Thread: Ive got my ARB bullbar, AT LAST!

Not me anyway.

With the colour matching, and what I regard as tight tolerances, the bumper to me looks factory rather than add on.

Actually when first looking at the pictures, I was thinking how tight the fit was - almost factory. Normally with this macho bumper stuff, at least over here, they have gaps so wide that beer bottles disappear thru them.

After all, the bumpers make good serving platforms and one thing leads to another; the bottles get knocked over and roll thru.

Also some clearance is a good thing when the bumper does what it is supposed to. There has to be some movement when things collide and to my mind, that is what any extra space is for.

Originally Posted by LeaRoy

Is anyone concerned by the quite large gap that exists now under the headlights?

A gap is required as the bull-bar is mounted to the chassis whereas the original bumper is mounted to the body at the top. I think the ECB bar has excessive gap for movement allowance but its required to get the headlights out - they only just squeeze out as it is. Maybe it needs some rubber in-fill.

The gaps around the lights are a little large, but not excessive.I think they could have done the fog light mountings a little better, as there's a bit of a gap on one side. All in all it looks good and is well engineered. I think you'll have to maintain the colour coding because the original bumper bar was just that.

Hi, I know it was mentioned in the other ARB bullbar thread, but is headlight removal / bulb replacement possible without removal of the bullbar? Thanks!

This was the largest most clear front end picture I could find of a current production 2010 Chev Silverado showing the normal factory gap between bumper and bottom of grill.

Also you can see a bit of the similar headlight gap on the far left and right sides of the picture. GM does a good design job in disguising the under grill gap by putting the black strip thru the BowTie in the middle of the grill and the large air vent to the top portion of the bumper. On the higher end models, there will be a rubber fin behind the gap so that one does not see whatever is behind sucn as the radiator etc. On the work models, one sees the metal bit behind, (as one does thru the grill anyway).

It is funny but one does not see that sort of thing until one starts looking - it is just so normal I guess.

On the older previous body style Chev pickups, (MY 2001) as well, (many in Australia), the gap is even more obvious as the bumpers are more of a straight line from side to side.

Originally Posted by eddomak

Hi, I know it was mentioned in the other ARB bullbar thread, but is headlight removal / bulb replacement possible without removal of the bullbar? Thanks!

For the ECB bar, yes. In fact the headlights are re-fitted after the bar is fitted.

I have a D4 with parking sensors and front cameras and I have some questions:
1. Does the ARB bar allow for parking sensors and front cameras?
2. I would be concerned about drilling holes in the bar (as a previous post has suggested) as would this not effect the integrity of the bar?
3. Can I assume that the ARB bar is compatible with the D4 airbag and other safety features?
Any comments?
Cheers
George

Originally Posted by Graeme

A gap is required as the bull-bar is mounted to the chassis whereas the original bumper is mounted to the body at the top. I think the ECB bar has excessive gap for movement allowance but its required to get the headlights out - they only just squeeze out as it is. Maybe it needs some rubber in-fill.

Gap is also required to provide clearance for winch fitment - she's a very tight fit. Agree with the rubber infill idea. I'll be exploring this next time I pass Clark Rubber.

Originally Posted by rwlse

I think they could have done the fog light mountings a little better, as there's a bit of a gap on one side.

Agree. They use the original L/R foggies (which use the factory up/down adjustment) in a new ARB supplied mounting bracket (doesn't allow for any left/right adjustment).

Originally Posted by GeorgeK

I have a D4 with parking sensors and front cameras and I have some questions:
1. Does the ARB bar allow for parking sensors and front cameras?
2. I would be concerned about drilling holes in the bar (as a previous post has suggested) as would this not effect the integrity of the bar?
3. Can I assume that the ARB bar is compatible with the D4 airbag and other safety features?

I can't answer your first two questions, but the ARB web site answers your last: "To ensure compatibility, ARB assesses each vehicle's frontal crush characteristics and replicates the crush rate into the design of each air bag compatible bull bar and its mounting system."
So, crash away...