Plastic bullbar verses steel.

The problem that I see with the plastic bars is that they deflect back more than steel in the impact then return to shape. This will cause more damage to the radiator than a steel one will allow for the same impact (centre of the bar as opposed to the wings) making the vehicle undriveable. I have a bullbar to protect the vitals like the rad (don't care about the wings, lights etc) .
If the impact is so severe that the vehicle is rendered un driveable then the vehicle will probably be a write off anyway but the ocupants may just live to tell the tale. What is the point of a bar that will spring back to shape after damageing the vehicle? the bar would have to be replaced anyway due to stress from the impact.

Rockape, I had a plastic bar on a Pajero when I hit a steer at around 80 Kph just south of Bedourie. Two things stuck with me; first, the airbags didn't go off even though the bar was airbag compatible, second the bar deflected the steer up onto the bonnet and I thought I'd had it but, fortunately, it rolled off. This is, I believe a design point to ensure pedestrians are thrown over the vehicle rather than under it. In the case of hitting an animal I think it could be a design flaw as I would prefer the beast had gone under the vehicle rather than over it with the consequent danger of coming through the windscreen.

Key points are: the bars are lightweight (as you say) so don't cause a drag on the front suspension, the bars absorb a lot of the force at impact (I walked away without a scratch), the bars are the cheapest on the market (although they are a quality product).

I was very happy with the way the plastic bar got me through the accident. I have no doubt that an alloy or steel bar would have left me much worse off.

The Pajero did have damage to the radiator and I was told by the insurance people (when the vehicle eventually arrived back in Sydney) that the engine had moved forward about 20 mm then back about 10 mm. The vehicle was written off by the insurance company but the wreck was bought by a panel beater who "repaired" it, even to the point of refitting the plastic bar. My mechanic said I was well out of it and that the vehicle would never be "right".

I now have another Pajero with another plastic bar fitted and am very happy.

Reminds me of a friend years ago that brought a brand new Honda .......... first day he owned it the wife came home to inform him that some one had rear ended her. Horrified as he made his way out to look at the car he asked did you get his details ? To which wife replied "It's ok it has only made the smallest of marks on the paint and so there was no need to get his details"
On viewing the car he was relieved to see that what she had told him was true. THEN he opened the boot lid ....................... five thousand dollars later the floor pan was back as it should be..................... the bumper had returned to normality but what it crushed as it collapsed hadn't !
Cheers

Rockape

Great post.

Good to see one of my Smartbar cruiser cousins survived the prang fairly well.

Smartbars do the job they are intended to do. I was put on to them years ago by a metal roo bar maker who had one on his own vehicle. When quizzed about this contradiction he said the Smartbars were better. You could push start another vehicle with them without damage he said. He also said he was getting out of the roo bar business and now does a different line of work.

When I was looking for a roo bar for the cruiser likely size of animal strike, weight and pedestrian safety put the Smartbar in front.

Good to see they absorb a bit of full on frontal impact with a wall. An added bonus.

Flynnie

I did hit a tree, two in fact. No bullbar at all.

I was okay, the engine dropped and broke the front diff.

My 6yr daughter, however, suffered a ruptered liver and severed bile duct. If I had put a steel bullbar on the front I believe her seatbelt would have severed her spinal chord due to the transfer of the G forces into the cabin rather than being absorbed by the collapse of the vehicle, the surgeon concurred with this..

Just something to think about, if you have kids under 8 or 9 anyhow.

There's no clear answer to this one as it's a complex engineering question.
I lived in the WA wheat belt for many years where impacts with roos was common place. Steel roo bars did the job very well.
Take those same vehicles, with steel roo bars, and run them into a cow or a tree and the outcomes might be a whole lot different.
There's two approaches to an impact, as outlined by Aesop many years ago. The oak tree who resists until it breaks, or the reed who bends and survives.
I drive a Jeep J20 (F250 equivalent) with a well braced and solid alloy bar. Over the fifteen years I've had it, it's endured various impacts, ranging from wallabies to Hyundai's. There's some very minor bends but that's it. The strength of the bar matches the strength of the vehicle and is appropriate for the impacts encountered so it works. Change those variables, either by driving into big trees or bolting the bar onto a Suzuki, and it stops working.

I had a Smartbar on two Prados I had 10 years ago - I thought it was very well designed - it was mounted on very solid steel mounts that offered good radiator protection - everyone who criticised it back then had not seen or understood how they are mounted. If you want a winch though, have to check because a lot of their bars aren't winch compatible.

We've got a Smartbar on our Prado but it's an older design that looks like tubing, compared to the squarer type ones. It appears to have more space between the bar and bodywork compared to the newer ones that look quite close.
We've only had one hit, a medium sized roo at 80km/hr. The roo was amazingly still alive but had a broken back so I had to put it down, but I think this shows that their pedestrian 'friendly'. I'm sure a steel bar who have killed it instantly. As for the bar itself, even though I knew where the roo hit, I couldn't find any mark/dent/anything. There was no damage to the vehicle from bending backwards.

Mark.

Before I bought the SmartBar I had a guy on another forum tell me there was no way they would fit (he had the same Prado and the SmartBar). He was also against large lights blocking his radiator. I already had the big Light Force lights on a FJ62 LandCruiser. I bought some small Nite Stalker lights in readiness for the new bar and I couldn't believe it when the large lights fitted perfectly. The Nite Stalkers ended up on my Triton. In regards to blocking airflow, we towed our Trak Shak for 6 months, spending a lot of time up North in high 40s and the temp needle never shifted past halfway - gotta love these Prado's!

Mark.