[snorting bull]

Got hold of this thread from another similar thread. Are bull bars legal. My guess is it should be banned. The other day, a cop showed a stop with his lights, and I came to a grinding halt immediately. While the other guy behind me who had bars dashed onto me badly. The rear got dented because of his projecting bars. Ultimately, the cop pulled over both of us, and as with any accident, I had to compromise. Makes me think why I stopped despite the cop showing the signal. If I was careful not to hit anyone at the junction and run away, I would have probably gotten away with a Rs. 200 fine or so.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

Front - NO, Please dont even think about it. If a moron pedestrian tries to cross the road thinking he is faster than your car (or your car can stop to zero at 0m distance), he might end up
1. getting hurt - if there is no bullguard with damage to your car
2. killed - if there is a bullguard with minimal OR no damage to your car.

I had the misfortune to experience this firsthand, when on an evening as I drove on an empty stretch of road from Powai to IIT (Mumbai) a drunkard swerved across the road into my path. I couldn't stop in time and managed to hit him just as the car stopped. He briefly collapsed on the bonnet and then was launched in the air, landing about five to six feet away. I cursed, put on the hazard lights, pulled the handbrake and got down to check on him. By this time he had managed to get up. I checked him for any outward signs of injury. No wounds, no blood, no scrapemarks visible on his hands and legs. And the guy now wanted to cross over the divider onto the other side!

Morale of the story: I had toyed with the idea of fitting a front guard (bull bar or whatever you may call it) and maybe add auxiliary lights to it, many times in the past. This one incident made me forget all about it. I can't imagine what would have happened if the car had been fitted with a bullbar or any other contraption. The guy walked safe because of the European styling of the bonnet.

Forget the bullbars, both at front and at rear.

[rjstyles69]

For me the bullbar turned out to be a bumper saver. About 2 months back during one of my weekend drives to mysore , a dog came out of nowhere. I was cruising at good speeds since the highway was void of the human imbeciles. The dog just darted into the path of the vehicle and I quite dint want to risk panic braking at that speed.

Hit the poor soul and the bull guard took the impact. The lower piece of aluminum was damaged beyond repair. I ended up with only a dislodged number plate and a mis-aligned bull bar. This piece of hardware definitely saved the bumper. If the hit could dislodge aluminum and render it useless from its mount , to crack the bumper would have been a piece of cake.

I think me trying to avoid the dog would have had a disastrous end with the Scorp'.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Bumpers are cheaper than lives.

Honeybee's post says it all...

Originally Posted by honeybee

Morale of the story: I had toyed with the idea of fitting a front guard (bull bar or whatever you may call it) and maybe add auxiliary lights to it, many times in the past. This one incident made me forget all about it. I can't imagine what would have happened if the car had been fitted with a bullbar or any other contraption. The guy walked safe because of the European styling of the bonnet.

Forget the bullbars, both at front and at rear.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Bumpers are cheaper than lives.

Honeybee's post says it all...

Human lives or just lives? just kidding.

Yesterday a guy on a scooter carrying three school children banged into my rear bumper. It was a high speed impact since he skidded and couldn't stop. My bumper needs to be replaced. The guy did not know the basics of rules or what 'hit and run' meant etc. I am glad the children didn't have any injuries and the Idiot hit his chest to the trunk lid and was seen rubbing it. (asked him what can he do for the damages, he said he cant do anything

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

I think me trying to avoid the dog would have had a disastrous end with the Scorp'.

I have had this incidence happen twice to me, at speeds of 60kmph and above. Both times the dogs just stood there on the road, as if oblivious to the world around them. I couldn't brake and couldn't steer away (for fear of crashing into the adjoining vehicles), so I tried to slow down as much the situation permitted and since the dog then cowered down, instead of jumping out, it was driven over. I could feel the thuds from the floorboard and at first feared a bloodshed all over the road, but a few metres on when I looked back, the dog was still more or less in its place, though it must have been badly sctached and scared to hell.

All I suffered was a bent numberplate which was straightened out by hand.

So unless you were going at a very fast speed of say 90kmph and above, and hit a dog, I wouldn't imagine you would suffer any damage to the car.

[sgiitk]

We see a lot of cars with bull bars both in the front and/or the back.
The owners are at best ill informed. They think these will protect the vehicle from accident damage.

What they do not realise is:

1. In case of a collision you will transmit the impact to the chassis and the crumple zones will not come into play. So the vehicle may suffer marginally less damage, the occupants will suffer more.

2. If you hit a pedestrian he will NOT be thrown on to the bonnet and will suffer more injury. He may even be crushed.

3. You compromise the streamlining to a degree.

I think as responsible motorists we need to educate people about this.

[zaks]

What you say is true it alters the dynamics of crash reponse, but don't we all know they put that for bling effect and to avoid scratches due to glance when in heavy traffic.

[srishiva]

Have discussed this and there are many people on team-bhp who have them having enquired about them.

They should not be legal for vehicles other than off-roaders. So as usual what we see is bad law enforcement.

[vigsom]

There was a case where there was a short circuit in an Innova post front end impact thanks to the bullbar

[vartakavi]

I have Hiker Fibre Crash Guard fitted on my new Innova VX. Last week, while reversing out of a hotel garage, the one edge of the crash guard hit a pillar and cracked (it was pushed away from the vehicle to the front). This piece is still fixed to the main body but there is a large crack on the rear side. I taped it up and tied it to the vehicle using a thin rope for the 1100 km trip back home to Hyderabad and it has held. But the patch work looks ugly!

I heard that Fibre glass structures can be repaired - any one knows of where I can get this Crash Guard repaired? A new one will set me back by over Rs.9,000!

Thanks
Venkatesh

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

I have Hiker Fibre Crash Guard fitted on my new Innova VX. Last week, while reversing out of a hotel garage, the one edge of the crash guard hit a pillar and cracked (it was pushed away from the vehicle to the front). This piece is still fixed to the main body but there is a large crack on the rear side. I taped it up and tied it to the vehicle using a thin rope for the 1100 km trip back home to Hyderabad and it has held. But the patch work looks ugly!

I heard that Fibre glass structures can be repaired - any one knows of where I can get this Crash Guard repaired? A new one will set me back by over Rs.9,000!

Thanks
Venkatesh

Fibre glass comes in two versions, one where the base plastic can be softened by heat (most bumpers are this type) and the other where it alters chemically while setting and cannot be softened.

In case of the former, you can approach a bumper repair person and the crack will be repaired. Note that you will have to paint the guard as the cracked portion will still be visible.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

I have Hiker Fibre Crash Guard fitted on my new Innova VX. Last week, while reversing out of a hotel garage, the one edge of the crash guard hit a pillar and cracked (it was pushed away from the vehicle to the front). This piece is still fixed to the main body but there is a large crack on the rear side. I taped it up and tied it to the vehicle using a thin rope for the 1100 km trip back home to Hyderabad and it has held. But the patch work looks ugly!

I heard that Fibre glass structures can be repaired - any one knows of where I can get this Crash Guard repaired? A new one will set me back by over Rs.9,000!

Thanks
Venkatesh

Can you post a picture of the damaged bull bar ? Unlikely that you would be able to repair a bull bar. The fiber one's would need to be remolded and this is quite a job if you are already working on a pre-fabricated mold.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by vartakavi

I heard that Fibre glass structures can be repaired - any one knows of where I can get this Crash Guard repaired? A new one will set me back by over Rs.9,000!

A crack in fibre glass can be easily repaired and there are also DIY kits available for it. The hard part is finding the DIY kit for a reasonable price (all those imported-products stores charge a huge margin).

For the repair, you have to apply a gel over the surface, allow it to set for about a day, and then paint over it. It will still appear as a slightly uneven surface but is difficult to notice unless you get close to it.

[CARDEEP]

Interesting article on after market vehicle protection items, which could be of help to all:

Smart Buying: Always use protection