2021 Prado bullbar ?

[Hardaker694 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Hardaker694]

Gday blokes, just placed an order for a 2021 build Prado. Due for delivery around July/august . Looking to put a bullbar on but open to options ?? What bars do people find best and is there any other brand other then the big ones ARB TJM etc. also any other must do add ons ? Cheers

[Prada Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prada]

We bought a 2020 GXL in December and pondered the same question. I'm old school Fourby, with a history including a Hilux and a Defender. OK, who hasn't ever made ONE mistake? Previous car was a live axle 100 series with steel bullbar and winch. I've lived in the bush, written off one vehicle to a kangaroo hit and narrowly missed seeing what a large bull would do to my Citroen CX. So please no lectures about how everyone outside the city needs a bullbar. Leave that for ARB.

New Prado is a different fish: much more weight sensitive and lots of safety gizmos, like adaptive radar controlled cruise control and lane departure assist in addition to more airbags than the Glad factory. It's a lovely wagon but not as simple and rugged as its older brothers.

My research and experience has indicated that bullbars give vehicle protection from small animal strikes (not bulls or their girlfriends) but compromise passenger safety in the event of a major prang. I'd rather compromise the vehicle than the occupants. I'm not convinced about after market accessories being crash tested.

All this doesn't marry well for a new Prado with a big bullbar mounted with winch, spotties, antennae, water bag, fishing rod holders, etc. If you need a winch for hard core off roading there's no option, but I think that you might have bought the wrong vehicle.

Our decision for what its worth was to rule out hard core trips with the Prada Prado and rig it for long distance touring on less demanding tracks. We only have a Toyota alloy nudge bar on the front. Radio is mounted on a Koen backet on rear spare wheel. No spotties yet, as OEM LED lights are quite good and now I don't need to drive much at night and don't wish to be too tempted. I still feel a bit naked driving Prada on a country road, but hope that I'll get used to the new reality.

Good luck and please keep us posted with your decision. Cheers

[watsea Member Find all posts View Profile Close watsea]

I sort of went part the way that Prada did, expect I opted for a Toyota alloy bar.
With a previous Prado Series 90, I had alloy bar that I acquired cheaply from a panel beater. Almost brand new when I got it. However, I engaged with a roo early on the second morning of a month long travelling holiday. Bar was damaged but fortunately not the rest of the vehicle and we continued with our holiday. No more driving at Roo o'clock.
Anyway, we did not want the new Prado weight compromised as we tow a van. OEM bar meets Toyota's ADR safety requirements (apparently), so I went with that.
A friend had a Prado with a strong bar on the front. Their vehicle struck something on the side of the bar while slowly reversing and turning. The bar was so strong that there was major expensive damage. Their new vehicle is an Everest with no bar.

A few posts on this forum about Smart Bars as well. Good luck with your research.

[peterdsdoyle Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close peterdsdoyle]

I am in the same predicament waiting on my new Prado 2021, am concerned about the weight (saying goes gets heavy 1 gram at a time ). I am tossing up between the ARB Alloy and TJM alloy bar there is also the (light) AFN steel bar am skeptical as to the quality of it but like the idea that it does not require a bumper cut.

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

I'm not convinced that a bull bar / roo bar is really worth it. Ask yourself: "how many of my kilometres am I going to be able to benefit from the protection vs. the risk?". A significant expense and, if you actually use it by hitting an animal, something is going to bend anyway.

Having said that, my 2016 GX came (second-hand) with an aluminium bull bar. It "looks good" but I wonder if the bull bar's popularity is just the image that people want.

[gunda Member Find all posts View Profile Close gunda]

I'm someone else with a 2021 model on order, and also wondering about a bar. How much of my payload am I prepared to invest in one, if any? In light of the above discussion I have a couple of questions.

1. You can argue the advantages and disadvantages of a bar in general, but are you seriously telling me that that addition of some advanced safety features has somehow turned the Prado from a capable off-roader into a delicate little flower that can't handle one ? I get that a bar has not to interfere with the operation of the airbags, but the rest off the safety features mentioned ... seriously?

2. Forgetting about how it looks, has anyone considered a Smart Bar? I know that there are already a number of threads here about it, but nothing recent that I've noticed.

[Not Enough Time Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Not Enough Time]

Yes I am in the same position (one scheduled to arrive late June theoretically). I occasionally drive in roo areas at night, have hit about 1 a year for past several years so highly likely will get one. 90% certain I will get a SmartBar as the additional net weight from memory is sub 30kg. I've had two SmartBars over the past 500 000km, for me they work. Price is comparable to ARB steel Bar (fitted), only downside is they look ugly and now only come in black. I have to hang driving lights off something, may as well be a roo bar.

[NRWA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close NRWA]

Does anyone know if the Toyota alloy bullbar can take a winch? Or would messing around with mounting options make it a waste of time?

[franco1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close franco1]

Hi All,
I bought the 2020 model Prado and installed the OEM Bullbar. It looks good and is light weight but be aware that you cannot fit Recovery Points to the OEM Bullbar. You could with all their previous models but not this one. Not sure why Toyota did this and I'm still waiting for a response to my numerous emails to them about it. I would recommend going with anything but the Toyota OEM Bullbar if you need to fit recovery points. If you're just after a nice looking bar that offers some protection then it will be fine

[watsea Member Find all posts View Profile Close watsea]

I have a 2019 Prado GXL. It looks pretty much similar to the new model. I have a Toyota alloy bullbar.
It is likely that you can fit Road Safe recovery points. I fitted a set that are direct copy to my vehicle.
Road Safe YouTube available too.
Here is some info
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=r...fu1Uj5GEa-jRDM

Edit- currently there are recent posts about Road Safe recovery points in the Body/ Chassis (150 series) section of this Forum

[21gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 21gxl]

We went with ARB summit bar steel colour coded as it seems they have done much R&D and safety testing. Dealerships also seem to have a connection with them that allows you to have all the crap mounted even prior to pick up not that we did. It seems to also be that with ARB gear the vehicle warranty may be less affected than with other manufacturers although this is probably BS and they will blame everything on the “aftermarket bar”
Handling seems essentially the same, much less affected than what we thought might be with 70kg of steel on the front, all safety systems are normal with no activations no issues at all really.

Am worried about reports of cracking guards on Prados with heavy bars, hope for the best I guess. Is this a thing really?

[21gxl Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 21gxl]

Summit bar

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

I have a 2021 Prado and had the ECB fitted. Had one on a Captiva when weight at the front was a consideration.
The one on the Prado does not interfere with any of the new gadgetry. And if it has to be alloy, I like the black look.
Must admit that a friend has a new Triton with a black nudge bar. That certainly would push roos out of the way.

[rov Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close rov]

looking at a nudge bar - do not want the weight penalty, little issues with roos where I am and need somewhere to put the lights.
On another note, my old school toyota had a full bar with side bars - Hit plenty without vehicle damage.

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

I am looking at the offroad animal Toro bullbar, their website says it weighs 62kg.
I like the idea of it, as it includes two recovery points, you can install a light bar within it's frame, and you can fit a winch at a later date, without removing the bar, and it comes with a flip up license plate holder (all extra expenses on other bars).

I watched the guy from Fire to Fork, and he has one.