Thread: Dangerous modifications. What’s your mind set?

Originally Posted by Zeros

Obviously safety equipment mods need certification. Bullbars for evample are massive heavy things, I don’t want a homemade one coming towards me in an accident. But what concerns me most is all the day to day things I see that can’t be certified and never seem to be picked up by police, like fuel cans tied to roof racks with string, hi-lift jacks mounted on bonnets in front of the windscreen, externally mounted gas bottles on homemade brackets, tradies with a jumble of heavy tools in a ute moving all over the place, a stack of timber tied down around the outside but loose on the inside, or ladders, pipe, etc. I’m amazed how people ignore the potential hazards without considering what might happen if you need to slam on the brakes.

Not sure why it is obvious but obviously your opinion.

I’ve got home made bullbars and other things on vehicles I own or have owned - no dramas. I wouldn’t consider a bullbar to be safety equipment anyway - all bullbars actually impede the protection the OEM has designed into their vehicles anyway making them unsafer by fitting them but people are still happy to for a variety of reasons.

Originally Posted by Homestar

. . I wouldn’t consider a bullbar to be safety equipment anyway - .

I dunno, made me feel a lot safer when crossing the Nullarbor in the dead of night, surrounded by swarms of roos!

That is why for some time now they have needed to be compliant so they do not hinder OEM safety built into a vehicle and provide the best possible safety to pedestrians if they are hit. In some vehicles, compliant bull bars actually provide better protection for pedestrians than the vehicle does with out a bull bar - basically designed to lift pedestrians up and over rather than down and under like the old 5 poster bars were designed to do.

Garry

Originally Posted by Gordie

I dunno, made me feel a lot safer when crossing the Nullarbor in the dead of night, surrounded by swarms of roos!

Exactly - make you FEEL safer. In a collision they actually hinder the performance of the vehicles crumple zone regardless of being compliant or not. Australia is one of only a few Countries any more that even allows bullbars to be fitted to modern vehicles.

Originally Posted by garrycol

That is why for some time now they have needed to be compliant so they do not hinder OEM safety built into a vehicle and provide the best possible safety to pedestrians if they are hit. In some vehicles, compliant bull bars actually provide better protection for pedestrians than the vehicle does with out a bull bar - basically designed to lift pedestrians up and over rather than down and under like the old 5 poster bars were designed to do.

Garry

OEM's and bar manufacturers know and readily admit that bull bars reduce the protection to the occupants and pedestrians - If you were going for the safest possible vehicle for the occupants or pedestrians, you wouldn't have a bull bar fitted.

Originally Posted by Homestar

Exactly - make you FEEL safer. In a collision they actually hinder the performance of the vehicles crumple zone regardless of being compliant or not. Australia is one of only a few Countries any more that even allows bullbars to be fitted to modern vehicles.

Beg to differ, I WAS safer, or my truck was...Tried my best to avoid them, but when unfortunately one was hit, it lessened the damage to me. Not so good for mr roo, but for a pedestrian or mr roo, my truck hitting them would have had the same result, bull bar or not!!

Originally Posted by Homestar

Exactly - make you FEEL safer. In a collision they actually hinder the performance of the vehicles crumple zone regardless of being compliant or not. Australia is one of only a few Countries any more that even allows bullbars to be fitted to modern vehicles.

Where do you get that info/claim from Gav?

As for countries not allowing them - only the top posts/hoops are banned - you can still have the blade bars.

Originally Posted by Gordie

Beg to differ, I WAS safer, or my truck was...Tried my best to avoid them, but when unfortunately one was hit, it lessened the damage to me. Not so good for mr roo, but for a pedestrian or mr roo, my truck hitting them would have had the same result, bull bar or not!!

Ah - different story about your truck being better off, that's not what I said - a lot of us fit bars to prevent minor or sometimes not so minor damage and it works, it's about the vehicle being safer in a decentprang when the airbags are needed which is what this thread started about.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti bullbar - almost all of mine have them, I'm just playing devils advocate here which appears to be like shooting fish in a barrel...