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  • AFN or ARB bullbar?

    So I have looked at both the ARB summit and AFN bullbars and only comes down to personal choice really as prices are within $100 after colour coding and fitting. I know ARB have their trademark name behind them my only worry about the AFN is fit and finish and longevity. Anyone happy to share their pro's or con's on either bar?

  • #2
    AFN looks better and has recovery points. Also get a better approach angle. It is quite short though so your choice of winch and lights are a little restricted. It's also a full bumper replacement so you can sell your factory bumper to offset some of the cost

    ARB has the name and wider support. Their finish can be a little questionable with some showing rust after only 12 months. The also move around ALOT. I thought there was something wrong with mine when I first got it as it moved around so much. Plenty of room for winches and lighting though and even though the approach angle isn't s good on paper as the afn, I'Ve never had any concerns with it. If anything going to scrub it's my recovery points or the tow bar on the way out.

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    • #3
      What he said... I've got an AFN bar and am happy with it.

      There is another thread here with more info. They are now imported by AFN 4x4 Australia directly (instead of Wolf 4x4)

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      • #4
        It's a hard one, personally I like the ARB deluxe bar but unfortunately for me they won't fit it to a Kakadu too many compatibility issues

        I have a white Prado and the black inserts in the AFN don't look right
        I am leaning towards a Summit bar

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        • #5
          Has anyone tried the ARB alloy bar - not much meaningful detail can be found on on weight saving and drop in protection compared to steel.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Drift View Post
            AFN looks better and has recovery points. Also get a better approach angle. It is quite short though so your choice of winch and lights are a little restricted. It's also a full bumper replacement so you can sell your factory bumper to offset some of the cost

            ARB has the name and wider support. Their finish can be a little questionable with some showing rust after only 12 months. The also move around ALOT. I thought there was something wrong with mine when I first got it as it moved around so much. Plenty of room for winches and lighting though and even though the approach angle isn't s good on paper as the afn, I'Ve never had any concerns with it. If anything going to scrub it's my recovery points or the tow bar on the way out.
            How much does it move around? I found mine also move around, but I thought it is the body that moves around on top of the chassis where the bull bar is attached?
            Mine is less than half a year old and has only experienced probably 400km medium washboard road, so not sure about its quality.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by [email protected] View Post
              How much does it move around? I found mine also move around, but I thought it is the body that moves around on top of the chassis where the bull bar is attached?
              Mine is less than half a year old and has only experienced probably 400km medium washboard road, so not sure about its quality.
              Really hard to say how much exactly but it's enough for it to be very visible. I'm sure some of it is the difference between the body/chassis etc and it doesn't seem to create any issues. Just bit disconcerting.

              Interestingly when shopping around for UHF antennas, a couple of the shops I spoke to made specific mention to avoid particular antennas with the ARB bars as they've seen them destroyed from the vibrations.

              As for the quality, they're a well built bar. I've covered Just over 12000km off road in various conditions and it's held up ok just like the rest of the car. Just the factory black finish is slapped on so you get rust spots around the welds in the uprights and along the rear edge near the grill.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Samo86 View Post
                So I have looked at both the ARB summit and AFN bullbars and only comes down to personal choice really as prices are within $100 after colour coding and fitting. I know ARB have their trademark name behind them my only worry about the AFN is fit and finish and longevity. Anyone happy to share their pro's or con's on either bar?
                I've got a 2016 GXL with the ARB bar, and my neighbour two houses down has the AFN. I'd take the ARB again. The finish on his AFN isn't as good (welds, finish is patchy - on his anyway). But that could be one off.

                I went down the same purchase-reasoning path as the Prado. You most likely didn't buy a Prado for all the whizz-bang gadgets it has. You almost certainly didn't buy it for the looks. I bought mine for two main reasons - brand reputation for quality, and in equal measure the ability to have a vast dealer network across the country. I just applied the same logic to the bar, in particular my second point. Something goes wrong with your bar (welds break, hit a roo and need it checked, get bits for it) and there are ARB stores all around the place that have stuff in stock.

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                • #9
                  I've only just bought and fitted a AFN bar and if I had my time again I'd have bought a ARB Bull bar. The installation instructions are useless in comparison to any of the other of the major bull-bars and they might as well have written take factory bumper of put AFN bar on and in fact you'd save time not following the instructions as if you do you'll have to pull the bar off to fit the recovery point reinforcing. The instructions refer to parts that don't come with the bar and the kit includes parts that aren't used. http://www.afn.pt/uploads/product_files/48002104.pdf. Funnily enough I went for the AFN because I didn't have to cut the factory bumper thinking that would be more work.

                  I think the AFN is a better looking bar and the fog lights are included in the cost, but the spot welding on the uprights looks a bit cheap and the mounting area for the spotlights is curved and doesn't provide a good surface area for the flat bracket - I've got round this by buying some different mounts, but wouldn't have had to with an ARB bar.

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                  • #10
                    I've only just bought and fitted a AFN bar and if I had my time again I'd have bought a ARB Bull bar. The installation instructions are useless in comparison to any of the other of the major bull-bars and they might as well have written take factory bumper of put AFN bar on and in fact you'd save time not following the instructions as if you do you'll have to pull the bar off to fit the recovery point reinforcing. The instructions refer to parts that don't come with the bar and the kit includes parts that aren't used. http://www.afn.pt/uploads/product_files/48002104.pdf. Funnily enough I went for the AFN because I didn't have to cut the factory bumper thinking that would be more work.

                    I think the AFN is a better looking bar and the fog lights are included in the cost, but the spot welding on the uprights looks a bit cheap and the mounting area for the spotlights is curved and doesn't provide a good surface area for the flat bracket - I've got round this by buying some different mounts, but wouldn't have had to with an ARB bar.

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                    • #11
                      Has anyone researched or purchased the ARB alloy bullbar?

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                      • #12
                        I nearly bought one from ARB (Kilsyth, VIC) when they had their annual garage sale in June this year. It was used but I believe it was only on their Prado for a short period of time for the promotional photos. They only wanted $1K for it minus mounting brackets which are about $400. I reckon they still have it.
                        Looks very similar to the new steel summit bar, except for the top tubes.
                        I decided that a steel bar would give me better protection, so opted for the summit.
                        150 GXL - ARB bar, Winch, 9" spots, rhino rack, 32" LED bar, Snorkel, 2" lift, AT's, Dual batts, UHF, 40L fridge, KAON cargo barrier - rear door table

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by OzDriver View Post
                          Has anyone researched or purchased the ARB alloy bullbar?
                          As others have said - nearly did. I think it looks better, but went with Steel because ARB won't tell you the weight of either the Steel or the Alloy bars. It's bloody annoying. They say 30 - 50% weight saving (from various brochures and sales reps) - but without the figure of 'from what' then it's pointless. From what I gather, it's around 85kg's for the ARB Duluxe (yes, I know that's heavy) so that'd make it around 50 - 55Kg's. It's not heaps because there's still a lot of steel in it. But when they can't tell me how much I would be saving, then I let it slide.

                          In effect, you are paying around $600 for a 30kg weight saving. To me, that's like the people who buy a bike drink bottle holder for $90 because it weights 11 gram's less than the K-mart one for $8. I'm sure to top level athletes it's worth it, but for most people, you could probably think of $600 worth of accessories that you can put on your car.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by OzDriver View Post
                            Has anyone researched or purchased the ARB alloy bullbar?
                            As others have said - nearly did. I think it looks better, but went with Steel because ARB won't tell you the weight of either the Steel or the Alloy bars. It's bloody annoying. They say 30 - 50% weight saving (from various brochures and sales reps) - but without the figure of 'from what' then it's pointless. From what I gather, it's around 85kg's for the ARB Duluxe (yes, I know that's heavy) so that'd make it around 50 - 55Kg's. It's not heaps because there's still a lot of steel in it. But when they can't tell me how much I would be saving, then I let it slide.

                            In effect, you are paying around $600 for a 30kg weight saving. To me, that's like the people who buy a bike drink bottle holder for $90 because it weights 11 gram's less than the K-mart one for $8. I'm sure to top level athletes it's worth it, but for most people, you could probably think of $600 worth of accessories that you can put on your car.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Hi all. In my great tradition of opening threads older than religion, here I go again.
                              We have a 2015 Prado VX KDSS 150. I, too, am debating ARB vs AFN. I will soon be doing a suspension upgrade (likely Dobinsons), but I need to know all my weights first to make sure I get the right stuff installed. I’ll likely add rails and replace sidesteps as well. I’ll be adding a winch, lights and UHF antenna.
                              i much prefer the look of AFN bars, especially around the “teardrop” headlight sections towards the centre of the car. I am aware it’s a bit tighter for installation of winches and lights.
                              Does anyone have any further experiences to share? It all adds up pretty quick (money and weight) so I want to choose wisely!
                              Have a grey car, so will likely colour match.
                              Cheers, Mat

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