[John E Davies]

Having looked behind my Gen 3 bumper I would caution you that the structure just isn't very stout. Without fabricating an entire new front end (alloy bumper and bar) with additional support braces, there just isn't enough strength there to survive a hit and not just cave in all the parts.

Like every other modern passenger car, it's designed to crumple and absorb the energy during impact, not resist all movement.

If you mount a stout bar to your OEM aluminum bumper crossbar, you will end up getting it shoved through your condenser, radiator and maybe the front of the engine.

If you want to drive around hitting coyotes and deer without damaging your rig, that Aussie bull bar is probably your best choice, or buy a strong body-on-frame SUV and install an offroad bumper. There are plenty of choices for 4Runners and RAMs.....

Yeah, it sucks, but that's the way it is these days.

Is this the one you were looking at? It's pretty darn cool.

http://www.subaxtreme.com.au/subaru/bullbars/offroad_specs.html

The ones for our cars start at A$2145 .... I wonder how much to ship 10,000 miles....?

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[John E Davies]

I've often wanted/wondered about a 'nudge bar' or the like for the Baja. Is the front structure of the car/truck tough enough to deal with one of those in an actual collision at other-than-parking-lot-speeds? Or, will it simply bend the subframe, and need $10,000 worth of frame-straightening-machine time for a relatively minor collision?

BINGO! That's why you don't see these on unibody cars, or they are labelled "off road" to avoid the liability issue of selling one to a customer who ends up totaling his car when he hits a tree stump at 10 mph.....

Getting a steel or alloy bumper to work seamlessly with airbags is a real challenge. It can be done, but it doesn't come cheap. ARB road-legal bumpers (for trucks) are airbag safe, but they can suffer serious, expen$ive damage in a relatively minor collision because of the design requirements.

"AIR BAG COMPATIBILITY

With an air bag equipped 4x4 it is essential that the vehicle's crush rate and air bag triggering is not altered when a bull bar is installed. To ensure compatibility, ARB assesses each vehicle's frontal crush characteristics and replicates the crush rate into the design of each air bag compatible bull bar and its mounting system. This method enables engineers to achieve maximum possible vehicle and passenger protection without affecting the crash pulse. ARB has invested heavily in vehicle crash barrier tests to validate the performance and compliance of its air bag compatible bull bars, and as a consequence, our bars offer a far greater level of protection than most standard brush guards and grille guards. "

Bull Bars/Bumpers & Tire Carriers

And yeah, what subiesailor said...... he beat me to the response by a minute......

John Davies
Spokane WA USA