new ranger A R B bullbar faulty/fit restricted bonnet latch access

hi Phil
I wanted to find out if this fault has been experienced by any other ranger owners with a A R B bar that's why i'm asking on this forum that's what forums and google are for aren't they
cheers

I know that mate. Some people sit here and don't seem to do anything about.

I would class your problem as a major issue and thus needed immediate action. What would you do if there was smoke coming from the front? It may just be an animal that you hit but all you can do is walk away.

Even the RTA can't check the compliance plates so the car is parked on the side of the road outside Woop Woop with the kids screaming and the wife . . .Well safer not to go there.

I do understand okay! I wouldn't bother with asking myself.

Phil

The olde 3ltr navara d22 ?
Had the same issue
but not as close to the bonnet as the poster mentioned

Just adding, mine on a PX, has 110mm between the leading edge of the bonnet and the back of the bar.

The car dealer would not save money by having their own workshop fit after market accessories, the internal labour costs are booked out to the new car department at a higher rate than a local supplier would charge. The only bullbars a dealer would be likely to fit would be factory supplied original equipment. Same with tow bars, much cheaper to send to the local tow bar supplier than have the workshop fit them.

Hi Shaker

Sounds like your dealership must be an exception them.

Every dealer that I know here in South Australia supply and fit aftermarket accessories that the customer requires.

as for labour costs, you must have the highest paid technicians in Australia to say that. Most places will be charging at least at a minimum of $80 per hour and your techs would be getting around or less than $30 per hour.


It seems everytime I make a comment, you always try to shoot me down.

Let's see and wait just who did fit the new ARB bulbar, the car dealer or ARB.

I think I have commented twice about your comments, only because you seem to think every dealer is rotten!

What mechanics are paid what the inter- departmental charges are, are entirely 2 different things. The new car dept manager will normally take whatever steps are required to make his dept as profitable as possible, if that means outsourcing labour for after market accessories, so be it.

Stephen, where I live, all the new 4wds no matter what the make go from the dealers to the different 4wd outlets to have the accessories fitted by them. They don't fit any accessories except the genuine oem ones.

It is far better for them to have them fitted by people who do that all the time and let their own mechanics work and ta's work on what they know. Of cause they get a cut from the 4wd suppliers. If you say got a quote from arb to have $20000 of accessories it would still only cost you that amount, arb then give the dealer a cut rate so he makes something out of the deal.

Hi Shaker,

Here we go again. You are again 100% wrong and I have never ever stated at any stage about car dealers being rotten, those are your thoughts only.

In one on my past jobs, it was in a new car dealership and I know how sales are processed and how dealers make their money.

Country dealer are very different from big city ones, as we live in a town where we see everyone each day, and must bring up an honest relationship. We would get our aftermarket accessories from places like TJM & ARB and were charged out as full workshop labour for the new car department, just as you stated.

It's just not possible to get the suppliers to do the work when you are hundreds of kilometres from their workshop when we had very capable techs that could do the job at a fraction of the price.

I am just being honest on how country dealers are run and not putting anyone down.

So if you have contact with country dealers, you would know first hand that their capable service departments are able, and do fit these aftermarket accessories.

I was GM of a Jaguar, Rover Honda dealership in a small coastal town on the Mornington Peninsula for 8 years, so yes, I have had contact with country dealerships.

You would hardly call the Mornington Peninsular country, hell you can still see Melbourne from there and probably smell it as well.

hi and happy new year
dear oh dear what are you blokes on getting at one anothers throats so early in the year
the A R B accessories were fitted by the A R B outlet which is a stones throw from the ford dealers here
Bunbury is a city and not a country town
the owners previous ranger a 2008 model has a bulbar on it from ARB and the spacing is about 110mls like one other poster mentioned
I personally would get out my rattle gun and a spanner and very quickly undo and adjust the bar because most bars have play in the bolt holes and a small movement at the bottom brackets amounts to quiet a bit at the top where the problem is
but this is owned but a bloke that doesn't think like most
and so just to tap out if any one else have an ARB bar on the lastest ranger encountered this badly fitted bar on behalf of the owner i asked the question because of the valuable imfo that I know is on this site
thank you for thoughts and the imformative advice and knowledge given and chill out guys

I also live in a city, Brisbane. I was today in my local GMH dealership (I own a Colorado)(They are a multi franchise dealing in Holden, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Ford plus a couple of others, those who live in Brisbane will know who I'm talking about) and asked the new car manager what they do in regards to purchase and fitting of aftermarket accessories, his answer to this was, that they would purchase from the particular manufacturer and fit in house. The accessory would be charged at their wholesale price and fitted at their normal trade labour price. He explained that their labour is usually cheaper than the likes of ARB / TJM, Ironman ect. and these savings can make a large difference to the actual buy price of a new vehicle and has at times made the difference as to whether a sale is made or not, and as far as he is concerned the sale of a vehicle is paramount and the profit from add on's is secondary.

Hi Mazcan and Ian

First of all, thanks for giving the details where the bar was fitted, and it makes you wonder how the blunder happened and was not picked up after the job was complete.

Ian, thanks for your reply as well, as internal labour charges are always far cheaper than external labour charges and that was the point I was trying to get across.

What you said and were told by the dealer is the honest answer the the key to running a good dealership.


Cheers



Stephen