Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

On the topic of running over roos and bullbars.... Thinking that driving behind a MACK road train at night will save you from roo encounters is so very wrong. So the night began with us driving up towards mildura from melbourne. We were driving down a straight bushy road following a truck, as overtaking it was quite dangerous because the terrain was mountainous. Anyway I had a few car lengths in between the truck as I hate getting stone chips on the paint work and especially getting a cracked windscreen. So the next part hapened so fast! While driving I saw a roo hop out of the bushes in the distance and the truck didnt even hit the breaks! It rammed into the roo and ran over the corpse with its rear wheels. Being behind the truck, my windscreen was sprayed with blood and I had a corpse to dodge at 110km/h (which I somehow managed it without rolling the car). It was like somethin out of a horror movie! I reckon those MACKs with their tough bullbars are invincible lol

[don1 Member Find all posts View Profile Close don1]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

if that hit a lil' bit on the side and hit the airbag sensor it would surely deploy the airbag..

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

On the topic of running over roos and bullbars.... Thinking that driving behind a MACK road train at night will save you from roo encounters is so very wrong. So the night began with us driving up towards mildura from melbourne. We were driving down a straight bushy road following a truck, as overtaking it was quite dangerous because the terrain was mountainous. Anyway I had a few car lengths in between the truck as I hate getting stone chips on the paint work and especially getting a cracked windscreen. So the next part hapened so fast! While driving I saw a roo hop out of the bushes in the distance and the truck didnt even hit the breaks! It rammed into the roo and ran over the corpse with its rear wheels. Being behind the truck, my windscreen was sprayed with blood and I had a corpse to dodge at 110km/h (which I somehow managed it without rolling the car). It was like somethin out of a horror movie! I reckon those MACKs with their tough bullbars are invincible lol

Still better than hitting the roo first I rekon!

[PradOz Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close PradOz]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

I think your brakes have a lot to do with it too, that plus reaction time. Back in my Army days I hit a roo after following a semi on the nullabor back in 1995 in my near new Corolla. I had been following the ruck for ages with him indicating with his right blinker regularly for ages before I realised he wanted me to sit out in the right lane (the oncoming traffic lane - was no traffic and at night easy to see especially in the middle of nowhere) This roo (big bugger too) came out from the right, the truckie seen it and tried to call me on his cb but i didnt have 1 so no luck there. By time I seen it come out from behind a line of trees I hit the brakes but still hit it dead centre. Luckily I had slowed the car from 120-130km/hr down enough so that when I hit him he bounced down on the road and then back up and when I hit him again I had slowed enough to stop before where he landed in front of my car. Thanked my brakes and reaction time for not damaging any more than the grille, the blinkers in the bumper and dented the bumper and number plate. So I could still drive, but after spending the night in the next roadside stop the truckie offered to put my car on his carrier and take me to Adelaide for $100. Offer to good to refuse! He said he indicated to drive in the right lane because he doesnt stop for roos and if he hits one they can travel underneath and end up thrown up into a windscreen of car behind (as also explained by someone else) He said his rig would protect me from LHS and only risk was from the RHS. As luck went, this fella came from RHS from behind a roiw of bushes and trees. I ended up fixing the blinkers first before fixig the bumper and grille about 6 months later. So no Sovereign or ARB but just good reaction and braking reduced my stopping distance so I hit him at lower speed (maybe 40 Km/hr) Luckily his head and tail missed both my headlights taking out 2 small and cheap blinkers - cheers....

[photoprado Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close photoprado]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

The only reason I have a bar is to give radiator protection and the best chance of driving out of remote areas after a frontal prang with a roo or some other scenery.

The Sovereign bar didn't look to be up to the job, and this incident confirms it (along with many others) I'm sure you could get stranded with a steel bar, but the chances of that happening are significantly less than with a Sovereign.

Michael

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

I had been following the ruck for ages with him indicating with his right blinker regularly for ages before I realised he wanted me to sit out in the right lane (the oncoming traffic lane - was no traffic and at night easy to see especially in the middle of nowhere)

True. I've driven quite a lot on Victoria's rural roads and it's customary for a truck to signal right (on a single laned, 2 way road) to indicate that it was safe to overtake - he would often slow down from 100km/h (road limit 110km/h) to 80km/h. Who would have guessed that the same signal was for a potential roo strike up ahead!

Lucky you got off with such minimal damage in that corolla, it would have been an easy write off had you braked any slower ...

[William Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close William]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

The only reason I have a bar is to give radiator protection and the best chance of driving out of remote areas after a frontal prang with a roo or some other scenery.

The Sovereign bar didn't look to be up to the job, and this incident confirms it (along with many others) I'm sure you could get stranded with a steel bar, but the chances of that happening are significantly less than with a Sovereign.

Michael

A friend of mine just got a soverign bar fitted on his 150 this week. I didn't like the look of it at all, probably why a lot of us go with other brands such as TJM/ARB. I felt behind bars in hope that it was solid, only to find that it was completly hallow/concaved. The alloy's thickness was less than I expected too. I reckon the soverign bar is a complete failure...

[Pat Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pat]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

Its a no-brainer - with steel you are "more protected" in the event of any frontal collision.

What if the roo was a 2' wide tree? Trees don't even shake when hit. A steel bar deforms, absorbs and protects. The more you have between you and the tree the better off you are. Airbags do help to soften the impact but steel is better. Obviously if you're travelling at 110 km/h and hit the same tree then there's a limit to what any up-front protection can offer.

If I didn't already have the Sovereign bar fitted I'd definately go a steel. The winch cradle behind the Sovereign bar helps a bit I guess.

If you've got the choice, steel is much safer.

[Guest Close max_rocktansky]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

I am looking at a ARB steel bar on ebay.

If I want to change the colour, do I need to get it powdercoated or can I get a panel beater to respray it to match the car colour ?

[Whitey1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey1]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

It will already be powdercoated whether its black or colored. You can just get a spraypainter to paint it whatever color you want. Powdercoating only offers a limited color range.

[gclarke Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close gclarke]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

I have chosen sovereign bar
I think the other big factor when buying the right bullbars are not just hitting animals but what if you have a major accident i dont think i would care if i damaged the front end just as long as the people inside survive. You can always buy a new car so until arb can come up with crash testing that will be conclusive i think i will stick with the soveriegn bar.
You can replace a car but you can not replace family and friends.
I know there is pics of a sovereign bar hit by a roo maybe we need some statistics which bar has more injuries in a crash test and a crash test comparison because i know that would sway me more than how much my bullbar is dented.
I know we all love our prados but maybe we need to get our priorities right i can replace steel and plastic.

Thanks
gclarke

[nika Member Find all posts View Profile Close nika]

Re: Why you should choose an ARB over Soverign bar

On my recent trip to Darwin I was going down the road and in the distance saw a flashing light, it was at night, so I turned around to find out what the bloke wanted. When I stoppen I could see the front end of his car caved in so I asked what happened and he said he hit a BIG roo. Now I was doing 120kph with all spotties blazing and didn't see any evidence of a kill. When I got out to help I noticed that the Rodeo had an ARB bar fitted and it was way beyond repair, the bonnet was folded in half and the front right quarter panel was smashed. Using a large lever to open the hood, there was no damage to the radiator and all looked to be ok apart from the cracked fan shroud and cracked battery. Ripped the shroud off and told him to crawl home (30 km away). Moral of the story, guy was pissed, no blood or guts on his car but there was lots of tree bark. After seeing that it made me think that a steel bar will take a lot but they do have a lot of give as well and being able to LIMP home is a bonus (maybe some luck in it as well) and having hit a big red myself just makes me feel a bit more confident having mr ARB upfront. PS dont drink and drive.

[Fronty Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fronty]

Hi Guys,
I just found this thread. I have the Toyota ally bar on my car. I have a question - in this situation where the bar just collapsed in the middle, would a winch and winch cradle offer more protection for items such as the radiator?

[Guest Close Guest]

I reckon it would certainly offer more protection. I have a winch cradle and measured the thicknesses and inspected the way it is constructed and it looked pretty heavy duty.

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

That damage would not happen with a cradle fullstop.
In the center of the bullbar anyways...
A side impact on a sovv bar would deploy airbags and then its game over....