ARB Modded Bar

[sam]

Did a search for ARB bar and nothing came up but I know a few guys wanted to see what I've done to improve air flow

This is what I did to the bar on our blue ML



Hope this helps.

[patto]

Are you alowed to do that??? Legally!

Would not suit me, more holes mean more pieces of skippy i would have to clean out from under the bonnett!

[andyj]

Does it detract from the integraty of the bar?????????

[trouble]

Looks good however not sure on the legallities???????

[gregned]

Can anyone say broken record?

[ag9111]

Why wouldn't it be legal, whats wrong with it. This is bolted up to a commercial vehicle remember.

Thats a thumbs up for me

[Homer]

I like it mate....faaaark the coppers. If pedestrians don't want to get runover stay of the fkn footpath!

[Blue]

I like it mate....faaaark the coppers. If pedestrians don't want to get runover stay of the fkn footpath!

Yeah, they should walk on the road where the rest of the country drives - right Homer...???

[patto]

Legal in the fact that the bar is already built and designed to Aust Standards, air bar rating etc... dont get me wronf its a good idea, but this day and age the good old Insurance co will look for any scape goats.

I would like to see the bars integrity as it slams into a roo at 110kmh opposed to a bar that has no holes.

[Naff]

It's still going to be stronger than a plastic bar and nudge even with the holes in it... so insurance wouldn't be able to argue about integrity. I doubt there are legalities involved but I don't think ARB would uphold their warranty.. if there is one?

[Try-it-on]

Unless you are actually overheating, isn't pretty much a mute point ?

[snowman]

the whole issue of bars and restricted flows is possibly a bit over rated. i say this with some reservation but my example is that in the last couple of weeks and driving around with the frost symbol on the console (i.e. <3deg) my water temp is still about 79deg with very easy motoring. only 1 or maybe two degress less than a reasonably hot day.

intercooler temps might be a different story though but i reckon the water cooling thermostat is set at on or about 80deg on my triton.

[MN GLXR]

Get the latest 4wd Action and read the bull bar destruction test they did on all the modern bars.

Me thinks bars are all a bit overrated to be honest. After one strike most of them were cactus and unable to be driven further.

[Steane]

Get the latest 4wd Action and read the bull bar destruction test they did on all the modern bars.

Me thinks bars are all a bit overrated to be honest. After one strike most of them were cactus and unable to be driven further.

It was a fairly big hit (equivalent of a 120kg roo at 80km/h or so they said), and there were a number of bars that prevented damage, or minimised it to the extent that the car could be driven. I'd rather wreck a bar, than have my car written-off in the middle of nowhere.

I bought the Ironman commercial bar based on that test. Figured I won't be doing 100km/h at dawn or dusk in roo country, so the odds are what I may hit at 60km/h, won't damage the bar. It's also lighter than the ARB Deluxe, and it's always been weight, not air-flow that has put me off bullbars. Mind you it still caused the front suspension to drop around 10mm. It cost $1089 and if it was bent after a hit, I'd be happier buying a replacement bar, than getting towed to a crash repairer and going through the whole insurance/car repair crap.

Another good option revealed in that test was the xrox tube bar, but they don't currently have one available for the Triton. The other surprise was the plastic smartbar (prevented damage to car), but they look crap

[NowForThe5th]

Have to agree with you Steane. The simulation was a very big hit and most bars at least reduced damage to the point where you could drive on. The Smartbar was a surprise but ugly.

The test did make me think about the strength of my Ironman bar and even considering beefing it up, knowing that most of the bars bent just behind the centre upright tube. That said, the holes in Sam's bar would have me worrying about reducing the strength, given that the comparo indicated that some bars failed because of holes in the bar. It might not be such an issue with the holes in the front but I'd be concerned anyway.

My roo strike count is only five and a couple of those were at about 80km/h. Surprisingly those two were on a vehicle with a fully tubular bar which prevented any damage to the vehicle in both cases. The others were a bit slower but, so far and fingers crossed, I've had no vehicle damage other than a $35 piece of plastic. Bars were alloy and steel and in every case suffered no damage at all. Add to that 3 vehicle hits, again with virtually no damage to my vehicle. So, 8 hits in total cost $35 plus a $500 excess (one was supposedly my fault). Average roo strike damage is about $3000 so I figure $535 vs a potential $24,000 and uncountable inconvenience.

In my opinion, then, bullbars are well worth the investment but maintaining their strength is paramount to ensuring that they perform their function of protecting the vehicle. Every extra hole has the potential to reduce strength and even with winches in place I've never had any problems with overheating.

[darvico]

this is something that I have been pondering over for a while, I don't want the intercooler to get hot because of a bulbar, but I want a winch. last thing id want is for Mitsubishi to not cover my warranty for any heating related problem because I put a bulbar on. maybe this extra hole idea is the way for me.

[NowForThe5th]

The issue of overheating is far more likely to be blockages from mud or vegetation in the fins of the radiator/intercooler or internal blockages than it is from insufficient holes in a bullbar. With lights, winch and miscellaneous other bits hanging off the front I've yet to have any overheating problems. If you have a look at the various "factory" bullbars you'll notice that they generally have less holes than an ARB/TJM/Ironman etc.

Interesting that this thread has come back after a 4 year hiatus but my feelings against drilling holes in a product that's been engineered to meet a certain standard of strength are even stronger now, given that, in the meantime, I managed to have a seriously big roo strike and suffered only minor damage.

[Scale]

The issue of overheating is far more likely to be blockages from mud or vegetation in the fins of the radiator/intercooler or internal blockages than it is from insufficient holes in a bullbar. With lights, winch and miscellaneous other bits hanging off the front I've yet to have any overheating problems. If you have a look at the various "factory" bullbars you'll notice that they generally have less holes than an ARB/TJM/Ironman etc.

Interesting that this thread has come back after a 4 year hiatus but my feelings against drilling holes in a product that's been engineered to meet a certain standard of strength are even stronger now, given that, in the meantime, I managed to have a seriously big roo strike and suffered only minor damage.

+1

[darvico]

If you have a look at the various "factory" bullbars you'll notice that they generally have less holes than an ARB/TJM/Ironman etc.

Good point. I feel at ease :p