Thread: bull bars

They look pants!

I agree with that. Local comment - "A Bull Frog under lip".
They are also better than the standard bumper.
I scraped mine STD one in a ditch.
Was promtly replaced with a local Bull Bar . Half the price of ARB or TJM
but looks half as good. In RSA we also have Ironman available witch I prefer over TJM.
The approach angle on my D2 was improved but I still managed to bottem it in a very deep rutted ditch.
Bull bars are very ugly but they do serve a very usefull purpose.

thanks alot of food for thought

Bullfrog under lip!!!

Originally Posted by Hastykiwi

Ahem... i cannot offer anything like the erudite technical learnings of my aformentioned colleagues, however i would like to offer my condsidered opinion on the asthetics of the ECB brand of frontal protection.

They look pants! They would have to be the ugliest piece of metalwork ever, surpassing even the 1969 toyota corona, the Edsel, ..even the Leyland P76 could be considered good looking compared to an ECB bar.

just my 2c
cheers
Nick.

I dunno - I reckon the ECB Bar suits the Disco. I've seen a lot of worse looking ones out there. And while I wouldn't want to run into anything too solid with it - I've hit more than a couple of roos with this one with no damage so far. And my suspension hasn't sagged either.

Personally I would not buy an alloy bar.

I have an ARB steel winch bar on my DIIA.

A few months ago I had some idiot woman (Apologies and no offence intended to those present) hit me from the front right when I was stationary. She glanced off the front right corner of the ARB - causing her Magna - a new bonnet, headlight, left guard and 2 left doors.

Did I mention I was stationary!....total damage to mine - bar need a re paint.

As Slunnie said.. ARB make them out of steel for a reason.


As far as weight goes - mine had standard springs up until last weekend. ( I also have a winch too though.

I changed coils only because it just felt heavy in the front. the previous owner drove it like that for 4 years - so obviously didnt worry him. Dont let a $200 front coil change scare you away from a decent bar.

Mark

Originally Posted by BMKal

I dunno - I reckon the ECB Bar suits the Disco. I've seen a lot of worse looking ones out there. And while I wouldn't want to run into anything too solid with it - I've hit more than a couple of roos with this one with no damage so far. And my suspension hasn't sagged either.

It could stop a tank for all I know, i am not qualified to offer an opinion its functionality. I am just questioning its asthetic appeal.

Shallow and impractical, i know, but there u go.

Nick

Oh well - I suppose to each his own.

The Disco actually had a fairly thick tube polished alloy nudge bar on it when I bought it and looked quite good.

Unfortunately though - a nudge bar is pretty useless if you live outside of the metro area and are wanting protection against anything other than shopping trollies and car-park bingles - and it couldn't support the driving lights without them flickering up and down annoyingly. So it came off and was sold to another member of this forum in Perth. The original bumper is still hanging in the shed in case I ever need it.

Was recently offered one of those plastic nancy boy nudge bars similar to those fitted to the new G4 Disco's by a bloke in Kal who bought a D2 with one fitted. He hasn't been able to give it away so far. I think they'd be even less use than the alloy nudge bar in the bush, but some people seem to like the look of them. I suppose it's a taste thing.

Hey - I reckon that the Leyland P76 wasn't a bad looking car (well at least the V8 version, and especially the Force 7V) - but my tastes have always been a bit different to most ...........

I have had both ARB and TJM bars and there are some marked differences between the two.

The ARB protrudes more on the front of the vehicle and is very prone to rotating on it's mounts (very annoying) . It makes your vehicle longer and I actually noticed the extra space in my garage since getting the TJM. If you are mounting a winch, that will mount directly onto the bar. Driving lights are somewhat flimsy tabs welded to the centre cross bar . The Sahara bar is essentially the same except for the cross bars over the lights and driving lights mount directly to the bar . Both bars are exceptionally well made, very strong and look good (Sahara gets my vote on looks.

TJM has a shorter profile and although I have not weighed it, supsect it is marginally lighter than the ARB. As the TJM is mounted closer to the vehicle there is potentially more possibility of damage to the vehicle in the event of a heavy animal strike (but this is just my theory) . Winch is mounted to the chassis in a seperate cradle but winch cable is hard to see when spooling in . Drivng lights mount to the bar and are protected by the centre hoop . I like the looks of the TJM and would buy it again given the choice .

Cost wise I think they are both the same.

Changing your springs is a must as adding 35 odd kg will make the originals sag (even more so if you add a winch as well)

I have no experience with aluminium bars and am unsure of how well they stand up to animal strikes.

Cheers,

Franz