Why fit a bull bar?

[chappy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chappy]

I live 80k' wa from wsp in tom price and I have always had a roo bar fitted to my vehicles and have experienced a few animal strikes in the past I've also wittnessed the consequences of another vehicle not equipped with a roo bar comming off second best after hitting a roo, the family in that car came out
off it okay but they could have been strandard if it wasn't for us and and a family travelling from Para hadn't happened along

[SimpleSi Member Find all posts View Profile Close SimpleSi]

I suspect there's a few red herrings in the replies here, and in my mind, there's just the one reason to fit a bar (fitting an ARB steel bar in a couple of weeks).

Here is an example of what can happen when a roo rolls over the front of your vehicle and through the windscreen, I'd do everything I can to prevent it.
https://www.facebook.com/mel.clarke....22349047839457

Quite clearly, a bar would have made almost no difference there. Roo in question clearly airborne, and photos show no damage on the bar-less bumper.

One encounter with a calf left him with a repair bill well over the cost of a steel bar.

Given a majority of Prado's would be comprehensively insured, is this an issue? I've read plenty of threads about steel bull bars being replaced by insurance. I wouldn't imagine any post animal-strike cars are repaired by insurance for less than your excess, bar or bar-less.

1. On the basis of your statement, the main reason I would get one is to minimise the risk of having the vehicle disabled in a remote region - especially if I had children on board.

That's it for me. 7500km trip coming up, and I'd rather not be stranded on the Plenty highway with a bung radiator. If I was on my own with 6 months off work, and nowhere to be, then perhaps I wouldn't bother.

[wsp Member Find all posts View Profile Close wsp]

Given a majority of Prado's would be comprehensively insured, is this an issue? I've read plenty of threads about steel bull bars being replaced by insurance. I wouldn't imagine any post animal-strike cars are repaired by insurance for less than your excess, bar or bar-less.

Just for your information yes it was insured, he still had to pay the excess. He was without a car for around 1.5 months and the insurance company would only pay X amount towards the transportation of the vehicle 3000km return to their repairer so he was out of pocket well over the price of the cost of a bar that would of saved the car needing repairs plus no vehicle for 1.5 months. The joys of travelling or living remote.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

Why fit a bull bar?

I made my decision based on:

Decent bullbar$2500
Insurance excess with hire car option excess $500

That five catastrophic animal strikes to break even per bullbar, so far I am three 4WDs and $7500 in front.

Unless you need the winch, or off-road advantages it's mostly a want item.


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[peter_mcc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close peter_mcc]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the comments - I've been a bit quiet because we've been away for the week (got to drive on Stockton Beach, NSW one day!).

I've ordered a AFN bar and will pay for it tomorrow. They had a special EOFY deal which is what pushed the decision to the front.

Reading the comments the one that impacted me the most (no pun intended!) was the chance of hitting an animal and being able to drive on. For day-day stuff in the city that's not a big issue. But on holidays where we are a long way from home that could make a big difference. I'd hate to spend days waiting in the middle of nowhere for someone to come and tow the car & camper away.

It also gives me somewhere to put the light bar & UHF ariel :-)

Thanks for everyone's comments.

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

There's lots of accessories that we put on our 4WDs that you could debate long and hard about the 'need' for. The need for a bullbar is , for mine, predicated on the likelihood of animal strikes most common at dawn and dusk. I'd debate that anyone who says they can avoid travelling at dawn and dusk completely, has limited experience on the bush our outback, or just had a very lucky run!. The conditions of some of our most travelled roads such as the Birdsville track, the Strezlecki, and the Oodnadatta to name a few can change so significantly that travel times can be blown out quickly. I've driven these tracks when they are a beautiful smooth hard packed highway, a boggy slop hole, or once dried out full of ruts left by tyres through the wet mud. I've driven them when the corrigations are so bad you need to stop regularly to cool shock. A flat tyre, a servo out of fuel, a spot of rain, bull dust patches, stopping to order a pub lunch that takes longer than expected, a damaged roof rack that needs a bush repair, the list goes on. You can often find the best laid plans go out the window and your carefully planned 3.00 pm arrival becomes a 6 or 7 pm arrival very easily. So when people tell me they don't need a bull bar because they avoid travelling at dawn or dusk, I always raise an eyebrow.

Driving such roads at dawn and dusk without some protection is not fun or enjoyable, its very stressful, particularly at the end of a longer than expected day, kids can be hungry and wives angry!!! and we are all out there to enjoy ourselves, so if you are planning to travel in the outback, I'd be fitting a bulbar.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

My Bullbar is to intimidate drivers doing 80-90k in a hundred zone in the right lane & pit manoeuvre if required.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

My Bullbar is to intimidate drivers doing 80-90k in a hundred zone in the right lane & pit manoeuvre if required.

I know your type, I find the 2014 emergency brake assist is especially enjoyable to test out in these conditions which flashes the brake lights rapidly while the car applies maximum brake pressure to stop the vehicle. Only for a second or two then watch in amusement as the intimidator wets their pants and nearly skids off the road to the same direction as the road camber.

Never gets old, and solves the problem straight away.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

It also gives me somewhere to put the light bar & UHF ariel

Thanks for everyone's comments.

And your stubby when washing the car on weekends

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

I know your type, I find the 2014 emergency brake assist is especially enjoyable to test out in these conditions which flashes the brake lights rapidly while the car applies maximum brake pressure to stop the vehicle. Only for a second or two then watch in amusement as the intimidator wets their pants and nearly skids off the road to the same direction as the road camber.

Never gets old, and solves the problem straight away.

You dont know me yet, R you the type who is on the fone in the right lane doing well under the speed limit?
If you brake up in front of me you will be rammed & your vehicle will go off to the side, (whichever way I choose) the last few I did were quite fun, scratches the hell out of the Arb colour coding though lol.......
If there's witnesses, rather than the pit manourver, a slight twitch of the wheel & I drive right by while you are smoking up ya tyres in an emergency stop waiting for that look, (you will never get from me). I've got cash for the excess, but usually the offending braker is too busy fearing for ther life than looking at my rego ( addressed to a vacant block) as I drive on while they spin off into the median.

Pretty dumb move on the road these days doing anything to upset people especially the very old brake up. You never know who you are dealing with. For your own safety stay out of the right if your being a pain & give up the brake thing it's old, & if its a silver Arb bar look out!
I'm might be sensitive, but I'm a bad man COPY COPY?

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

I've always thought of fitting a switch to my brake lights to have a similar effect.

but I sit a couple of km above the limit before I would do it. I have tapped the brakes a couple of times. It does scare the ... out of them.

I'm older and wiser now, so I don't really care and just let them past.

[Early Member Find all posts View Profile Close Early]

road rage is just not worth it. You could decide to give the windscreen a wash just as the overtaking vehicle passes your slipstream...

anyway, back on topic.
Lots of people have some good and valid points. Driving at dawn and dusk is the time of greatest risk of animal strikes and will save vehicle damage. You may have to replace the bullbar after hitting something large, but better that than a front end repair bill.
And a bull bar will weigh the front end down about an inch on stock sussy and end up with lowered headlights, less suspension travel and front shock not calibrated for extra weight resulting in floaty front end. Highly recommend getting some aftermarket shocks put in.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

a friend of mine nearly passes out with laughter at himself as he washes his windscreen & the tailgater.
Personally I don't even let that bother me, but it must really annoy some people getting their clean car wet.

It's all about attitude, & with the right attitude driving, you don't need to annoy anyone & they don't annoy you. It's simple stuff.

[peter_mcc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close peter_mcc]

I've just driven from Cairns to Coen & back (half way to Cape York). Half of the trip up (the tar) was done at night and half the trip back (the dirt) was done the next night. There wasn't much to see so I did lots of thinking as I drove along. In total it was about 8hrs of night driving.

On reflection I think everybody's experience with animal strikes will depend on where they live. Nobody at Coen or Cairns seemed worried about hitting native animals. The car hire guy (Wicked Campers - they rented me a 2006 Patrol with a full "Jurassic Park" paint job) said the native animals just bounce off but to watch out for cows. The Coen people were the same - careful of cows standing on the road without any mention of kangaroos.

I saw lots of kangaroos/wallabies but they were all small - max 50cm high. More unusually, they were happy to sit on the side of the road and eat grass while I drove past. Most of the ones I've seen elsewhere seem to regard the impending arrival of my car as a reason to change sides of the road - the Cape York ones didn't have that training! With a standard bumper bar I'm pretty sure you could hit one and drive on without any real damage.

Unlike lots of coastal NSW there don't seem to be any wombats. I guess a bull bar won't help too much with one anyway because they are fairly low.

There were bunches of cows - like the kangaroos they were happy to stay on the side of the road. There was only one or two that were actually on the road - one was hard to spot because it was the same colour as the road and the headlights were pretty useless. Either way, if I hit a large enough cow at speed I'm expecting there will be lots of damage. I guess perhaps less with a bull bar - all depends on how big and how fast.

But elsewhere there are lots of different animals with different responses to cars.

[jonoxplor Member Find all posts View Profile Close jonoxplor]

I made my decision based on:

Decent bullbar$2500
Insurance excess with hire car option excess $500

That five catastrophic animal strikes to break even per bullbar, so far I am three 4WDs and $7500 in front.

Unless you need the winch, or off-road advantages it's mostly a want item.


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Think about it this way, when you do have an accident with an animal strike, your vehicle is disabled, you become someone elses problem. You are stuck with a disabled vehicle. I'd rather not be stuck in the middle of no where.