To bullbar or not to bullbar

[NAGG]

The firewall intrusion from the test with the bullbar is minimal....unlikely to be enough movement in that image to cause serious injury.
In saying that the vehicle is a write off anyway.

The majority of incident you will likely have will not write the vehicle off and most will be animal impacts or light impacts with other vehicles.

For me that firewall intrusion is negligible and I would opt for a bar to keep the hoppers off the bonnet and out of the radiator if I was frequenting those roo heavy areas.

I wouldn't bother these days though, I don't go remote anymore.

One of the things about the " hoppers " is that they "hop" ..... the bigger they are , the higher they hop & that's when a bullbar probably isn't going to help & certainly not a hoopless bar . It really boils down to pure luck doesn't it ?

Chris

[disorderly]

One of the things about the " hoppers " is that they "hop" ..... the bigger they are , the higher they hop & that's when a bullbar probably isn't going to help & certainly not a hoopless bar . It really boils down to pure luck doesn't it ?

Chris

When you have actually been in a car thats had one go through a radiator and had a long walk home it gives you time to ponder why the hell there was no bullbar on there and you would be home sucking down a cold one already and not have a totalled car to explain to the property manager and boss.....Likely would have no damage at all with a decent bar...

[NAGG]

When you have actually been in a car thats had one go through a radiator and had a long walk home it gives you time to ponder why the hell there was no bullbar on there and you would be home sucking down a cold one already and not have a totalled car to explain to the property manager and boss.....Likely would have no damage at all with a decent bar...

My Prado had an alloy bullbar (Toyota accessory) & yeh I hit a few roos with no damage (all were left corner) - Something I remind myself of & well aware of what being stranded in outback Qld would be like.

Chris

[Corry]

Years ago when we used to do a lot of off roading with a lot of ARB reps they had a video that showed the impact on their bars that would simulate a roo strike. It was interesting that in a decent strike, they used a 60kg weighted bag by memory, that the bar wasn't as strong by itself as it was with side rails, only on 'wing' impacts. The bars were set up in a cradle that had them facing upwards and the weight was dropped from height, apparently replicating hitting a roo at 80kph.

Over our time of outback travelling and remote fishing, we've hit dozens of roo's, from big to small. Got some great Go Pro footage of a night trip we did from Darwin to King Ash Bay with about 12 hits throughout the night. Our current regular night trips between Cairns and Seaforth see us not hit as many, and the ones we do are wallaby's not roo's, more around the Cardwell area. In saying that, there are some nice size Grey's on the side of the road that when you see them you hope it was a truck not a car.

For me, I would never have a 4wd without a Bull Bar. I've bent bars from hitting roo's before, but I've never been stranded, and I've never had one come over the bonnet from jumping too high. When they are on the run, they aren't jumping high, they are jumping long. We have a new GX550 Lexus on order at the moment that we are hoping that someone makes a bull bar for it before it arrives, if not, it won't be doing as many of the night runs we do, we'll have to stick with our 79.
Yep, a lot of hits are taken on the side of the vehicle, a bull bar is there to prevent the vehicle from being disabled, not necessarily to prevent damage.
Funny AF, one early morning towing the boat down to the coast from Cooma seen me hit a roo just above Brown Mountain Range, I pulled over and found that the roo had wedged itself between the guard and tyre on the trailer, along with causing significant damage to the guard. After removing the carcass and bending the guard back off the tyre I was on my way again and wondering how the hell do I stop that from happening again.

As for those Shu Roo's, there was a review on them years ago, here is one report; https://www.conservationevidence.com...ual-study/7406, this states the same as I'd read previously that they aren't worth it either.
The best thing to do if you do see roos on the road is to dip your lights and sound your horn, I can vouch that his works. It lets them get some form of sight back, and hear where you are.

Safety note... you should never try and steer around a fleeing animal on the highway, hold the wheel straight and hit the brakes (if you have ABS), prepare for impact if you need to. There are more fatalities and injuries sustained from a vehicle leaving the road trying to dodge animals than there is from vehicles striking animals.

[Dignity]

Years ago when we used to do a lot of off roading with a lot of ARB reps they had a video that showed the impact on their bars that would simulate a roo strike. It was interesting that in a decent strike, they used a 60kg weighted bag by memory, that the bar wasn't as strong by itself as it was with side rails, only on 'wing' impacts. The bars were set up in a cradle that had them facing upwards and the weight was dropped from height, apparently replicating hitting a roo at 80kph.

Over our time of outback travelling and remote fishing, we've hit dozens of roo's, from big to small. Got some great Go Pro footage of a night trip we did from Darwin to King Ash Bay with about 12 hits throughout the night. Our current regular night trips between Cairns and Seaforth see us not hit as many, and the ones we do are wallaby's not roo's, more around the Cardwell area. In saying that, there are some nice size Grey's on the side of the road that when you see them you hope it was a truck not a car.

For me, I would never have a 4wd without a Bull Bar. I've bent bars from hitting roo's before, but I've never been stranded, and I've never had one come over the bonnet from jumping too high. When they are on the run, they aren't jumping high, they are jumping long. We have a new GX550 Lexus on order at the moment that we are hoping that someone makes a bull bar for it before it arrives, if not, it won't be doing as many of the night runs we do, we'll have to stick with our 79.
Yep, a lot of hits are taken on the side of the vehicle, a bull bar is there to prevent the vehicle from being disabled, not necessarily to prevent damage.
Funny AF, one early morning towing the boat down to the coast from Cooma seen me hit a roo just above Brown Mountain Range, I pulled over and found that the roo had wedged itself between the guard and tyre on the trailer, along with causing significant damage to the guard. After removing the carcass and bending the guard back off the tyre I was on my way again and wondering how the hell do I stop that from happening again.

As for those Shu Roo's, there was a review on them years ago, here is one report; https://www.conservationevidence.com...ual-study/7406, this states the same as I'd read previously that they aren't worth it either.
The best thing to do if you do see roos on the road is to dip your lights and sound your horn, I can vouch that his works. It lets them get some form of sight back, and hear where you are.

Safety note... you should never try and steer around a fleeing animal on the highway, hold the wheel straight and hit the brakes (if you have ABS), prepare for impact if you need to. There are more fatalities and injuries sustained from a vehicle leaving the road trying to dodge animals than there is from vehicles striking animals.

My brother can vouch for your last statement Corry, his boss was driving a land cruiser and swerved to avoid a goanna on a dirt road at 100kph. Rolled 3 times and both driver and passenger were lucky to escape with minor bruising.