ARB Deluxe Bar, perhaps...

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

I picked up a ARB Deluxe bar for the Prado recently after a little bingle. It looks great, from a distance.

Two gripes, the first being the gap between the bar and the grille and headlights. Its excessive and the boys at ARB said its 'acceptable' at 25 mm. Its a 2001 TD with no airbags, yet I see that the mounts have the compression folds in them, which begs the question of whether this bar they have installed is actuallly suited for my vehicle. Do they make non-airbag and air-bag bars for 2001 model Prados?

The second gripe is the colour coding, its paper thin and I'm glad I didn't pay for it myself. Its flaking off already and scratches so easily down to the black powdercoat, I'm surprised they don't just give you a couple of pressure packs to do the job yourself. I would definitely recommend avoiding ARB doing it and get it done by a panel shop if you want it to last. To further my opinion, my old man has had an deluxe bar fitted to his 100 series and it is flaking already after only two months. So much for getting what you pay for?

Reidy

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

Reidy,

If you are not happy with the paint job, take it back. Ask them to look at it.

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

Two gripes, the first being the gap between the bar and the grille and headlights. Its excessive and the boys at ARB said its 'acceptable' at 25 mm. Its a 2001 TD with no airbags, yet I see that the mounts have the compression folds in them, which begs the question of whether this bar they have installed is actuallly suited for my vehicle. Do they make non-airbag and air-bag bars for 2001 model Prados?

25mm gap is probably a bit excessive. A gap between 10mm and 15mm is needed to stop the bar from fouling on the body when the Prado suspension is flexed, off road. As Roo said, you can easily adjust the height by loosening the 6 bolts that hold the bar to the brackets. Be warned that the forward most bolts on each bracket are a PITA to get to and I needed a 5" and a 10", 1/2" drive extension, and a uni-joint in the mix, to get my ratchet on it.

I believe ARB only make airbag compliant bars for the 90 series now. I had an airbag compliant bar for 00-02 models on my 97 model. I don't believe it poses any problems.

Here are some pics showing the gap between my bar and the body for comparison.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

I also forgot to mention that its square with the passenger flare and not the drivers side, it sticks out by about 15 mm. Roo, the Xrox bar looks cool, but not really to my taste though. I don't think the insurance company would have approved it either haha!

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

I also forgot to mention that its square with the passenger flare and not the drivers side, it sticks out by about 15 mm.

Has your Prado been in an accident? It may not be the bar's fault, the body may not be straight. You can easily measure the distance from the mounting bracket to the tip of the wing on the bar to see if its symmetrical.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Has your Prado been in an accident? It may not be the bar's fault, the body may not be straight. You can easily measure the distance from the mounting bracket to the tip of the wing on the bar to see if its symmetrical.

Yeah that's how I got the new bar. Got a punch on the passenger side of the old bar. I didn't think it would be enough to bend the mounts though?

Reidy

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

Yeah that's how I got the new bar. Got a punch on the passenger side of the old bar. I didn't think it would be enough to bend the mounts though?

Reidy

Just take some measurements of the bullbar and you'll know for sure.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Just take some measurements of the bullbar and you'll know for sure.

Good idea, I might just do that. Thanks williade

Reidy

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I was collected on the front left hand side by an idiot driver who didn't know the rules of driving on a roundabout. I found out the true extent of the damage when TJM fitted my new bullbar. The front of the chassis rails are slightly missaligned now & TJM couldn't fit the bar themselves as it was too difficult after a lot of effort trying. They had to get a reputable smash repairer to do it. They used up all the adjustment room on one side of the bar to get it to look like it's straight. You can notice it very slightly when looking for it that one side sits slightly lower to the body of the vehicle than the other. Once again, my wonderful insurance company of 15 years didn't want to know about it.

But a few months later and some rough roads in the mean time, it hasn't budged one little bit.

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

I received a phone call from ARB today in regards to this post, which I was quite surprised about! Marcus at ARB Canberra has offered to have a look at the vehicle at my convenience. It's good to see that they are listening on forums like this. I'm very impressed, hopefully I'll get the issues sorted out shortly!

Reidy

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Well I finally got to the follow up done with my deluxe bar at ARB Fyshwick. I dropped the car in this morning and later this afternoon, the manager Marcus offered to show me the bar on the vehicle whilst it was on the hoist and show me the work that had been done. They had made the bar fit a heap better, painted the paneling under the lights black so it looked schmick, refitted the winch with a new modified offset fairlead, rerouted the winch wiring, reinforced the bar mounts with bolts the panel beater had missed and put protective clear tape on the wings under the flares to prevent the paint rubbing off. Marcus is organising some touch up paint locally to keep the bar in good knick too. He also explained why the bar didn't line up perfectly and we both agreed that it certainly wasn't the bar that was to blame, rather the variation in the 90 series models over the years and some body to chassis movement over the life of the vehicle.

What did I pay for this you ask? Zilch.

Happy? Absolutely! Marcus and his team were fantastic, considering they were essentially fixing up someone else's mistakes (maybe one or two my own...) for nothing. I will be returning.

Reidy

[Matty80 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Matty80]

Good to hear that your issues have been resolved, and you are satisfied with the result...

[Mmigalllo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mmigalllo]

RE: the peeling paint on the ARB bar. I'm looking for a bar for my 2009 Prado and was thinking of the color coded ARB deluxe. Perhaps an alloy TJM might be a better bet?

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

That's awesome news and such excellent customer service. You'd keep going back to the same store to buy the rest of your gear with service like that. Good for you

[reida1991 Member Find all posts View Profile Close reida1991]

Just save yourself the money by buying the bar in standard black. Its tough and easy to touch up. If I had my time again this is the way I'd go. The colour coding is one coat and thin, the only thing I'm really dissapointed in really. Option two, buy the bar and get a spray painter to do the job properly and then get it fitted. Probably end up a little more expensive but at least you know its done right.

I would never buy alloy after my accident, it just squishes!

Reidy