By John on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 02:53 am: Edit

After reading the posts on bumpers I saw emphasis put on brush bar strenght and it got me to thinking. What do people expect out of brush bars?
I look at different bumpers, SG,Trek outfitters, Rockware, TM,ARB etc and I do not see side protection built into brushbars for what was made note of yesterday....heavy hits from the side.It looks like to me that brush bars are intended for what they are called...sweeping brush,limbs etc around the front end. I have not seen me or others lay the upper front/sides on rocks,etc above the bumper line. It makes me think the massive build of current brush bars that only protect the front above the bumper line is somewhat overbuilt and weighty. Any thoughts? Just looking for info.Thanks

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 05:21 am: Edit

Personally, I like to use the ARB to push past trees and such - sort of acts as a "slider" for the entire front end of the truck. I don't mean run directly into something, but just to make a turn I couldn't normally make without stopping and backing up. Especially useful during an RTV (trials) event

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:15 am: Edit

That doesnt take much Bill. The brush guards I see out there today are a serious waste of weight. Funny thing is that manufacturers would be better off putting the weight into the blade. The thing is after all a "BRUSH guard"...

Kyle

By Nadim on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:20 am: Edit

Kyle...

I agree 120%...my new design of my bumper will have more emphasis on the bumper/blade than the bush guard...

I will be using 10mm for the winch basket, and 5mm for the sides...and for the bushbar, ONLY 1" hollow tubing that has certain reinforcements...

Nadim

By Ron on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:26 am: Edit

I am with Bill B on this one. I like to push stuff out of the way. Plus stuff always seems to fly up when you run over it, and then there are animals and it deflects stuff that would hit the side of the fender on slopes.

Ron

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:28 am: Edit

Hmmm , and $G takes care of that? Why is my truck not mashed to hell?


Kyle

By Ron on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:33 am: Edit

I do not know why your truck is not mashed to hell?

I try not to hit trees larger in diameter than the width of the pipes and yes it has got some dents and scrapes in it but it is not mashed to hell. It has not seen boulders yet so maybe that is the difference. It also has only seen about 9 months of use as well. The skid plate does look kindy nasty but the tube behind it is strait.

Ron

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 11:36 am: Edit

Ron what the hell are you talking about man?? I am talking about the brush guard portion.. dont get all defensive about that ragedy $G blade now

Kyle

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 12:00 pm: Edit

I have to agree with Kyle that the (stock) brush guard is a "serious waste of weight". The wrap-around portion of my OEM brush bar (on the passenger side) has broken welds on the top and bottom where the horizontal tubes meet the larger "A" frame tubes. I have not had the time to weld this back up, and it has been bouncing up and down, further weakening the remaining metal. I may just saw both wrap-arounds off and end up with an A-frame. Seems like a lot of weight for the wrap arounds extending laterally from two mounting points with not much welded surface area at all. I like the fact that the wrap-around pushes away brush, but I could not use it to push away small trees, cattle, panhandlers, etc, like Bill & Ron (of course, ARB has the needed structural support). I understand that I had to re-weld the wimpy lower tubing near the bar's mounting brackets after scraping over bedrock, but re-welding the brush guard portion? Come on, that's really lame...

Form before function fails every time...

By Kyle Van Tassel (Kyle) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 12:06 pm: Edit

If the outter wings are tied to something they dont flap the problem is not the thicknes of it but rather the design. The bastards are just hanging there...

Kyle

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 12:20 pm: Edit

even when new, you can watch them bounce up and down...

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Friday, June 22, 2001 - 02:11 pm: Edit

bluegill,

you're still talking rovers, right?

hehe

-rd

By Orlando Gonzalez (Orlando) on Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 07:01 am: Edit

I have a bumper that I designed and am offering for sale anyone interested let me know. It is at a reasonable price considering $G price

By Wanasee on Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 08:24 am: Edit

Well lets see a pic....or do we leave a deposit for sight unseen...

By Orlando Gonzalez (Orlando) on Saturday, June 23, 2001 - 01:04 pm: Edit

To see picture of bumper goto http://community.webtv.net/desertrockrover

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Monday, June 25, 2001 - 07:11 am: Edit

Pokerob - that was funny as hell