Bull Bars -Good or bad?

[Dodgey350]

Hi Guys,

Since I want to drive my 1983 W-350 here in the African bush a lot, I want to fit a bull bar (the one that is usually fitted to a full-sized truck) to avoid damaging the front when a wild animal hits my truck (or the other way around!).

I am advised by some here that this heavy bull bar (chassis mounted) can affect the steering due to its weight and also might cause cracks in the mountings due to vibrations on bad roads.

Some others claim that bull bars have caused more damage to their vehicles in an accident by crushing the whole front end rather than the area of impact alone- where the damage would be limited.

I want to protect my truck's front end from animals but also want to avoid steering/road handling beiing affected or cracks developing on the vehicle.

Please advise.

Cheers!

[opqual]

I suppose a lot of what you are wanting to know would depend on how fast you plan on driving. I don't see it would affect much, except in high speed turning maybe.

On the 74' I had, I put a 6 foot Freightliner (Semi Truck) Channel rail on the front. This is the metal that they build the chassis on. I removed the fromt bumper, then bolted to the front frame rails. I also welded angle iron from the channel iron parallel to the frame rail. You could hit stuff all day, and only experience a dull "thud", with no apparent damage to anything.

You would need to weld a loop of square or round tubing to the channel to save your grill from damage. You could also extend the bumper out 6-8 inches, so that the bumper takes all the impact.

You should be able to make a bumper cheap. Those after market guards are pretty, but way to expensive.

this website http://ranchhand.com/GrilleGuards.aspx represents your typical grill guard. This isn't going to cut it! It's just pretty.

You get that channel rail behind that though.... Watch out animals!

:-)

Regards,

Joel
Vancouver,Wa

[smalltowncowboy]

Most of the problems you talk about with the cracking and frame damage is from how its mounted. Most ones you will buy from a retail place do not have the best mounting systems. Most I've seen just use the stock bumper mounting holes and that will not hold up to the added weight even if minimal (sp).

To build one the right way you will need to spread the mounting surface over a larger area and more than just 3 bolts on each side.

[Dodgey350]

Bull Bars

Thank you guys,

Your advices have helped me decide what type of bull bar I should go for and what to look for. I wish I could post a picture of my Dodge but I am not a subscriber : (

Cheers!