GU Steel Bar doubts for winching????
Submitted: Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 14:28
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ingo57
Gday all
Just fitted 2" lift OME springs and shocks to the new GU on Saturday, went for a fourby on sunday and unfortunately droped the front end into a deep wash out and just caught the side of the nissan steel bar and the thing folded like a piece of cardbord on the edge. On previous 4wd's I have had ARB and TJM steel bars which would quite easily handle a knock like this.
However Ive managed to straighten the bar back down off the guard, but my concern is I was going to fit a winch to the genuine bar & now am wondering whether the bar is up to the task. The winch will be needed only for peice of mind & safety of doing solo trips and hopefully wont be used too extinsively.
My question is, those that have fitted
winches to a genuine nissan bar and have done winching or recovery's with it, did the bar seem to flex at all and stand up to the forces exerted on it.
Any first hand opinions appreciated.
Cheers
Reply By: Member - Troll 81 (QLD) - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:00
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:00
You sure you are not talking about the alloy bar?
AnswerID:
214018
Follow Up By: Moggs - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:17
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:17
Was wondering the same thing. My Nissan GU Bar is a solid steel bar - have absolutely no qualms about winching with it.
FollowupID:
474292
Follow Up By: Leroy - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:31
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 15:31
When we came back from the cape a few years back, mates nissan bar cracked all around the weld where the small tube connected to the large center tube.
Leroy
FollowupID:
474295
Follow Up By: ingo57 - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:00
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:00
Yes guys, its a genuine Nissan steel winch bar. The damage that I did was crawling through a heavy washout and had my drivers side tyre placed high in the wall of the wash out, when the tyre slipped out of the wall the car dropped & the bar just clipped the wall of the washout on the way down. It folded the side of the bar in and upwards, this part of the bar is unsupported but I was still suprised with the damage, having had brand name bull bars on my previous vehicles.
The winch area in the guts of the bar seems adequately braced for a winch but just thought I would ask the question from people that have the bar and winch (and used it!) judging on the damage that I did so easily on the weekend. You cant beat 1st hand advice from people that have it and use it!
Cheers
FollowupID:
474306
Reply By: Robin - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:16
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:16
Hi Ingo57
Because the winch is mounted and supported between the two very solid chassis rail beams I don't think the injury you suffered would be relevant to winch mounting.
I stuck with standard plastic bar and avoided such things, as they tend to bend back into place and are stronger than is given credit for.
For the winch side ,
mine is mounted on a 6mm flat steel bar between the rails with a brace back under radiator to save weight.
The Nissan winch bars I've seen are stronger than my arrangement.
Robin Miller
AnswerID:
214041
Reply By: Voxson (Adelaide) - Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:33
Monday, Jan 08, 2007 at 16:33
My last GU4 had a "nissan" black steel winch bar on it... The dealership i bought it from,, put it on as the "free" bull bar...
I found that it didnt take knocks too
well at all on the sides and had to lovingly adjust it sometimes.....
Also it wasnt a good bar to jack from either because it had quite a bit of flex where it could easily touch the guard under pressure....
AnswerID:
214043
Follow Up By: Bilbo - Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007 at 00:50
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007 at 00:50
Hey, Voxson,,,,,,,,,,I think Truckster's looking for ya,,,,,,,,,,
;)
Bilbo
FollowupID:
474412
Reply By: Tim (vic) - Thursday, Jan 11, 2007 at 14:32
Thursday, Jan 11, 2007 at 14:32
Have had no issues with my bar at all and i have winched a bit with it. The Bars all come from ARB but the Nissan / Toyota ones do not have as much bracing in the wings as an ARB bar does. This is because the car manufacturers try and keep cutting costs and this is the reason ( less steel becomes cheaper!!)
Tim
AnswerID:
214705