Why fit a bull bar?

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

I'm not sure where to put this question but since we've got a facelift 150 GXL I figured this was as good a spot as any.

At the moment our Prado doesn't have a bullbar. I've been eyeing off an AFN bullbar with their EOFY sale but I'm not really sure why people fit them. I guess I've got 2 days to decide before the price goes up.

Why does everyone say you need a bullbar?

I understand that they are good for mounting lights, winches & antennas on. Looking at the factory bumper bar I am fairly sure I can put a light bar on it without too much trouble. But if I'm going to get a bull bar soon I don't want to drill holes in the factory one because it will reduce it's resale value (assuming it has any). I can put a UHF antenna on the bonnet edge.

I understand that they are good for animal strikes - but how common are they? Looking back over my 25+ years of 4wd'ing I have (touch wood) only hit one or two small animals, neither doing any damage. Most of my explorations so far have been along the east coast - I haven't headed west of the Great Dividing Range much (apart from down to the snowy mountains) and the Hume Highway to Melbourne.

I also get that they make the car look tough. But on the downside they injure pedestrians more and, like most cars, ours spends a lot of time in the city each week.

My dad doesn't think they are necessary - he's been all over the place on 3+ month trips. He's done the Simpson a few times, Canning Stock Route, Kimberly's, etc all in a stock 120 Prado with no mods other than extra batteries for the fridge. He doesn't drive much at dusk/night - they have usually set up camp well before that. He's definitely not the one to go to for encouragement to upgrade the car :-)

If I get a bullbar my understanding is that I'll need to get new suspension at some point to cope with the extra 44kgs on the front. So I have to factor that into the budget as well.

Over the next year we're planning to head out to Innamincka & Cameron's Corner, Fraser Island and the Victorian High Country. Most of the time we'll be set up camp by dusk - we've got 3 kids so getting in late each night isn't ideal. But there will be a few late nights heading to Cameron's Corner on the way out/back to chew up some distance while the kids are asleep.

What a ramble - sorry. Back to the question - why get a bullbar?

[jonoxplor Member Find all posts View Profile Close jonoxplor]

Many reasons! To protect the occupants of the car in the case of an animal strike (I've hit my far share). To protect the front end of the vehicle when 4wding, including increased approach angles. It allows me a rated place to mount my winch, as well as my lights and UHF. It also connects to my scrub bars.

When I did hit my first roo I was glad I had a bullbar, in that moment if I did not have a bullbar on the front of my vehicle, It would have ended my trip and I would have been stranded far from home with an expensive repair bill.

Here is an example of what can happen when a roo rolls over the front of your vehicle and through the windscreen, I'd do everything I can to prevent it.
https://www.facebook.com/mel.clarke....22349047839457

[Ian Reid Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Reid]

Why fit a bull bar?

It is very likely that the roo in that link would have come through the windscreen anyway, if you hit one when he is mid hop he may not even hit a bullbar that is the end result.
I have hit a few with bull bars and a couple of good solid hits definitely would have resulted in panel damage, one bent the top bar of the centre loop so i am certain that would have meant a new bonnet but also likely grill and possibly radiator. Like Jono said expensive repair bill and being stranded is something to try to avoid. Bullbars don't guarantee impunity but certainly can help
Unfortunately roos dont only go out at night so being in camp by 3pm doesnt guarantee you wont get one. Some of my best strikes have been during the middle hours of the day as i tend to slow down a bit i the dusk to dawn hours
Cheers


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[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

I'm not sure everyone says you have to get one.

There's plenty of tourists in cars and caravans driving the outback tourist routes who don't. There's also locals who don't. But there are also plenty of locals who do. But if you hit a roo would you rather have one or not have one?

Besides protection there are the other reasons to get one already listed. Do those apply to you?

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

I lived and drove in the country for 20 years without one and a bunch of mates up north don't have them either. But it is a matter of luck, I did hit a roo on my motorbike many years ago and luckily walked away.

Last year a mate with one of the Aluminium Toyota roo bars hit a roo and the bar did more damage than if he hadn't haf one.

Having said that if I was regularly driving dawn/dusk/night in the bush I'd probably get a roo bar.

I'd like to see a "bull bar", the cattle I've seen on the road would go straight through most of the bars I've seen.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

If you just fit a bullbar to mount lights then you are wasting your money. I have mine to use as a scrub bar and any incidental contact with light animals. It also improves approach angle significantly and takes a knock far better than stock plastic. If you want a winch a bar is the easiest choice though there are a few guys with winches behind the stock bumper. A bullbar isn't a mandatory fitment item.

Fit what you need not what everyone tells you to fit.

[gspy4u Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gspy4u]

mines for a winch, so i can at least pull others out :-)

[wifecallsmegrumpy Member Find all posts View Profile Close wifecallsmegrumpy]

I don't have one for those exact reasons. Travelling to coral bay, Denham, south west coast etc, I have never hit a roo, don't plan on using the car as a bush bulldozer, majority of 4 wheeling is on sand so a winch is useless. Then I work 48 weeks of the year so dragging around an extra 44kgs, plus winch, plus upgrading suspension didn't make sense. The car still looks good in my opinion.

I do wish I needed one, because that would mean I was out of this damn office.

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

I have a standard toyota one (ugly as anything) but im fitting one purely so i can fit a winch..I need the winch for work dragging logs around on my property more than pulling out stuck cars so its a practicality thing. Hence ill be going with the lightest type i can find....on that anyone know what a tjm T3 weighs vs the standard toyota 150 one?

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I have a T3 and it isn't far short of a T13 so not comparable to an alloy bar I suspect. Not that heavy though, nothing like the winch bar on #1's Patrol.

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

If I get a bullbar my understanding is that I'll need to get new suspension at some point to cope with the extra 44kgs on the front. So I have to factor that into the budget as well.

I think this has been in other topics but i cant find it I don't know if my maths is correct, someone please correct me if i am wrong. The AFN Bullbar is 44kg, the parts you cut off and remove to add the bar weight ~15kg. You are only really adding 30kg ish to the car as it is now. The stock Toyota alloy is 25kg? When Toyota fit the alloy they do not upgrade the shocks from my understanding. So in real terms you are only adding ~20kg over someone that has a Toyota bullbar with stock shocks.

There's really no reason to look at the shocks. If you also start adding a winch or dual battery you most certainly will need to look at the shocks as it all adds up. You might want to change the shocks as the car will handle a little different but its by no means a necessity.

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

i know someone who has an arb bar on a stock prado 150 and its fine....no wallowing, doesn't site down at the front etc...

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

Oooh you have any pics? just tried to search you profile for one and failed

[150gxl Member Find all posts View Profile Close 150gxl]

Hi Peter,

Over the next year we're planning to head out to Innamincka & Cameron's Corner, Fraser Island and the Victorian High Country. Most of the time we'll be set up camp by dusk - we've got 3 kids so getting in late each night isn't ideal. But there will be a few late nights heading to Cameron's Corner on the way out/back to chew up some distance while the kids are asleep.

1. On the basis of your statement, the main reason I would get one is to minimise the risk of having the vehicle disabled in a remote region - especially if I had children on board.
Whether a roo, emu, goat etc comes over the bonnet or not is debatable but the risk of going through the radiators or coolers in the front of the vehicle, is a very real risk. It can also be another vehicle pulling out in front of you unexpectedly, illegally, in a remote township.

2. I reckon my bull bar has saved me a few windscreens over the years as well. There are significant scores in the bar where stones and rocks have been deflected, after being thrown up, usually by B doubles etc., on the Newell and other highways.

3. As an aside, we went to Lawn Hill some years ago in a vehicle without a bull bar. The ABS did save us from striking a roo but the standard plastic bumper bar of the vehicle had to be resprayed after the trip. The gravel thrown up by other vehicles simply "sand-blasted" the standard bumper bar. That was a few hundred dollars wasted there on paint instead of sherbets or camp fees! The vehicle was not a Prado but the Prado standard bar is very similar. I'd be interestred to see if Prados without bull bars, have stone chipped front bumpers - i.e. Prados who venture out of the cities. The ones I see out there seem to have bull bars.

With the other reasons people have mentioned in the "for" case, I know I will always fit a bull bar and I'm currently on my fifth ECB Alloy bar. They are lighter than the steel bars but very well made, locally. They have extra protective deflector plates below the bumper bar section, sloping back toward the body, which deflect the stones, branches, whatever.

I know my reasons 2. and 3. are very personal because I've never seen anyone mention them before LOL.
Reason number 1. is the one you have to decide upon as being legitimate or not. Are you going to be as lucky as those who say they've driven millions of kays without ever hitting anything - or having anything hit them??

HTH's

[wsp Member Find all posts View Profile Close wsp]

We live in the outback. I wouldn't NOT have a bar on the car. I have a mate who thought a bullbar was a waste of time and money. One encounter with a calf left him with a repair bill well over the cost of a steel bar. We have been lucky in our travels, only a few animal strikes. The work Prado had an ARB bar and stock suspension. It handled well, couldn't fault it. Our good Prado has everything on it. You could live without a bar but it only takes one mishap that could leave you stranded in whoop whoop. We look at it like insurance; you hope you will never use it, but if you do you'll be glad you have one.