ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

[yammysj Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close yammysj]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I bought a Deluxe Winch Bullbar from russell cairns marine and 4x4 as they are the closest arb dealer to me, otherwise it's 4hrs to Melbourne. My bar is 9 months old and has rust appearing in behind the the two uprights that support the tube that runs across the top of the bar, around the inside of the ring that you put your hand through to unlock the clutch on your winch, and in behind the bar or anywhere two pieces of steel are only stitch welded together looks like absolute crap and full of rust.

Very disappointed in the finish of this bar as it has not even been serious off road yet, just the odd unsealed road.

Took it back to them and they agreed it should not be in this condition, and told me to get a quote at a local panel shop and have it forwarded to them so he could then pass it on to an arb rep. This was so i don't have to travel to get the bar fixed, i was stoked at this idea.

Received a phone call a few days ago and no go. :evil: They will only repaint the bar if it is removed and sent back to Melbourne so this leaves me having to pull the bar off and organize freight and something to freight it in, not to mention i won't have a car for the two weeks they said it would take to do the job as the car will be unroadworthy, then i have to refit it once returned.

I have suggested they pay for a hire car or send me a stock prado bumper including the support(don't care about the colour).
I haven't heard anything back yet but just thought i would post this up and get some ideas from fellow prado pointers.

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I bought a Deluxe Winch Bullbar from russell cairns marine and 4x4 as they are the closest arb dealer to me, otherwise it's 4hrs to Melbourne. My bar is 9 months old and has rust appearing in behind the the two uprights that support the tube that runs across the top of the bar, around the inside of the ring that you put your hand through to unlock the clutch on your winch, and in behind the bar or anywhere two pieces of steel are only stitch welded together looks like absolute crap and full of rust.

Very disappointed in the finish of this bar as it has not even been serious off road yet, just the odd unsealed road.

Took it back to them and they agreed it should not be in this condition, and told me to get a quote at a local panel shop and have it forwarded to them so he could then pass it on to an arb rep. This was so i don't have to travel to get the bar fixed, i was stoked at this idea.

Received a phone call a few days ago and no go. :evil: They will only repaint the bar if it is removed and sent back to Melbourne so this leaves me having to pull the bar off and organize freight and something to freight it in, not to mention i won't have a car for the two weeks they said it would take to do the job as the car will be unroadworthy, then i have to refit it once returned.

I have suggested they pay for a hire car or send me a stock prado bumper including the support(don't care about the colour).
I haven't heard anything back yet but just thought i would post this up and get some ideas from fellow prado pointers.

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Is there a specialist powder coater anywhere nearby. If so I'd just be taking the bar off and getting it powdercoated properly. While it would mean some out of pocket dollars, you should be able to organise to turn it around in acouple of days and at least you know it's been done properly. ARB are just going to use the same prep / application method as they did originally which will yeild the same poor results.
Leachy.

[yammysj Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close yammysj]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

If that is the case, which i thought would probably happen, there is no way i will be buying anything ARB in the future. Too many dollars for inferior products. Will have to do some research into the powder coating.

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

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I bought a Deluxe Winch Bullbar from russell cairns marine and 4x4 as they are the closest arb dealer to me, otherwise it's 4hrs to Melbourne. My bar is 9 months old and has rust appearing in behind the the two uprights that support the tube that runs across the top of the bar, around the inside of the ring that you put your hand through to unlock the clutch on your winch, and in behind the bar or anywhere two pieces of steel are only stitch welded together looks like absolute crap and full of rust.

Very disappointed in the finish of this bar as it has not even been serious off road yet, just the odd unsealed road.

Took it back to them and they agreed it should not be in this condition, and told me to get a quote at a local panel shop and have it forwarded to them so he could then pass it on to an arb rep. This was so i don't have to travel to get the bar fixed, i was stoked at this idea.

Received a phone call a few days ago and no go. :evil: They will only repaint the bar if it is removed and sent back to Melbourne so this leaves me having to pull the bar off and organize freight and something to freight it in, not to mention i won't have a car for the two weeks they said it would take to do the job as the car will be unroadworthy, then i have to refit it once returned.

I have suggested they pay for a hire car or send me a stock prado bumper including the support(don't care about the colour).
I haven't heard anything back yet but just thought i would post this up and get some ideas from fellow prado pointers.

Any response would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Not sure if you've read the entire thread, but mine was swapped for a new bar. ARB head office sent my local branch (Brighton) a brand new colour coded bar and they just swapped it over - took a couple of hours.

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

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I got my delux winch bar on last week decided against colour coding and dont regret it as the new dark grey colour tha they comein is an exact match for the upper part of the side step and mud guards so i am happy and yes my local 4wd guy that did the job reccomended that i not get it colour coded as it will chip anyway i am putting the 300 i saved to an air compressor

[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

Dragging up and old thread.
Before easter this year I noticed rust around the welds on my deluxe bar (colour coded white & 4 months old) above where the number plate mounts (roughly where the winch cable would come out) and at the rear down the bottom looking down with the bonnet open. I rang ARB Moorebank and spoke to Graham. He asked to see the bar and offered to exchange it. He then suggested blasting and re-coating my bar as the new bars have a different fog light/blinker assembly to the IPF ones and seeing as I paid a couple of hundred bucks for this option I would like to keep them and the original bar.
ARB came to my work to remove the bar and install a standard bumper whilst the blasting etc was taking place as it would be a few weeks. I got a call a couple of weeks ago saying my bar was ready but due to various commitments I couldn't get to Moorebank until today to get it fitted. Happy as to have the bar back on just in time for this weekends outing with some fellow PP's as that is where my UHF antenna mounts.
Thanks to Graham for your help

[pajames2 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pajames2]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

Looks like i have joined the ARB colour coded chipped paint bar club, got the white coded ARB deluxe bar fitted on the 21st September and already have a rather large 5-7mm chip through the paint to the metal. I haven't driven over any rough/gravel roads so who knows where i picked it up from. I rang ARB and their response was 'get some touch up paint'. Not happy Jan !!

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

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

Did you ring ARB Head Office or just speak to your local outlet?

[pajames2 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pajames2]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I ave done both, rang the local installer and have since been in e-mail contact with ARB head office. They at this stage are indicating it's accidental damage and not necessarily a fault with the paint application. Will post here once i get an answer on any remedies from them.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

There was a brand new 200 Series Sahara in the car park at work today. Looked like it had $10K worth of ARB gear fitted. I noticed and interesting mod to the colour coded bar.

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

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I noticed and interesting mod to the colour coded bar.

I've seen a few silver/chrome Alloy bars running around on all sorts of 4x4s with the same modification. Trying to stop headlight glare being reflected back at the driver.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

I noticed and interesting mod to the colour coded bar.

I've seen a few silver/chrome Alloy bars running around on all sorts of 4x4s with the same modification. Trying to stop headlight glare being reflected back at the driver.

Yup, I've seen it on alloy bars before but never an ARB bar

[Mainevent Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mainevent]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I'm currently in debate over the powder coat or paint finish. Has any one got any upto date info on how their painted bars are holding up. Are the guys who got theirs replaced happy with what they got. Also is it safe to assume that the quality of the paint job will vary depending on where the bar was bought as the work is contracted out?

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

Depends on the painter. My first colour coded bar would chip when I hit an insect. My current colour coded bar is much tougher and has held up well.

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

Re: ARB Bar chipped n rusty. 1 month old, not been off-road yet!

As the guy, who started this thread I should probably chip in too... no pun intended... :wink:

The first bar was a fiasco as you might have gathered. Now the second one has been on for well over a year and has seen action-a-plenty. Bottom line, it's pretty damn good. Got ONE tiny little chip on one of the two vertical braces at the front of the bar, which in all reality isn't too bad.

Don't forget, the bar is powdercoated before the paint goes on in any case, so the paint's really an 'extra layer'. Might even be an idea to mention this to ABR beforehand... "I was thinking of getting it colour coded, but have heard some horror stories, so can you please make sure it doesn't get done at quarter to five on a Friday arvo..."

Bottom line - I'm happy I got it painted. The extra couple of hundred bucks, in the scheme of things, isn't that bad. But hey, each to their own.

I'd also be interested to hear how other's colour coded are holding up.