Why fit a bull bar?

[Symo]

My Bullbar is to intimidate drivers doing 80-90k in a hundred zone in the right lane & pit manoeuvre if required.

I know your type, I find the 2014 emergency brake assist is especially enjoyable to test out in these conditions which flashes the brake lights rapidly while the car applies maximum brake pressure to stop the vehicle. Only for a second or two then watch in amusement as the intimidator wets their pants and nearly skids off the road to the same direction as the road camber.

Never gets old, and solves the problem straight away.

[Anth120playdo]

My Bullbar is to intimidate drivers doing 80-90k in a hundred zone in the right lane & pit manoeuvre if required.

[Heath74]

There's lots of accessories that we put on our 4WDs that you could debate long and hard about the 'need' for. The need for a bullbar is , for mine, predicated on the likelihood of animal strikes most common at dawn and dusk. I'd debate that anyone who says they can avoid travelling at dawn and dusk completely, has limited experience on the bush our outback, or just had a very lucky run!. The conditions of some of our most travelled roads such as the Birdsville track, the Strezlecki, and the Oodnadatta to name a few can change so significantly that travel times can be blown out quickly. I've driven these tracks when they are a beautiful smooth hard packed highway, a boggy slop hole, or once dried out full of ruts left by tyres through the wet mud. I've driven them when the corrigations are so bad you need to stop regularly to cool shock. A flat tyre, a servo out of fuel, a spot of rain, bull dust patches, stopping to order a pub lunch that takes longer than expected, a damaged roof rack that needs a bush repair, the list goes on. You can often find the best laid plans go out the window and your carefully planned 3.00 pm arrival becomes a 6 or 7 pm arrival very easily. So when people tell me they don't need a bull bar because they avoid travelling at dawn or dusk, I always raise an eyebrow.

Driving such roads at dawn and dusk without some protection is not fun or enjoyable, its very stressful, particularly at the end of a longer than expected day, kids can be hungry and wives angry!!! and we are all out there to enjoy ourselves, so if you are planning to travel in the outback, I'd be fitting a bulbar.

[peter_mcc]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the comments - I've been a bit quiet because we've been away for the week (got to drive on Stockton Beach, NSW one day!).

I've ordered a AFN bar and will pay for it tomorrow. They had a special EOFY deal which is what pushed the decision to the front.

Reading the comments the one that impacted me the most (no pun intended!) was the chance of hitting an animal and being able to drive on. For day-day stuff in the city that's not a big issue. But on holidays where we are a long way from home that could make a big difference. I'd hate to spend days waiting in the middle of nowhere for someone to come and tow the car & camper away.

It also gives me somewhere to put the light bar & UHF ariel :-)

Thanks for everyone's comments.

[Symo]

Why fit a bull bar?

I made my decision based on:

Decent bullbar$2500
Insurance excess with hire car option excess $500

That five catastrophic animal strikes to break even per bullbar, so far I am three 4WDs and $7500 in front.

Unless you need the winch, or off-road advantages it's mostly a want item.


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[wsp]

Given a majority of Prado's would be comprehensively insured, is this an issue? I've read plenty of threads about steel bull bars being replaced by insurance. I wouldn't imagine any post animal-strike cars are repaired by insurance for less than your excess, bar or bar-less.

Just for your information yes it was insured, he still had to pay the excess. He was without a car for around 1.5 months and the insurance company would only pay X amount towards the transportation of the vehicle 3000km return to their repairer so he was out of pocket well over the price of the cost of a bar that would of saved the car needing repairs plus no vehicle for 1.5 months. The joys of travelling or living remote.

[SimpleSi]

I suspect there's a few red herrings in the replies here, and in my mind, there's just the one reason to fit a bar (fitting an ARB steel bar in a couple of weeks).

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

Quite clearly, a bar would have made almost no difference there. Roo in question clearly airborne, and photos show no damage on the bar-less bumper.

One encounter with a calf left him with a repair bill well over the cost of a steel bar.

Given a majority of Prado's would be comprehensively insured, is this an issue? I've read plenty of threads about steel bull bars being replaced by insurance. I wouldn't imagine any post animal-strike cars are repaired by insurance for less than your excess, bar or bar-less.

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.

That's it for me. 7500km trip coming up, and I'd rather not be stranded on the Plenty highway with a bung radiator. If I was on my own with 6 months off work, and nowhere to be, then perhaps I wouldn't bother.

[chappy]

I live 80k' wa from wsp in tom price and I have always had a roo bar fitted to my vehicles and have experienced a few animal strikes in the past I've also wittnessed the consequences of another vehicle not equipped with a roo bar comming off second best after hitting a roo, the family in that car came out
off it okay but they could have been strandard if it wasn't for us and and a family travelling from Para hadn't happened along

[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.

[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

[retroenduro]

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

[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...

[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.

[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.

[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?