arb side rails, should I cut em off? (1 Viewer)

[jonb96150]

My 70 has those arb side rails that clamp onto the arb bumper and follow the front fender lines down to the rock sliders. The problem is the sliders deflect upwards as they contact granite and push the side rails into the rear portion of the fenders. I have gotten more damage from the side rails than anything else and I'm ready to cut them off.

Any opinions valued.

 

[roscoFJ73]

They are not really designed for that,nor are the ARB side steps. I would remove carefully ,sell them and make some proper sliders.

 

[Clint79]

I was going to remove mine when i got my truck because they look sh*t and i never really needed them on my old ute but but being a nicer and new ute i thought id tail kkep em, i have noticed more now since i do have them a lot of scratches on the bar and not the fenders as such and when going through skinny tracks pushing light tress to the side a little etc but the terrain i cover dosnt normally have big rocks etc pushing my bars up into my fenders All depends what you wheel on i think

 

[NTFJ45]

Those bars as Clint and Rosco state are not designed for that. They are for brush scrub and kangaroos that love to give the impression they are leaving the road and then jump back into the fenders
A great modification is to install ( notch and weld ) a extra piece of pipe in front of the side step to the bar and connect the same bar to the frame as the rear flange connection. This removes the side flex and the allow the bars to actually work as a sliders. The fender bars can be left as they are, they are also more rigid because of this modification.

I have previously not had them on my other 70 series vehicles and never was that keen on them but my new 79 has them and they grow on me every day.

Either way it sound like some mods or new style is required for your style of 4wding. Good luck.

 

[Clint79]

Quote:
They are for brush scrub and kangaroos that love to give the impression they are leaving the road and then jump back into the fenders
X2 i forgot about those buggers i have a dent in my door and a broken front indicator i dont like hitting them but at 100kmph your not going to swerve into the bush to avoid one


My scrub bar mount near front of the door and front fender has a angle iron bit which is bolted to the gearbox cross member mounts it could be moved foward to come out of the chassis under the bottom of the fender but itd be very tight with the exhaust and that would be about the best mount point for no side rail flex into your fender unless you start going

 

[jonb96150]

Quote:
They are for brush scrub and kangaroos that love to give the impression they are leaving the road and then jump back into the fenders
X2 i forgot about those buggers i have a dent in my door and a broken front indicator i dont like hitting them but at 100kmph your not going to swerve into the bush to avoid one


My scrub bar mount near front of the door and front fender has a angle iron bit which is bolted to the gearbox cross member mounts it could be moved foward to come out of the chassis under the bottom of the fender but itd be very tight with the exhaust and that would be about the best mount point for no side rail flex into your fender unless you start going

My rock sliders are not ARB. They are sliders that were custom fabbed by a 4x4 shop before I bought the truck. The ARB side rails (the tube from the front bull bar) are welded onto the leading edge radius of the rock sliders. The rock sliders are welded into the frame at four spots including one at the front of the rock sliders. The sliders look really stout, but when using them to pivot around boulders they flex just enough to lose the clearance between the side rails and the lower fender.

It looks like the previous owner increased the clearance between side rail and fender on the right side due to the same problem but didn't address the left side (or it got pushed back in). I didn't notice the difference (about 15mm) until I noticed the damage I suffered from going up Cadillac hill on the Rubicon trail last weekend.

So I just finished increasing the clearance on the left side to match the right side. I "think" this will solve the problem as I've gained about 15mm more room.

I sure appreciate the feedback, and the image of the 7x ute with the full ARB tubing helped.

 

[jonb96150]

Sorry to resurrect an 18 month old thread, but I'm glad I left the brush bars on.

On the ACT 2010 we had a section about a mile long, that was deeply rutted, muddy, and very overgrown with bushes and small trees. The ruts were too deep for my 35's so I had to put the right side into the brush and try to keep the left tire on the raised portion between the deep ruts. I completely rubbed all the paint off of the brush bar from the beating it took. I can only imagine the damage the fender would have sustained from this abuse. So I was really glad I left them on.

After increasing the clearance between the brush bars and the body they have not been pushed into the body again.