Custom elk / roo / push bar for the 80 (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

this is a custom roo/elk/push bar that was fabbed for the 80 by a welding shop.
Much stronger than a grill guard. Probably inherently as strong as an ARB bull bar tube part cuz of the heavy material, but the attachment to the frame is probably not as strong. It's bolted to the underside of the frame rail with 3 bolts on each side and cantilevered off that. I think the attachment could be much stronger still with some U-bolts going around the frame rails and bar mounts. I may do that.
Feels rock solid already. No vibration visible at all when driving unlike some I've seen.

This was built by a shop in Montana, I'm sure as a deer/elk bar.

As an aside, you can see that the mounts have been topped by a plate, about 1/2" thick, ostensibly to allow the mount clear the bumper. The fabber must have used armor plate or something, cuz it took about an hour of pretty much continuous drilling with a new bit to get through... WTH?

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[e9999]

one more

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Hmmmm....It is better looking than a field gate, like the one that used to be on Lowtideride's Fj60. Even so, I hope it was cheap. The feature I really think is poorly thought out is the way the front supports take away your approach angle by sticking out beyond the bumper. You are going to hit those suppoets every time you go off road, in fact, to go off road, I would take that bumper off. That bumper also eliminates the ability to attach your stock recovery points-now I understand why you were asking the questions in another thread. So (just one man's opinion), I would start saving for an ARB or a Christo Slee front bar.

 

[e9999]

Hmmmm....It is better looking than a field gate, like the one that used to be on Lowtideride's Fj60. Even so, I hope it was cheap. The feature I really think is poorly thought out is the way the front supports take away your approach angle by sticking out beyond the bumper. You are going to hit those suppoets every time you go off road, in fact, to go off road, I would take that bumper off. That bumper also eliminates the ability to attach your stock recovery points-now I understand why you were asking the questions in another thread. So (just one man's opinion), I would start saving for an ARB or a Christo Slee front bar.

didn't buy it, came with the truck.
Not intended for offroading, I guess, more as protection against Bambi. Would work great for that I think. Plenty strong.
Actually, I don't mind too much the "supports" sticking out as you say, it would protect the bumper and would ride up on an obstacle. Not planning to take the truck rockcrawling at this time anyway...

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[cruiserdan]

It's kinda hard to tell from the angles and as you have studied it first hand I do not know if this statememt applies, but, most guards of this type seem to be damage multipliers as opposed to protection.

 

[e9999]

It's kinda hard to tell from the angles and as you have studied it first hand I do not know if this statememt applies, but, most guards of this type seem to be damage multipliers as opposed to protection.

yes, flimsy grille guards do seem to be potential damage multipliers -for small hits at least-. This one is much stronger. But I suppose the same argument could be made, though for much harder hits.

For it's intended purposes (e.g. Bambi Bar), the opposite would apply I would think. If I hit Bambi without anything, my grille, radiator, and hood are toast. With this on, I would likely escape any damage at all. I

Anyway, I am just playing with the thing for now...


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[Beowulf]

E9999999999,

You didn't ask for opinions on the bambi bar but I'll give you mine.


I love the color of your truck!



-B-

 

[NorCalDoug]

It might work for bambi (small), but hitting BAMBI might result in multiplied damage.
Might be good protection at the malls though

 

[e9999]

It might work for bambi (small), but hitting BAMBI might result in multiplied damage.
Might be good protection at the malls though

With all due respect, Doug, I don't think that's true about the multiplying effect. I think this multiplying effect story refers to the fact that a small impact that would normally be absorbed by the bumper may fold a flimsy grill guard into the grille. Fair enough. But if you get a Bambi straight into your grille above the bumper, you are surely better off having a strong bar like this one.
JMNSHO

and think about all the fun one can have with a good push bar...!

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[e9999]

E9999999999,

You didn't ask for opinions on the bambi bar but I'll give you mine.


I love the color of your truck!



-B-

yup, the best!
Can you believe these guys driving green bile-colored rigs... ? Yuk! No self-respect!
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[valentine]

I was behind you all the way till this statement

Can you believe these guys driving green bile-colored rigs... ? Yuk! No self-respect!
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[RHINO]

e9999, i think the idea of the damage multiplyer is comming more from the fact that the mount is horrible, it doesnt matter how thick it is, the mount area is too small to disperse the load of an impact sufficiently. if you were to hit anything bigger than lassie the bumper as a whole will most likely bend the frame section it is bolted to and come to rest on the grill/hood. this is assuming the 2" tube attached to the frame is 1/4" ,,if its less, say .120 it will bend as well during an impact. either way a decent impact will require you to replace some cosmetics but it will prolly save the radiator
the ARB and many other types cup the whole frame horn and additionally have support runners taking that frame horn load accross the whole vertical section of bumper.

its not a bad bar, it will hold up to a medium impact and protect the rig. but to really rely on it you would pretty much need to replace the factory bumper so a proper mount could be implemented.


i just took a second look at the pics, the main uprights that run from the mounts and are the backbone of the bumper looks to be 1/4"x 2" flat stock?? if this is so your better of removing that bar. the flat stock is seriously inadequate and will fold easily, especially if a slight sideways impact is experienced(like from one corner). this would have been much better had square tube been used instead. the good news is that the designer of this bumper prolly makes a great ladder rack for a work truck.

 

[Safado]

Dude, I'm glad you put that on...cause now that LOWTIDE got an ARB...I need someone else to poke at.

That thing is nasty, the pinnacle of white trash engineering.

However you coul still take two D-Ring mount tabs, $10 each @ Rocklogic4x4.com and weld them to the front of the 2 inch tubing. It honestly does look like it would hold up better than a Manik in an accident, but a deer hit on the outside wrap would prove costly.

 

[e9999]

e9999, i think the idea of the damage multiplyer is comming more from the fact that the mount is horrible, it doesnt matter how thick it is, the mount area is too small to disperse the load of an impact sufficiently. if you were to hit anything bigger than lassie the bumper as a whole will most likely bend the frame section it is bolted to and come to rest on the grill/hood. this is assuming the 2" tube attached to the frame is 1/4" ,,if its less, say .120 it will bend as well during an impact. either way a decent impact will require you to replace some cosmetics but it will prolly save the radiator
the ARB and many other types cup the whole frame horn and additionally have support runners taking that frame horn load accross the whole vertical section of bumper.

its not a bad bar, it will hold up to a medium impact and protect the rig. but to really rely on it you would pretty much need to replace the factory bumper so a proper mount could be implemented.


i just took a second look at the pics, the main uprights that run from the mounts and are the backbone of the bumper looks to be 1/4"x 2" flat stock?? if this is so your better of removing that bar. the flat stock is seriously inadequate and will fold easily, especially if a slight sideways impact is experienced(like from one corner). this would have been much better had square tube been used instead. the good news is that the designer of this bumper prolly makes a great ladder rack for a work truck.

Rhino, that's right, the mount is the weak part. I was thinking that I could reinforce that by adding a bunch of Umounts going over the frame rail.

The uprights are more like 1/2" and welded lengthwise to the 2.5" flats in front. T is a great shape to prevent bending at least from the front. But you're right again, from the side is not as good.

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[e9999]

Dude, I'm glad you put that on...cause now that LOWTIDE got an ARB...I need someone else to poke at.

That thing is nasty, the pinnacle of white trash engineering.

However you coul still take two D-Ring mount tabs, $10 each @ Rocklogic4x4.com and weld them to the front of the 2 inch tubing. It honestly does look like it would hold up better than a Manik in an accident, but a deer hit on the outside wrap would prove costly.

thanks Saf, fortunately I didn't design it, eh?

Forgive me, but the notion that some folks here seem to hold, which is that a deer hitting the grille directly will cause less damage than a deer hitting the bar seems to me to be rather preposterous. Urban myth pushed too far, I guess.

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[skyshark186]

Ive done both. I hit a couple with the monstrocity of a guard/winch mount on my bronco and it never bent. But the mounts on it actually slid over the end of the frame like a sleeve and had lots of 8 grade hardware holding it on. It also weighed over 300 pounds. So it wasnt likely to bend.

Hitting one grill on in a pickup is kinda hit and miss so to speak. It really depends how fast you are going, where exactly it impacts, how big it is. A bigger doe or buck can easily trash a radiator on a stock hight truck. As a matter of fact, a turkey taking of goes straight through an Explorer grill and right into the radiator.

My .02, dont hit the deer. Certainly dont hit an elk. If you do, if it is impossible or improbable that you will stop, the advice i was always given and stuck to was to accelerate through the hit in an effort to tranfer more force to the animal and get your front end up as high as possible. I always walked away from mine, and so did most of the trucks.

 

[RHINO]

Rhino, that's right, the mount is the weak part. I was thinking that I could reinforce that by adding a bunch of Umounts going over the frame rail.

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thats not gonna do anything for you as that mount is as stong as it will ever possibly be,, a brace has to be made up to tie in OVER the bumper on top of the frame horn, that way you will disperse any load more evenly. the whole problem with this mount is the cantilever of a single tie in with the frame and that tie-in being so low.


i am behind you in your thought of it protecting the rig better than w/o, thats a no brainer. if you hit an animal or something big enough to bend it the whole rack will come in on the rig, wont do much for the front end cosmetically but it will certainly keep any REAL damage to a minimum, i.e. the radiator and related supporting structure.

 

[e9999]

thats not gonna do anything for you as that mount is as stong as it will ever possibly be,, a brace has to be made up to tie in OVER the bumper on top of the frame horn, that way you will disperse any load more evenly. the whole problem with this mount is the cantilever of a single tie in with the frame and that tie-in being so low.


i am behind you in your thought of it protecting the rig better than w/o, thats a no brainer. if you hit an animal or something big enough to bend it the whole rack will come in on the rig, wont do much for the front end cosmetically but it will certainly keep any REAL damage to a minimum, i.e. the radiator and related supporting structure.

above is what I meant, putting strong Ubolts around the mount and whole frame rail including top so it would disperse the stress over the entire frame rail rather than just the bottom face. Kinda turning it into a sleeve mount...

anyway, this is all just an exercise in trying to make this existing bar work as best as can be given its limitations. Already improved quite a bit by putting in 6 long bolts rather than the 4 short ones that were on there before I got the rig... over 50% more strength right there

yes, an ARB bull might be better but that would be another $700, and more work to install (and remove if I ever sell the rig, -god forbid...)

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[RHINO]

above is what I meant, putting strong Ubolts around the mount and whole frame rail including top so it would disperse the stress over the entire frame rail rather than just the bottom face. Kinda turning it into a sleeve mount...

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not what i was trying to describe, leave the existing mount alone, dont do anything with it, dont add to it, nothing, its fine. what your gonna want to do to improve is to bring some type of bracing in from the bar ABOVE the bumper and tie it in with the top of the frame. a completly new piece of steel for each frame rail. it will be a tight fit between the bumper and grill. another option might be through the holes in the bumper? can you tie into the top of the frame from those holes and keep as great a seperation as possible between the lower and new upper mounts ON THE ROO BAR. this is where you will get the support you need to keep it from colapsing on your hood.

 

[Junk]

Is this all a late April Fools joke?