Site Search
Print Page Setup Profile Login
Section Image

Smart Bar

Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 19:32

saint

I just saw this on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2410046527&category=30862

I have never heard of them.
Advertisement
ThreadID: 4222 Replies: 6
Views: 463 FollowUps: 14
This Thread has been Archived
Thread Summary
Thread Watch Back To Forum Alert Moderator FAQ
AnswerID: 16895   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 20:28

Truckster replied:

They are the bleep ty plastic bars..
Reply 1 of 6
FollowupID: 10500   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 21:03

ThePublican posted:

Truckster,,,you dont know,you have no first hand experience with them ,, I hit a roo last w/end,100ks per, r/hand front, lots of blood and 1 dead roo,NIL DAMAGE to vehicle, and just as a point, NIL DAMAGE to bar, bent yes, returned to shape next day just by its lonesome sitting in the sun,,,, try it with your overweight steel bar {need to upgrade suspension from standard} or polish ,polish the alloy bar.,nuff said.
FollowUp 1 of 7
FollowupID: 10506   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 21:57

Truckster posted:

Let me attach my winch to your plastic bar... Nuff said...
let me do a snatch recovery with an A frame from a plastic bar.. Ditto..

Suspension was getting upgraded anyway with the lift kit so no loss there.

:)~
FollowUp 2 of 7
FollowupID: 10512   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 22:20

ThePublican posted:

As I stated earlier, truckster, you obviously know JACK S-IT about the SMART BAR, the only thing you can do with a steel or steel backed alloy bar that you cannot do with the "plastic " bar is mount a winch,,, would love to watch you doing or being recovered putting the snatch strap on your bar,,, as for suspension upgrade,, is there a design fault with your beloved patrol that requires such an upgrade just to fit a bullbar,, not a good concept,,, get real.
FollowUp 3 of 7
FollowupID: 10514   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 22:29

Truckster posted:

I dont want to know about the so called smart bar.

So how do you mount a winch? You dont.

Design fault on a Patrol to fit a Bullbar? Same on any car you fit a steel bar to, weight is weight...

But then again as I said, was upgrading the suspension long before I got the bar...

Doesnt Pepsi come in plastic?
FollowUp 4 of 7
FollowupID: 10521   Submitted: Friday, Apr 04, 2003 at 23:31

kezza posted:

truckster
you are becomiong a real pain with your biased opinons.
If you dont own it - dont comment - your credibility is 'zilch' in many circles here - dont make it any worse.

The smart bar has some interesting properties and unless you are a plastics expert just dont bother trying to sound informed.

becoming increasingly intolerant

kezza

FollowUp 5 of 7
FollowupID: 10533   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 12:59

Truckster posted:

Kezza.. Care factor of what you think = 0.

Sound informed eh.. Just like you??? read below....
JohnH replied to the question

I saw the results of a smart bar in Alice Springs, it was on a Triton ute. The fella had hit a big roo, now I was impressed with the fact that it had returned to its original shape but the fact that his radiator was smashed into the fan wasn't really impressive. My idea of a good bar is not the fat that it can be reused but wether or not I can still get home. I have never had a steel bullbar let me down yet. Each to their own.

Regards John
FollowUp 1 of 3 posted 05 Apr 2003 at 10:35 - (FollowupID: 10525)
David N. posted this followup

My Brother in Law hit a fair sized 'roo in his twin-cab Triton at about 80km/h with a smart bar -Most impressive...
The bar worked great- no apparent damage at all!!@

(However- the car was undriveable- lights, grille radiator all stuffed- I recall the repair bill was about $5000- Give me Trucksters opinion anyday!!)



apology accepted Kerry.

Oh by the way, just to make you look dumber if possible... I worked in the injected plastics industry for 5 yrs in the sutherland shire in Sydney...
FollowUp 6 of 7
FollowupID: 10543   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 18:29

kezza posted:

Truckster
No apology necessary for foot in mouth comments by you.

Again from me you just get facts - not Opinions

I actually OWNED a plastics prototyping for injection moulding company called Rapid Tooling Systems (was even featured on the the ABC in a documentary in the early 90s)
I also designed and manufactured an energy absorbant metal bullbar in the late 1970s.
While those " bleep ty plastic bars" have their limitations which you quite appropriatly illustrated, they also limit chassis deformation.
BUT what I felt was an important issue for all 4wd owners is that they do PROTECT PEDESTRIANS IN FRONTAL HITS.

You, truckster, were very vocal about the rights of 4wd owners and very much against the suggested limiting of 4wd vehicles and bullbars in urban areas .
Yet you fail to think laterally enough to see the uses for these bullbars in URBAN AREAS this seems to be a passionate cause of yours - YET YOU CALL ME - DUMB!!

I just dont think you are very smart to voice such strong opinions about somebody you do not know (let alone get so personal).

Yes plastic bullbars are crap at 100 ks into a roo or a bull - who would doubt that.

Yet you bag one product that does have its place in the 4wd industry to alleviate the public opinion against 4wds in the city?
Now one must question wether you do look at the big picture - or are more into petty one upmanship??


My opinion is that personally I'd never own one but then again I can see that they have uses for people in urban areas --


Your apology accepted

again with all due respect

Kezza
FollowUp 7 of 7
AnswerID: 16913   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 09:05

sloth replied:

i still like what you did with your desert sand _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx Truckster....

;)
Reply 2 of 6
AnswerID: 16917   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 09:38

JohnH replied:

I saw the results of a smart bar in Alice Springs, it was on a Triton ute. The fella had hit a big roo, now I was impressed with the fact that it had returned to its original shape but the fact that his radiator was smashed into the fan wasn't really impressive. My idea of a good bar is not the fat that it can be reused but wether or not I can still get home. I have never had a steel bullbar let me down yet. Each to their own.

Regards John
Reply 3 of 6
FollowupID: 10525   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 10:35

David N. posted:

My Brother in Law hit a fair sized 'roo in his twin-cab Triton at about 80km/h with a smart bar -Most impressive...
The bar worked great- no apparent damage at all!!@

(However- the car was undriveable- lights, grille radiator all stuffed- I recall the repair bill was about $5000-
Give me Trucksters opinion anyday!!)
FollowUp 1 of 6
FollowupID: 10526   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 10:41

David N. posted:

PS-
I've gone for alloy- but STRONG alloy ECB (not one of the pathetic light weight ones) - much lighter than steel but nearly as strong .- each to his own. It's a free world. Why do people have to get so cranky when someone simply voices their opinion- that's what this forum is all about surely......
FollowUp 2 of 6
FollowupID: 10531   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 11:18

ThePublican posted:

Each to their own exactly,,however ,totaly biased uncalled for opinions of a subject that the author { truckster } has no first hand knowledge of are a waste of yours/mine and all who use this forums time,,
FollowUp 3 of 6
FollowupID: 10534   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 13:04

Truckster posted:

Publican,

I'm only going from other peoples facts like these gentlemen here that have proved that they may pop back like a spring board, but thats after the damage is done.. If the gentlemen have photos of the damaged cars and nice shiney bars infront of the damage (I think this would look so funny, nice plastic bar all shiney, and the bonnet and grill etc smashed to pieces!!!!) would they email them to me and I'll put them on my site for others to laugh at!

Thats fact that they arent as good as they sound has been posted on nearly every 4wd board on the planet...

Have a nice day.
FollowUp 4 of 6
FollowupID: 10544   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 18:34

kezza posted:

Better still lets look at a few piccies of somebody who has been mashed through a metal bullbar - and see the nice shiny bullbar showing no signs of the impace too.

just so we can have a balanced forum here -

Are we thinking big yet??

kezza
FollowUp 5 of 6
FollowupID: 10545   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 18:39

kezza posted:

correction - impact - not impace
kez
FollowUp 6 of 6
AnswerID: 16939   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 20:33

JohnH replied:

it's good to see you fella's still have some spirit. Bullbars in the city are a waste of time. The amount of time they take to fit once the mounts are in place you would think that you could fit them whenever you went on a trip, maybe like the hayman reece towbars. Now there's something for you blokes to develope. Might make a quid out of it while you are there not to mention the wear and tear you would save on your car. now thats a smart bar.......

By the way, we use bullbars in the territory for roo's, cattle etc. Are you guy's allowed to run people over down that way!

Regards John.
Reply 4 of 6
Activities Index
Hens Movie Making Party For up to 20 Hens Movie Making Party For up to 20
- INT
Ever wanted to be in the movies?
Fishing Charter from Nelson Bay Fishing Charter from Nelson Bay
Lower Nth Coast / Newcastle - NSW
Fish the offshore reefs from Stockton Bight to Broughton Island and Seal Rocks, on board our purpose
Competent Crew - 5 Sailing Lessons Competent Crew - 5 Sailing Lessons
Sydney - NSW
This course is designed to meet the needs of people with some sailing experience who want to improve
Coolibah intensive moisturising facial & massage Coolibah intensive moisturising facial & mass
Adelaide - SA
An intensive, moisture rich facial deigned to care for dehydrated and mature skin.
Book Now - Things To Do
AnswerID: 16945   Submitted: Saturday, Apr 05, 2003 at 22:08

Stuart W replied:

Hmmm,
Well chaps, this has certainly been an interesting "discussion". Just thought I'd give my 2 cents worth here. I have to say that I didn't really know much about these SMART bars prior to this, so I think I have certainly learned something.

From what I can see, these are the primary situations:

1. If you're driving in an area where the possibility of hitting a pedestrian is much higher than hitting a large kangaroo, then priority would be given to reducing unnecessary injury to said victim. Thus, SMART bars, and similar designs would appear more desirable than a strong, solid bullbar.

2. If you're driving beyond the black stump, I'd have to say that I'd be prioritising being able to continue travelling after hitting a large, not-so-smart roo.

3. There's one more situation here, which is that I'm sure having one of these SMART bars could actually save the lives of the 4WD's occupants in the case of a particularly bad smash. There's nothing less forgiving than a solid steel bar. Modern vehicle design has for a long time now, been going in the direction of absorbing as much of the impact as possible in order to reduce injury to/save the lives of, the occupants.

I'm sure you see where I'm coming from and yet again, it is all a matter of compromise. Perhaps having the 2 types of bullbar in the garage would be ideal, and we'd be able to swap depending on what type of driving we were intending for the following week(s). A highly unlikely situation.

Just remember, life is a compromise.

Regards,

Stuart
Reply 5 of 6
FollowupID: 10569   Submitted: Sunday, Apr 06, 2003 at 08:43

Member - Peter [SA] posted:

Personally i dont consider the bull bar a device to save the occupants life in an accident, the vehicle has been engineered to do that, air bags, crumple zones etc, the important function for me is that it saves damage to radiator, fan, headlights etc against animal strike, being in remote country areas while touring, this is important.
If i was hit by a vehicle at 60km hour i dont think it would matter if the bull bar was plastic, steel or none at all, just my personal opinion.

Cheers Peter
FollowUp 1 of 1
AnswerID: 17001   Submitted: Sunday, Apr 06, 2003 at 21:23

David N. replied:

And another point to consider.....
An insurance asessor told me a few years ago their insurance premiums would "skyrocket" without 'roo bars.
I was complaining to him about damage to my previous bar (I didn't think the bar had worked as well as it should have) after hitting a ginormous 'roo which came out of nowhere- I had slowed to about 80k because it was dusk- didn't even get my foot on the brake...
The asessor said damage to my vehicle would have
1. cost a fortune and
2. had me stuck with an undriveable vehicle miles from nowhere, if I had had a flimsy bar or worse still no bar at all...
Reply 6 of 6