Bull Bars

I don't think you will find many bars delivered to the dealers in the raw. They would rust to hell in transit and storage.

All bars are delivered powder coated black from the factory. If you want it colour coded to your 4wd, they usually outsource it to a local panel beater to paint it.

I am not buying a colour coded bar so that sould not be a problem, was talking about long ternm rust and paint problems.
Murray

Yeah I never seen a bar come in unpainted at TJM when I worked their things may have changed since but they come in black from the factory and when a customer purchased one at their local store it was sent to a local spray painter if the new owner wanted it colour coded so it was painted correctly.

What companies get them in unpainted ?

Thanks but are looking at steel.
Murray

Not sure if they make a smmart bar for the BT50 but agree they are ugly

Murray

Anything added to the front of a BT50, would have to improve that pig-ugly front end.
Even Mazda admitted it was a dog to sell, and have tried to improve it with the latest upgrade.

Cheers, Ron.

Lol ...LOL...Good job everyone has a opinion.



Cheers Axle.

I had the same hassle when l fitted my TJM bar to my ranger

Murray

"Ironman steel winch bar, poorly made and ill fitting"

I disagree, I have fitted three ARB bars to previous vehicles, when it came to fit one to my BT50 decided to look at Ironman steel winch bar at $700.00 cheaper it does the job perfectly.

Have driven great central road from Geraldton to Sydney and back, through the Murchison, Ashburton, Pilbara, Nullagine, part Gibb river road. Have checked the attachment bolts a number of times, none loose, it's all still tight after 65,000 KM

I can't fault the powder coating , no rust. To me the Ironman steel bar is just as good for $700.00 less.

You can’t possibly disagree, because to the best of my knowledge you weren’t around when it was being fitted!
Yours may be ok, mine wasn’t.
I will add that I had an Ironman winch fitted at the same time, when I got it home I found that the wireless remote control wasn’t working. I rang Ironman & was told that I would have to return it for inspection, it would have involved a 400 kilometre round trip, or removing, posting & refitting the winch, all for a $20 part. Needless to say I bought the part & fitted it myself.

The TJM T13 is getting a few points but hexxy. As said in OP roo stikes no damage TJM T13 bar

Murray

What is “hexxy”?

It just goes to show that quality can be like a lottery!
My ECB alloy bar did thousands of Outback & High Country kilometres & was virtually unmarked when I sold the vehicle after 200,000kms.

Another point for TJM

Murray

Having got and Ironman bull bar on a PX Ranger and had an ARB on a Triton and a background in steel fabrication I find this comment somewhat flippant " 10x better "
In imo both are well constructed solidly built and would fit the bill to what they were manafacture for . In my early years we would manufacturer bar protection for vehicles working on stations / mining etc in Northern Territory and know what they can look like in a very short period but you must compare apples with apples , the Average Joe is not going to be treating their equipment like this . After purchasing an Ironman bullbar and fittings it I was more than satisfied with the build quality and design knowing their reputation was a bit questionable . Having said all that they have a fair bit to go in PR before they can be compared to ARB . A pretty standard remark when dealing with complaints would be "haven't seen that before " where ARB would just give you a replacement no questions asked .

Find it any way you like mate. Our vehicles work side by side with theirs with numerous of each brand bars so I’m happy with my description. Weathering in comparison with other bars is the same no matter where they are and I could not recommend Ironman over the three other brands I mentioned with the experience we had with them - in exactly the same conditions. There is a big difference between pinholes on welds bleeding and totally ill prepared plate section with rust bubbling out of it. I’m sure you see my point even if you don’t agree with it.

Why not tell us on here if there is a problem with them it's about helping others decide or avoid the same problems that we encounter with products we purchase. That's why we speak up and share our experiences with each other be it good or bad.

I thought they were illegal.

5 posters with square edges and that lean forward at the top are.

The new TUFF Bars are more contoured to the shape of the vehicle and meet the Dept of transport requirements.

Still wouldn't want to wear one in the small of your back.

I thought it was also the forward sloping bottom section.

If l put one of those on the front of a BT 50 l think it might become a plough LOL

Murray

When not in use you could slip it on the front of a little D2 and use it as a stick rake.

Shaker if they are illegal there are a lot of western vehicles in Qld that would come into that category.

Here is the answer to clear things up

Tuff bars answer

On some vehicles that have a steel bar fitted the suspension may need to be up graded especially if a winch is fitted as well. A good example would probably be an IFS vehicle as most are these days. The factory suspension is unable to support the weight because most are built for comfort and not load carrying these days but the manufacturer specs usually still clam they can support x amount of weight which in reality they can't. So the buyer has to fork out extra cash for a suspension up grade where in the past a solid axle vehicle would have generally be fine.

Most of the weight is a modern alloy bar is in the steel mounting brackets that have to be used on modern vehicles when fully assembled makes the whole set up a bit heavy. Unlike old school where the bar is mounted directly to the chassis without the need for extra brackets and are usually light enough to be easily picked up by one person.

Kumunara
l have mates who have had alloy bars and when they have had an animal stike they have bent and also suffered panel damage, that's one of the reasons l prefer steel.

Murray

Hit a big ole red roo with an aluminium bull bar and see how functional it is.

Supposed it’s something to mount spot lights and a uhf aerial on.

Cheers Greg

I hit a big red roo near Burra. Only damage was where the bracket for the antenna on the alloy bullbar hit the bonnet. My old work vehicle hit a wallaby. Bent the steel bull bar. (genuine Toyota bull bar) Steel is stronger than alloy when referring to equal quality bars. But not all steel bars are as strong as a good quality alloy bar. On modern 4X4s the crumple zones will give way and you will get damage whatever bar you have. Frien hit a horse in his F250. Steel bull bar was only slightly damaged. Front of vehicle was caved in.

I used to do a lot night driving in western qld at night. Nothing to hit 2 or 3 roos in a night. Not that that is anything to be proud of, but I would rather hit one than swerve.

Have had plain jane black Arb bull bars on my Toyota utes for years. You might get a bent pipe or something minor like that. The main damage was to driving lights. Spent a small fortune replacing them.

I don’t travel at night out there at night anymore, but I still put steel bull bars on any vehicle I own.

Cheers Greg.