brian.....

Laurie

[Bigbjorn]

Draw one up on Autocad, e-mail it to a Chinese manufacturer, sell a few here, and watch the locals cut the fat out of their price.

[87County]

Draw one up on Autocad, e-mail it to a Chinese manufacturer, sell a few here, and watch the locals cut the fat out of their price.


yeah... but is attached to a motor vehicle and they'll get annoyed about the lack of approval placards etc.... unless a copy of that is e-mailed to China for copying as well :D

only option may be to buy ARB shares, eh?

[JDNSW]

This thread has turned into a demonstration of the hidden costs of regulation. I suggest that it is likely that the additional costs imposed by the regulation of bullbars substantially outweight the benefits - and the same probably applies to a whole range of regulation. Particularly annoying when it applies to a mainly rural device that is regulated for the benefit of city dwellers, as is so often the case.

John

[87County]

This thread has turned into a demonstration of the hidden costs of regulation. I suggest that it is likely that the additional costs imposed by the regulation of bullbars substantially outweight the benefits - and the same probably applies to a whole range of regulation. Particularly annoying when it applies to a mainly rural device that is regulated for the benefit of city dwellers, as is so often the case.

John

well said JD:thumbsup:

[rmp]

This thread has turned into a demonstration of the hidden costs of regulation. I suggest that it is likely that the additional costs imposed by the regulation of bullbars substantially outweight the benefits - and the same probably applies to a whole range of regulation. Particularly annoying when it applies to a mainly rural device that is regulated for the benefit of city dwellers, as is so often the case.

John

Point taken about regulations vs cost, but in the case of a bullbar for a complex vehicle not much of the cost is regulations. It's the complexity of the vehicle more than anything else.