What's your favourite defender bullbar ?

[incisor]

tittle says it all..

what do you consider to be the best touring defender bullbar (with winch mount)?

be interested to hear why as well...

[weeds]

As I have a PTO Winch, RIJIDIJ was the only one I could find to make a custom winch bar. I would like to have he additional hoops but I don't think he was doing them at the time.....either way I do my best not to drive at dusk and haven't hit any to date.

[travelrover]

tittle says it all..

what do you consider to be the best touring defender bullbar (with winch mount)?

be interested to hear why as well...

Only ever fitted ARB to my Defenders and back in the 80's my Range Rovers, all with Warn high mount winches.

Hit a few roos, and used to push all sorts of things around yards at the former in laws properties, used as anchor point for recovery. Driving light mounts could be a fraction further back as the front of the lamps can protrude forward of the bar. Not even bent one yet.

[DiscoMick]

ARB too.

[stealth]

I built my own which originally fitted my old 2A then was adapted to fit my Defender. Has been modified since to take a winch and LED bar. I opened up the side of a Holden Rodeo ute in an accident once with one corner of the bullbar which bent the upright edge of the bullbar a couple of inches. No other damage to the Defender When claiming the insurance I told the assessor that I wanted my bullbar repaired not replaced as it had been custom made. (I didn’t say who made it).
He pointed to a number on the corner and suggested the manufacturer might just be able to supply a new corner piece. He was looking a the part number stamped in to precast corner elbows I bought from Metaland in Geelong when I built the bullbar.
I had to tell him I couldn’t remember who made it.

[Zeros]

I've always preferred ARB bars too. They seem to invest more in research and development than others? They usually look better too. However this also relates to my only criticism of the current ARB bar which apparently for design integration reasons, sits very close go the front quarter panels. It would be ideal if there were some kind of HD crashcan type spacers available to move the bar forward a couple of inches.

No no idea if it's possible? But I wonder if this might be something Nugget Stuff, Ridjidij or APT could develop? ...I'd be interested if it moved the bar forward, added strength to the bolt on mounting points and in a very heavy collision offered some energy absorption?

[VladTepes]

I've had ARB and TJM bars on Defenders. I prefer the style of the ARB bar. But otherwise there's not much between them.
I like a bar that provides 'full' frontal protection as opposed to some that are more or less just a fancy way of carrying a winch.

The main issue with the ARB bar I have is that its designed for a winch with a roller fairlead. The winch I have in the shed (and really should get around to fitting at some point) has dyneema rope. I worry that if I was in a nose down position and had to put the 'rope' in a higher position to winch out; that the rope would rub on the projection which the roller fairlead normally bolts up to.

I like the construction and winch mount set up of the rijidij deluxe bars, and think this probably a better set up if the ute would be off-road more of the time, but have a preference for a full loop around the headlights etc. A combination of the two designs would be MY ideal bar.

But having invested the $$$ in the ARB bar I won't be changing it.
If I was looking to purchase a new bar I'd at least have a chat with Murray to see what he could do by way of a custom type of bar.

(He does a 'full loop' type of set up on his hybrid bar so I suppose most things are possible...)


One thing for sure is that bars are expensive, so you do need to get it right !

[VladTepes]

It would be ideal if there were some kind of HD crashcan type spacers available to move the bar forward a couple of inches.

No no idea if it's possible? But I wonder if this might be something Nugget Stuff, Ridjidij or APT could develop? ...I'd be interested if it moved the bar forward, added strength to the bolt on mounting points and in a very heavy collision offered some energy absorption?

You are referring to crush cans. It's not really an issue in a non-airbag vehicle like a Defender but the engineering costs in making such a thing for airbag equipped vehicles is $$$$$

On the Defender this isn't an issue BUT coming up with a design that is both strong/sturdy enough for normal use AND offers some controlled impact would still be a difficult thing to do. And almost certainly an investment in time and $ which wouldn't be recovered.

That's just my opinion of course, the actual manufacturers might be able to be more detailed on this point.

[p38arover]

tittle says it all..

Tittle? Hmm, titillating!

[trout1105]

I've had ARB and TJM bars on Defenders. I prefer the style of the ARB bar. But otherwise there's not much between them.
I like a bar that provides 'full' frontal protection as opposed to some that are more or less just a fancy way of carrying a winch.

The main issue with the ARB bar I have is that its designed for a winch with a roller fairlead. The winch I have in the shed (and really should get around to fitting at some point) has dyneema rope. I worry that if I was in a nose down position and had to put the 'rope' in a higher position to winch out; that the rope would rub on the projection which the roller fairlead normally bolts up to.

I like the construction and winch mount set up of the rijidij deluxe bars, and think this probably a better set up if the ute would be off-road more of the time, but have a preference for a full loop around the headlights etc. A combination of the two designs would be MY ideal bar.

But having invested the $$$ in the ARB bar I won't be changing it.
If I was looking to purchase a new bar I'd at least have a chat with Murray to see what he could do by way of a custom type of bar.

(He does a 'full loop' type of set up on his hybrid bar so I suppose most things are possible...)


One thing for sure is that bars are expensive, so you do need to get it right !

Have you looked at the offset fairleads for the synthetic ropes, This may solve the "Rubbing" issue