smart bars
Submitted: Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:17
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new boy
I have a GU series111 Patrol just heard about these Smart Bars aleged to be as good or better than Alloy or Steel any opinions thanks
Reply By: Member - Karl - Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:35
Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:35
I have one fitted to my 80 Series Landcruiser and I think that it's great - though I must admitted that I haven't had the misfortune of hitting anything substancal with it.
In my opinion it was worth it. The good thing is that I didn't have the extra expense of having to upgrade my front
suspension as you would have to with a steel or alloy bar.
Furhter I believe that if I was in a situation where I did hit something big no matter what type of bar I had, you would proberly end up having to replace it anyway - therefor in the advertising blurbs are true and the bars bounce back into shape after a medium to heavy strike then I am saving money, whereas with an alloy bar you would be looking at replacing/repairing it.
My opinion only I think that it was worth it - and they do look good.
AnswerID:
100090
Follow Up By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:48
Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:48
G'day Karl,
I have always thought of them as being too "weak" to do the job, but did see a set-up in
Adelaide last year at an exhibition where they had a bar mounted (on the back of a trailer I think) and had a wind-up ram type of gizmo that they could let go from about 10 meters. It impacted on the bar and bent it a bit, but if you went back later (like about half an hour), it had regained it's original position. Quite good really I guess; except that IMHO you really don't want it to "flex" in the 1st place......on impact, it could flex back and allow damage to the lights/grille/radiator etc then bounce back to original position, leaving you with a bill to fix the broken bits. My experience with steel bars is that, in a similar collision (like a roo strike), the bar will totally protect the vehicle and the only thing that will distort will be various bones of the animal.
Anyway, I would certainly rather have a smart bar than no bar at all and in fact if they outlawed steel bars and you only had a choice between aluminium and SMART; I would go for the smart bar without hesitation.
Cheers,
Roachie
FollowupID:
358302
Reply By: flappa - Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:59
Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 11:59
I seem to recall that Smart Bars are mostly designed for Pedestrian and low speed Car park type accidents.
From memory , anything up to approx 40 kph , you can expect the bar to deform and then bounce back.
Anything over that . . . . good luck.
AnswerID:
100097
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 17:35
Friday, Feb 25, 2005 at 17:35
As usual the knockers are those with no experience and a "plastic phobia".
These plastics are very strong, and are folded to increase strength. I had a smart bar on my Prado and couldn't fault it. Mine had a solid steel mounting system behind the bar that was stronger than most I see on steel/alloy bars. Its centre section was reinforced. It had better ventilation to the lower radiator than anything else on the market.
After 4 years, it still looked like new. I had done a lot of offroading and it had hit/scraped a lot of scrub and bushes. Mine was a factory second that cost me $500; then when I traded the Prado, I sold the bar for $400.
I've got a steel bar with the 79series, but thats because I have an open mind on the subject, and thats what it came with. Certainly prefer both steel and plastic to the alloy bars.
Cheers
Phil
AnswerID:
100148
Reply By: itisi - Saturday, Feb 26, 2005 at 01:47
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005 at 01:47
Have had a Smart Bar on my Surf for around 4 yrs.
Heading "up north" a couple of years ago (with the van) I hit a damn big roo at about 80 kph (my vocabulary on the roo was a bit stroger at that time).
Result; broken indicator and slightly bent number plate. No panel damage and the bar, after a couple days in the hot sun, looked as good as new. Still does.
So I, for one, can recommend them.
AnswerID:
100214
Reply By: TonyH - Monday, Feb 28, 2005 at 00:17
Monday, Feb 28, 2005 at 00:17
I put one on my Triton back in early 2000. Looks good IMHO. Is light and won't corrode. Just fits a set of Cibie oscars in the front and has great flow to the radiator. Mounting bracket is solid, and I mean solid.
Been belting skippies since then averaging probably 6-7 good hits a year, only one visit to the panel beater with a roo headbutting the front quarter panel and side of the smart bar. No strength for side impacts but nothing does.
Had a dirty great big alloy custom jobbie on the previous utes, weighed a ton but lasted for 2 utes (navaras) at one stage hitting 10 roos a week. 1st ute had a bent chassis by the end of it.
Nup definately sold on the smart bar and your going to get the same amount of protection outa one of those at 60-80kph as you are a steel jobbie if not better.
Tony Harding
AnswerID:
100438