Do you think Christo would have to worry about Paten infringements?
Slee Short Bus Vs. Arb ?
- Thread starter GAS-A-LOT!
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ARB 4 Me
I went with ARB for a few reasons, 1 it could be easily modified to fit my 8274. 2) The trails up here are brushy, I'd rather keep my headlights, grill, and offroad lights protected. 3) Moose, no ARB's were not meant to deflect Moose, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable with the ARB. 4) I like the look and always have.
I went with ARB for a few reasons, 1 it could be easily modified to fit my 8274. 2) The trails up here are brushy, I'd rather keep my headlights, grill, and offroad lights protected. 3) Moose, no ARB's were not meant to deflect Moose, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable with the ARB. 4) I like the look and always have.
I think people take for granted that slapping on an ARB makes your 80 look like a Heep or a XTurda
If the two bumpers in post 40 got together and had a baby, it would look like this.
This is Mick Dundy's rig.
This is Mick Dundy's rig.
I just ordered a ARB winch bumper and AC dryer skid plate from Slee. I dont have the cash for a whinch yet so I'm leaving it open for now. I see that you have the slee fairlead on you ARB. I asked Christo about mounting one of those on untill I get the winch and he said that it dose not fit that well on the ARB. do you have any close up pics of it on your ARB? did you have to mod it to fit?
I was thinking that maybe they just do not want to see the company name on a competing product and I can totally understand and respect that
. there is a 95% chance that I will be going with a Roller fair lead that comes with the Warn. Really just curious.The reason I went with the ARB is that this is my DD and also I really like seeing the top tube up over the hood while driving. reminds me that its there.
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No, he is exactly right. A set of composite rollers work better on the ARB.
hummm ok now i'm confused it looks as though your rollers are mounted above the bracket...is this optional (above or below)
How so?
If you mean his bumper vs the ARB, the only thing in common is the color and what they fit.
As Cdan mentioned earlier in this thread. I would take the ARB if you have fears of hitting beasts on the road. I live in Georgia where several highways without barriers on the edges can have herds crossing them.
I have not plowed one with the Cruiser yet but I did with another vehicle and I was disabled. The force caused damage to the radiator (damn them plastic tops) which caused me to stop once the overheat was detected. Now, this wasn't the middle of no where...so to speak...but it did take 4 hours for the tow truck to find me while I was on and off the phone with him retracing my steps.
I knew he had found me when I heard "Wow, you CREAMED that guy".
To be honest, I think that this feature is nice to have but not a necessity unless it means something to you. I'd say buy it for looks and what you intend to do with your truck.
Then again, I consider CIVICS to be critters too...and I do love how the ARB makes them quivver on the side of the road. If I was in my lexus sedan they'd have yanked right out in front of me....turds....
I have not plowed one with the Cruiser yet but I did with another vehicle and I was disabled. The force caused damage to the radiator (damn them plastic tops) which caused me to stop once the overheat was detected. Now, this wasn't the middle of no where...so to speak...but it did take 4 hours for the tow truck to find me while I was on and off the phone with him retracing my steps.
I knew he had found me when I heard "Wow, you CREAMED that guy".
To be honest, I think that this feature is nice to have but not a necessity unless it means something to you. I'd say buy it for looks and what you intend to do with your truck.
Then again, I consider CIVICS to be critters too...and I do love how the ARB makes them quivver on the side of the road. If I was in my lexus sedan they'd have yanked right out in front of me....turds....
I chose the ARB b/c of its' time-tested design and durability...I know it's heavy, but I can appreciate that. Oh, and I like the look too. However, everything I've ever purchased from Slee has been top-notch and I'm sure the SSB is no different. It's just personal preference b/c they're both great for your rig's front end protection and recovery needs...and you'll never have to apologize for owning either. My .02
cool
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- #53
THANKS for the side by side comparison. I will go with the ARB. My wife was born and raised in El Salvador. (Which explains why she wanted the ARB). Any how .....
Slee... Your bumper still rocks!!!!
Since I wont be crawling, my approach angle is not that important.
And (supposedly) this is the
's 80. So I will go with what she wants.
Slee... Your bumper still rocks!!!!
Since I wont be crawling, my approach angle is not that important.
And (supposedly) this is the
's 80. So I will go with what she wants.
semlin
curmudgeon
slee if rocks is your priority.
arb for brushy trails and critters. It's weaknesses are weight and approach angle. it's strength is in the bars
one comment is that if you keep the front oem recovery loops you may as well get an arb. I rarely ever bury the arb because the recovery loops act like stingers/sliders.
arb for brushy trails and critters. It's weaknesses are weight and approach angle. it's strength is in the bars
one comment is that if you keep the front oem recovery loops you may as well get an arb. I rarely ever bury the arb because the recovery loops act like stingers/sliders.
Silly Question Time !!
From the looks of the shortbus, I get the feeling that it throws animals and things under the wheels when you strike them. That's good for the vehicle, but isn't it illegal in some states there because it might throw people under the wheels ? I seem to remember that the idea behind modern bumpers was to throw them to the side.
Kalawang
From the looks of the shortbus, I get the feeling that it throws animals and things under the wheels when you strike them. That's good for the vehicle, but isn't it illegal in some states there because it might throw people under the wheels ? I seem to remember that the idea behind modern bumpers was to throw them to the side.
Kalawang
I just ordered a ARB winch bumper and AC dryer skid plate from Slee. I dont have the cash for a whinch yet so I'm leaving it open for now. I see that you have the slee fairlead on you ARB. I asked Christo about mounting one of those on untill I get the winch and he said that it dose not fit that well on the ARB. do you have any close up pics of it on your ARB? did you have to mod it to fit?
I was thinking that maybe they just do not want to see the company name on a competing product and I can totally understand and respect that
The reason I went with the ARB is that this is my DD and also I really like seeing the top tube up over the hood while driving. reminds me that its there.
I went with the Hawse fairlead because I was going to run synthetic rope and the "word" was to run a Hawse with synthetic. Opinions differ on this and many feel that a roller fairlead, with new rollers (or very lightly used ones) is acceptable if not preferable. You just don't want anything snagging the rope.
I went with the Slee fairlead (over other Hawse fairleads) because when I saw it at Christo's shop it was bling bling baby
. What I didn't realize at the time was that it wouldn't line up "perfectly" on the ARB. If you look at the pictures below you'll see what I mean in that the fairlead sits low in the winch line opening. What I discovered is that if you want things to line up you need to buy an offset Hawse fairlead (see this Rising Sun thread for more info --> Click Here). As you will see I was being very anal about the whole deal lining up Anyway, one solution would be to drill into the ARB and the spacers required to mount the XD9000 winch, tap the holes, and mount the fairlead up a tad - problem with that is I probably wouldn't be able to clear the lower winch mounting bolts and I can't move the winch up (using the upper most winch mounting holes) as explained on the thread on Rising Sun. In the end I just left everything where it was (as shown in pics) after wasting WAAAY too much time over analyzing the crap out of it. Until now I haven't thought anymore about it.
I can almost assure you that Christo doesn't mind his products being used on competitors stuff (if you can call it that). He is just being honest with you so you know up front what to expect. I discussed the "issue" with Christo a few times so I would imagine he is just passing along what has been learned
As for the roller fairlead, I can always swap down the road but I probably never will (too much of a PITA to do so). The ARB comes with the longer vertical bolts to mount the roller fairlead but everything would have to come off to get it done (winch and ARB). To mount the roller fairlead you have to sit the fairlead "frame" (without the rollers installed) on the ARB, then using the ARB's lower bolt holes as a template, mark and drill the fairlead frame for new mounting holes. What you don't want to do is to drill the ARB to match the fairlead holes. The lower winch bolts, which are used to attach both the fairlead AND the winch to the ARB, use the factory ARB holes. Drilling new holes into the ARB to match the fairlead will amount to wasted time and two useless holes in your brand new ARB
As for what TiredIron did...Well I'm not sure. Looks like he chose to have the winch line come out from on top of the winch versus from the bottom for some reason
. I'm no where near that level in the mod department.So, here are some close up pics of what the Slee hawse fairlead looks like mounted on an ARB. In the pics you can see the little odd triangle shaped areas at the top left and right of the fairlead. The winch line opening is a rectangle shape, the Slee hawse fairlead is not. In the end I think it came out looking just fine but your (and others) opinion may vary
.
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Here's some detailed photos of Slee's bumper, including the backside and how its mounted to the frame. The install was super easy. Although I've never installed an ARB and I'm told it's very similier in mounting.
The A/C dryer sticks down under the Slee bumper. I don't plan on doing anything that will knock off, so instead of trying to relocate it, I just painted it black so it's not noticable and forgot about it. I believe the ARB has the same issue, but Slee makes a skid plate for that one and not this one. I'm just not worried about it.
I was originally planning on going with an ARB, and I still think the ARB is a great design. But I really liked the looks of the Slee and I figured the Slee would not only be an excellent winch platform, but still offer very good protection, with the compromise of a little less protection in the headlight and lower hood area. To me, it enhances the clean lines of the LC80 rather than hide them.
I was originally planning on going with an ARB, and I still think the ARB is a great design. But I really liked the looks of the Slee and I figured the Slee would not only be an excellent winch platform, but still offer very good protection, with the compromise of a little less protection in the headlight and lower hood area. To me, it enhances the clean lines of the LC80 rather than hide them.
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