The best overall Bull Bar. ? ?? ?

[Alak]

While were on the subject of ARB, wheres the best place to buy from? Prices range in $500 differences all over the net.

[XtremeMarine]

Alak; I love the D44 bumpers, I just can't justify the 2:1 exchange rate, or the pricey shipping.

[Alak]

Originally Posted by XtremeMarine

Alak; I love the D44 bumpers, I just can't justify the 2:1 exchange rate, or the pricey shipping.

Yeah. It would cost $700CDN plus I donno shipping because they havent got back to me yet. A fella here shipped his in a container with a whole bunch of other land rover stuff (for the local land rover club) and he said it worked out to about $250 or so.


Thats almost $1000 not counting the steering guard, and the washer bottle they recommend.

+ The install because Im too busy to do it myself.

Good thing I own a Warn XD9000i already. Wheew.

[Phlawed]

i have to say...none of the above, custom for the win!! pictures of proof by end of april

[ultrrunr]

I'll second that about the custom made deal. I have mine being done now. It should be done by end of March. Pix to follow.

[Wortho]

Alak; I love the D44 bumpers, I just can't justify the 2:1 exchange rate, or the pricey shipping.

When my wife and i went over to Pommoglia a couple of years ago it was 3:1 for us, that really hurt. We hired a bike and did a lap of England(didn't take long) it didn't sound expensive until we converted after that we just stopped thinking about it. Great country, the further out of London we got the nicer people were.

[Expedition Nutter]

I see people talking about the ARB not being too good. However I have yet to see an ARB bumper get mangled. Not the case with Rovertym. A local guy here had a Rovertym on his Disco and the front end was trashed in a minor fender bender. I wasn't impressed - the vehicle was totalled by the insurance company.

[XtremeMarine]

I'd like to see what you call minor? My guess is that the RTE bumper was so good, that it protected the truck enough to "look" minor. But the frame probably still got twisted. And a twisted frame on an AWD vehicle almost always means totalling.
I've seen RTE's used to hit everything, push everything, and demolish everything. Main reason I'm buying one someday. They're built way over the top, and service from RTE is number one.

[cellulararrest]

The reason you hear people talking badly about the ARB is it's approach angle. Sure it looks the best and may be the "toughest", when you come up to a rock ledge... you'll wish you had an RTE.

I've heard mixed reviews of the TJM, but mostly that the access to the winch is ridiculous and negates any strength it may have.

[Expedition Nutter]

Originally Posted by XtremeMarine

I'd like to see what you call minor? My guess is that the RTE bumper was so good, that it protected the truck enough to "look" minor. But the frame probably still got twisted. And a twisted frame on an AWD vehicle almost always means totalling.
I've seen RTE's used to hit everything, push everything, and demolish everything. Main reason I'm buying one someday. They're built way over the top, and service from RTE is number one.

Here's what happened to his Disco:

RTE bumper was shoved into the hood, Warn winch ended up lodged in radiator.

I don't think it looked minor, but the crash didn't happen at high speeds either. I just don't see those 'blade' style RTE bumpers being as stout as an ARB.

[p76rangie]

If you want something that won't bend, just get a bit of railway track and weld it to the front. What people are failing to take into account is that the bar has be designed to be many things. It has to be tough without adding too much weight. The vehicle builders these days spend a lot of money designing a car to give the best survival rate in high speed crashes. What you don't want is a bull bar that works against such designs. For example, the comment above to remove the crush cans.

ARB are one of the few bull bar manufacturers that are given vehicles before their release so that they can design an appropriate bull bar that will be available with the release of the vehicle. ARB spend a lot of time and engineering on designing a bull bar that works with the rest of the vehicles safety designs.

So don't risk killing yourself at 60mph with a bull bar that is solely designed to deflect rocks at 5mph. I use a lot of ARB gear and find it very good, well designed, well engineered, and manufactured to an appropriate quality.

[slangel]

Well I have an RTE, my rover is also my daily driver, I have also seen other RTE bumpers in wrecks - the other vehicles were smashed and the rover owners all drove theirs home. Yes my RTE has held up well on trails with rocks and such, but I also feel safe and confident if I were in accident my RTE is going to deflect damage. Just my opinion.

I also have seen ARB and TJM both bend significantly on and off the trails.

[sideview]

Originally Posted by Expedition Nutter

However I have yet to see an ARB bumper get mangled.

Now you have. Show me some Rovertym bendage that compares.

[p76rangie]

Originally Posted by sideview

Now you have. Show me some Rovertym bendage that compares.

The first and 4th photo just appears to be poor mounting rather than the bull bar itself. A bull bar is designed to take a frontal or side impact, not someone trying to rip it off on a tree stump from the rear of the bar. So the person driving the vehicle in the first photo must have set out to destroy the bar by trying to rip it off on the stump.

Nothing is indestructible and I would much prefer to swap a damaged bull bar compared to swapping a bent chassis.

[sideview]

As for the first picture, that demonstrates how disadvantageous the ARB design actually is. Something like the RTE slimline, Safari Gard, or even the RTE "thick" bumper would not have been as susceptible to this type damage. But, the more noteworthy point is, the RTE or Safari Gard would have never bent up like that. The RTE style bumpers are 3/16" and 1/4" steel, fully boxed. The ARB and TJM style bumpers rely on the folds in the metal for their strength. Once a fold is compromised by a dent, or if the fold is hit from the wrong direction, the bumper is rendered useless - as we can all see.

Here, you can see a TJM, and how, like an ARB, the thin gage material they're made from works as a disadvantage to you.



As you can see, the bumper is stuck into the tire. To get home, you either have to 1) remove the bumper entirely, winch and all; 2) cut off the damaged part. Either way, the bumper is trash.



Will this happen to an RTE? I think not.......

You also claim that the ARB bumpers are being bent as the result of a poor installation. Sure, this could happen. But don't you think that in picture #4...



...with the two D2's and ARB's is a little odd? I mean, here we have two D2's, different owners, same bumpers, and the same rotating effects from winching.

If you've never seen the ARB rotate due to winching, I find this very hard to believe, if you do the extreme type wheeling you say. This is VERY common for ARB and TJM bumpers.

You then carry on about "I'd rather swap a bull bar than a damaged frame". PLEASE P76, show me where someone has damaged their frame off-road as a side-effect of having an RTE bumper installed. There's no credibility to your claim. Do you understand how hard you would have to hit something to bend your frame? It would have to be harder than this...





The two people riding in the D2 walked away from the accident and the D2 drove home. No bent frame. The truck is still on the road today.

Yes, you're right that anything can be bent, but if you've paid several hundred dollars for a bumper, and have taken some vacation time to go off-road, what bumper gives you more piece of mind? The bumper that folds up from hitting a stump at less than 1MPH, or the bumper than can t-bone another car at 45MPH and still get you home?