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5th September 2014, 05:45 PM
#1
Patrol Freak
Steel vs alloy
Hi all
I was wondering what sort of bullbar is better at protecting the patrols chassis if you hit a tree or log or what ever. I'm mainly curious to those who have steel bullbars and have hit things front on fairly hard and whether this has caused damage/bends to the front chassis. I'm guessing that the alloy bars would offer a little bit of flexibility with regards to front end strikes, but I don't have any first hand experience so I'm curious to what everyone else thinks.
Cheers
Andy
IMO and should be taken with a grain of salt.
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5th September 2014 05:45 PM
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5th September 2014, 05:48 PM
#2
BIG & BALD
Originally Posted by
Parksy
Hi all I was wondering what sort of bullbar is better at protecting the patrols chassis if you hit a tree or log or what ever. I'm mainly curious to those who have steel bullbars and have hit things front on fairly hard and whether this has caused damage/bends to the front chassis. I'm guessing that the alloy bars would offer a little bit of flexibility with regards to front end strikes, but I don't have any first hand experience so I'm curious to what everyone else thinks. Cheers Andy
The alloy bars crumple like a can. Steel bars not so much.
2011 GU8 ST 3.0 CRD, ARB Bullbar with IPF spotties, scrub bars and side steps, Snorkel, Dual Battery system, Waeco fridge, Turbo Timer, ARB Roof Rack with 5 IPF spotties across the front, Custom full Leather Bucket seats, DPchip, 3" Taipan exhaust, ARE Intercooler & scoop, Autron EGT/Boost and dual volt gauges, ARB front locker.
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Parksy (5th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 05:49 PM
#3
Legendary
Don't hit anything hard ..... best solution
I have always used Steel Bars due to the fact I have always done a lot of country / outback miles, and believe that they offer best all round package
GU PATROL 2011 Ti, with goodies...
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Parksy (5th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 06:07 PM
#4
BIG & BALD
Originally Posted by
happygu
Don't hit anything hard .....
Great advise, I'll keep that in mind, next time a tree is coming for me.
2011 GU8 ST 3.0 CRD, ARB Bullbar with IPF spotties, scrub bars and side steps, Snorkel, Dual Battery system, Waeco fridge, Turbo Timer, ARB Roof Rack with 5 IPF spotties across the front, Custom full Leather Bucket seats, DPchip, 3" Taipan exhaust, ARE Intercooler & scoop, Autron EGT/Boost and dual volt gauges, ARB front locker.
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5th September 2014, 06:30 PM
#5
Patrol Freak
I'm not really concerned with the actual bar whether it crumples or not, but the effect on the chassis. I'm curious in anyone who has had a solid front end hit with their steel bar and whether it has caused any chassis damage or whether it can take a beating.
IMO and should be taken with a grain of salt.
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5th September 2014, 06:44 PM
#6
Moderator
Yes I hit a tree in my GUIV. At maybe 20kmh. Was a decent hit but not enough to set the air bag off.
The factory steel bar bent into the bonnet.
An alloy would have taken a much bigger hit I reckon and crumpled further.
I pulled the bar straight with the winch and drove home. On the rack I had bent the chassis 10mm out of whack and the final bill via insurance was $9,000. Upgraded to an ARB Delux winch bar through the claim for the win.
Steel bar every day of the week!
An Alloy. Bar is Bling and decoration. No real protection in my opinion.
Its a Nissan! =====> Its a Keeper!! ....... Got a TD42 in it BONUS!!
....... I'm a lucky bugger! I've got 2 of em!
Check out my Toy -->
MudRunnerTD's GQ From the Ground Up
Originally Posted by
Rogue Dung Beetle
Wish it was Nissan though, Toyotas just can't keep up with the Pootrol pace.
The only good thing about an 80 series is..... the front end?? Wrong!!, the Engine?? Wrong!! the Full Time 4WD system?? Wrong!! Its the NissanPatrol.com.au stubby holder fitted over the transfer lever.
WARNING: Towballs used for recoveries can, and do kill people and damage property.
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MEGOMONSTER (5th September 2014), Parksy (5th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 06:48 PM
#7
Moderator
Last edited by MudRunnerTD; 5th September 2014 at 08:37 PM.
Its a Nissan! =====> Its a Keeper!! ....... Got a TD42 in it BONUS!!
....... I'm a lucky bugger! I've got 2 of em!
Check out my Toy -->
MudRunnerTD's GQ From the Ground Up
Originally Posted by
Rogue Dung Beetle
Wish it was Nissan though, Toyotas just can't keep up with the Pootrol pace.
The only good thing about an 80 series is..... the front end?? Wrong!!, the Engine?? Wrong!! the Full Time 4WD system?? Wrong!! Its the NissanPatrol.com.au stubby holder fitted over the transfer lever.
WARNING: Towballs used for recoveries can, and do kill people and damage property.
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The Following User Says Thank You to MudRunnerTD For This Useful Post:
Parksy (5th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 07:08 PM
#8
BIG & BALD
Originally Posted by
MudRunnerTD
Yes I hit a tree in my GUIV. At maybe 20kmh. Was a decent hit but not enough to set the air bag off. The factory steel bar bent into the bonnet. An alloy would have taken a much bigger hit I reckon and crumpled further. I pulled the bar straight with the winch and drove home. On the rack I had bent the chassis 10mm out of whack and the final bill via insurance was $9,000. Upgraded to an ARB Delux winch bar through the claim for the win. Steel bar every day of the week! An Alloy. Bar is Bling and decoration. No real protection in my opinion.
Gee at 20kph, is almost a hard shunt and it bent the chassis. Wow.
So to Parksy original question, an alloy bar would cause more exterior damage but possibly less chassis damage.
2011 GU8 ST 3.0 CRD, ARB Bullbar with IPF spotties, scrub bars and side steps, Snorkel, Dual Battery system, Waeco fridge, Turbo Timer, ARB Roof Rack with 5 IPF spotties across the front, Custom full Leather Bucket seats, DPchip, 3" Taipan exhaust, ARE Intercooler & scoop, Autron EGT/Boost and dual volt gauges, ARB front locker.
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Parksy (6th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 07:28 PM
#9
Moderator
Originally Posted by
MEGOMONSTER
Gee at 20kph, is almost a hard shunt and it bent the chassis. Wow.
So to Parksy original question, an alloy bar would cause more exterior damage but possibly less chassis damage.
Yeah I hit the tree square on directly in front of the drivers side chassis end. Bang on. I think the Alloy would have crumpled further and still hit the chassis. You can see by the pics that the bar went back a fair way, maybe 6" at least. Was able to pull it out pretty easy though.
I was shocked that the chassis was bent to be honest! Went to the first panel beater and he got under the car with his point to point tool and said he couldn't fix it cause it was 10mm out and there was only 1 repairer in Geelong that still had a Rack that could handle a conventional Chassis like the Patrol.
Its a Nissan! =====> Its a Keeper!! ....... Got a TD42 in it BONUS!!
....... I'm a lucky bugger! I've got 2 of em!
Check out my Toy -->
MudRunnerTD's GQ From the Ground Up
Originally Posted by
Rogue Dung Beetle
Wish it was Nissan though, Toyotas just can't keep up with the Pootrol pace.
The only good thing about an 80 series is..... the front end?? Wrong!!, the Engine?? Wrong!! the Full Time 4WD system?? Wrong!! Its the NissanPatrol.com.au stubby holder fitted over the transfer lever.
WARNING: Towballs used for recoveries can, and do kill people and damage property.
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to MudRunnerTD For This Useful Post:
MEGOMONSTER (5th September 2014), Parksy (6th September 2014)
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5th September 2014, 08:33 PM
#10
Airbags shouldn't go off till above 60-65kph in a direct hit or so the police and fire rescue told me while they were cutting a woman out of a car I t-boned after she pulled out in front of me. That hit was around 50-55 kph and pushed my tjm t13 steel bar back and punctured both tyres and damaged both rims and the new bull bar never sat the same as the chassis was bent and the holes needed to be elongated to fit.
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Parksy (6th September 2014)