marashkar wrote:hello all. i have a 2010 mn auto arb deluxe bull bar fitted from new so can not say what temp it ran at .using temp gauge as a guide bullbar with normal size qld number plate. bullbar with winch and same number plate. bullbar with winch and slimline number plate not one single bit of difference on the temp gauge. is also fitted with ipf rectangular spotlights so in my case nothing seems to affect the temp of the engine reguardless of what you hang on the front of it my thoughts steve
This statement for me doesn't apply. I have an Alloy bar on my Triton (don't know what type it is 100%, pretty sure it was built by sunny coast towbars or something similar to that). Anyways it was on there when I bought my Triton so I can't really comment on the Bullbar itself restricting airflow... but I guess it would to some degree. The thing I actually noticed a raise in temperature in was when I added a set of Lightforce 240's to my bullbar. The middle hoop of the bar is fairly small (and if it wasn't for the fact that I was getting the 240's insanely cheap I would have went for a smaller light with HID). But after putting these lights on I noticed a rise on the temp needle of about half to 3/4 of a needle width (only when traveling above 90kph, as the lights must cause an etty behind them and restrict air entry to the grill, well this is what I'm guessing). My needle now sits about a needle and a half above half temp. This probably isn't a significant or dangerous temperature increase (well I'm hoping), but it does sit in the back of my mind most of the time I'm doing highway driving. Below is a picture so you can see what I mean about the middle hoop only just fitting the lights in.
I am toying with the idea of modifying my bullbar at the moment (the best part is that it isn't a popular type bar so if you haven't seen it before it's been chopped you won't notice that it isn't standard (well I'm hoping I can do this). The below picture show how restricted the front end of my Ute is and the parts that are kinda poorly shaded black will be GONE. The circles are either going to be mini spots/fogs or directional cold air intakes, I'm undecided yet. So hopefully all of this work will drop the temps when traveling fast just to give me piece of mind.
I'm also looking at the two spots either side of the number plate as another place to allow more airflow... So to me airflow restriction is a small problem, but so far hasn't caused any noticeable issues.
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