Bull bar / Steel Bumper Question

This may be a really strange question but is there anyone that has had a collision with an installed aftermarket bumper/bull bar. I want to get one but have read in places it can make a frontal crash worse or more dangerous. Anyone with any experience on this?

 

Oh man, this thread is gonna get good. I can feel it...

 

Easy now. It depends on whether the OP is referring to those flimsy bolt on cow catchers, or a real frame mounted bumper.

 

Those cheap brush guard that only bolt on at the bottom can actually make a car ride up on you in a bad frontal crash. A full steel bumber is going to make the other guys car completely totaled but we don't care about his car if it was his fault and then there is a possibility of you getting injured because you car isn't going to crumple like it was designed to. I'm still going to build one though.

 

ill put it like this, my experience with bull bar. The bar mounts to an axis with one bolt on each side taking the force of the blow. Ive seen, first hand, a guy hit a deer with a bull bar. The deer snapped those two bolts and pushed the bar back into his radiator, radiator support and crushed the hood. The car was undriveable. Seeing the damage and now understanding how the bull bar mounts, I will not install any bull bar on any of my vehicles. Steel bumper is different.

 

If you mean something like this, no I haven't. I have read that these do more harm than good.




If you mean a bumper with a bull bar, this worked pretty well. 55 mph between the headlights. All it did was tweek the license plate frame. The deer was delicious.

 

Thats awesome. Yeah its totally different when its a steel bumper. That looks really nice on your 4r. What brand is that front bumper

 

Its the “brush guards” that are the damage mulitpliers. A true plate bumper either full or just in the middle can take a hit if you get a quality one like SSO, CBI, C4, etc

I have a SSO Slimline and she’ll take a hit and give a hit for sure.

 

Stoney is the reason why I got my SSO Slimline!

 

I'm not sure if this will interfere with the nanny gizmo's your 4R has.

$949 WARN 100022 Semi-Hidden Fixed Winch Mount, Fits: Toyota 4Runner (2014-2023)

https://www.amazon.com/WARN-100022-...260165a14b5c0d5d1327677&qid=1770849112&sr=8-1

 

Seems like a steel bumper (or guard) attached directly to the frame might increase the chance of a bent frame after a frontal collision, unless you only hit deer and not other cars. Thoughts on this hypothesis?

 

I would definitely buy something like the picture below. A reputable frame mounted steel bumper with the guard. Not a temu special.

 

I raise you.
https://southernstyle-offroad.com/p...MI8-XZrMrSkgMVz1BHAR3mshWXEAQYAiABEgJj1vD_BwE

 

I’ll take my chances.

 

The stock crash bumber is a huge chunk of aluminum square tube about a bit wider than the mounting points on the frame, with two stee crush cans behind it that mount to the frame (that honestly don’t look any more crushable than the frame itself). The aluminum section also has two smaller steel square tube “ears” that extend 4 or 5 inches to either side that are angled rearward and look like they’re meant to shunt things towards the tires in a frontal crash.

My Warn winch bumper requires removal of all those things. I believe most others do as well. That means that on a square-on frontal impact, you’ll be making use of the crush zone of whatever you hit, because the quarter inch plate used as the winch mount is probably not going to crush all that much. Neither is the winch. But if what you hit doesn’t have a crush zone (aka concrete walls, trees, etc), I’m pretty sure it’s going to hurt more than usual.

The loss of the steel tube “ears” on the crash bumper is kinda been a concern to me, since there’s not much to slow down any intruding high-speed trees that want to go through that gap…just a plastic bumper cover, headlights, and a few light-weight engine accessories, then the control arms are the first solid thing that gets hit. If a tree or pole has enough energy to break the control arm bolts, the wheel assembly comes off. The next stop is the cabin/your legs. Would the steel tube ears of the stock crash bumper protect the cabin significantly more? Maybe, maybe not. They’re not super substantial looking, but then again I didn’t design or test them.

Even though most people think big body on frame cars are “safer” in crashes, they’re actually not. Most modern unbodies would fare better in terms of controlled crush zones that will prevent deformation of the cabin area. I think that removing the crash bumper system increases your risk due to loss of those crushable components, and maybe increases the risk of a small pole/tree reaching the cabin. With that said, I adjust my driving accordingly. Still probably safer than riding a murdercycle

 

This is the food for thought that really makes me think things through. I think the addition of a frame mounted steel bumper would have pros and cons. As shown above it could save someone thousands in damage vs wildlife or the random fender bender. In a serious collision however, I worry about modifying the crumple zones and safety design of the vehicle. As someone who uses their 4runner as the family vehicle (wife and kids) I am now more inclined to leave the front end stock. If it was just myself, and more of a recreational vehicle, I think I would change it. As of now it is more of a pavement queen than anything. That may change years down the road. I thank everyone for their pictures and input!

 

So I had a bad ass Taco with all the bells and whistles. Including a bull bar (black horse). I got hit by a red light runner, as you can see. The impact tore the bull bar from the taco and in doing so bent the frame and insurance totaled it even though the air bags never went off and I was able to drive home. The only good thing was the other drivers insurance was great, so much so that I paid for my 4R in cash. So, even though it wasn't a front end direct impact, it was a "damage multiplier" that totaled my Taco. Always figured I'd see a picture of her in the Middle East with a 50 cal. in the back lol.

 

That really sucks but that damage would have been the same without the brush guard. Those things a junk. PSA, whoever has them on the vehicles, take them off. I cant see how the brush guard caused frame damage instead of the car that hit you from the side ahead of the bar. The bolts holding that bar on are thinner than the bolts on a kids scooter.

 

nice! Its needs full wraparound plate bumper with hoops!

 

The bull bar mounts to the frame. The other guy hit me on the side tearing the bull bar off, And most of the front end, bending the frame. Insurance totaled it soo fast I didn't have time to swap anything out to sell. Got the call that it was deemed a total. Called the shop, it was already gone. Don't know where it went after that? RIP Taco.

 

The bracket might be bolted to the frame but the bull bar is only held onto the bracket by 2 bolts on each side and the tubing had 1-2 bolts on each side holding it onto the bracket. So really a multi-piece assembly vs a true 1 piece plate bumper. Thats why it sheered off so easily. My cousin had one on the ford 150 and the tubing got sheered off and left the brackets in place. His hit was a glancing blow that did more cosmetic damage and no structural damage.

Either way, it sucks all around for your Taco. :-(

 

AI is a bitch.