Picking the right bull bar for your 4X4 can feel a little like picking your favourite low-range track: impossible. There are thousands of manufacturers out there designing bars for pretty much every vehicle on the market. With that many manufacturers, you best believe there’s just as many styles too.
Some people, like myself, consider approach angle as the most important element of a bar. Others might prefer a bar that’s sole purpose is protection. Some bars are weak but look incredible, other bars are strong but might be too heavy for your setup. It’s not as straightforward as we’d like, but thankfully you have Unsealed 4X4!
Today I’m here to cut through the fat and help you make the best choice possible. To kick things off, what the heck does a bull bar even do? Let me explain.
What the heck is a bull bar?
Whilst the name seems quite straight forward, a bar to protect from bulls, in recent times, they’ve become a lot more than just protection from large animal strikes. While the core purpose of a bull bar is to provide front-end protection against things like animal impacts and even off-road incidents with trees, there are plenty of other benefits too.
A bull bar is an extremely versatile mounting option for dozens of aftermarket accessories. Winches. Recovery points. Auxiliary driving lights. UHF ariels. And everything in between are all often mounted up the front of our 4X4s and the right bull bar for your needs to be able to accommodate all that gear!
A bull bar is sounding like an important bit of kit isn’t it? Ready to deep dive? Let’s go!
How do you use your 4X4?
This is without a doubt one of the most important questions to ask yourself before committing to any bull bar. With so many manufacturers, styles and materials to choose from, knowing exactly what you need from a bull bar is critical.
If you have a modern 4X4, only need the bull bar for mounting some accessories, and prefer a factory finish then something like an aluminium bumper replacement could be for you. But if you’re tackling tough tracks and outback touring, then something a little more solid that offers more protection is what you want. Perhaps you work in a cattle-prone area and something like a 5-poster Tuff bar is more up your alley? It’s damn hard to know, so let’s get stuck in.
Bumper replacements and alloy bars
Aluminium bumper replacements are definitely one of the best-looking options for front-end accessories on the market. They’re lightweight, compact and follow the lines of the vehicle perfectly in most cases.
They’re almost always a modular design. That means side wings, bash plates, or centre panels are replaceable in case of an incident and provide a great place to mount all your gear.
Mounting a winch to the bar is no drama. Finding a spot for some spotlights, and a UHF radio is quite simple too. Although you do have just one top edge to mount to. A more protective bar has the benefits of hoops to mount accessories onto as well.
The bumper replacements are light, modern, sleek and help with street prowess. But sadly they drop the ball when it comes to protection. If you’ve ever stepped on an empty beer can, imagine that but on a much larger scale, if you hit something with your aluminium bumper replacement.
The lightweight alloy construction offers little strength in a large animal strike and will often come off second best. That, combined with the lack of headlight hoops means you still have the entire front end of your expensive vehicle exposed.
It is sometimes a case of form versus function, and the choice is yours to pick the best option for your type of driving.
Off-the shelf steel bars
An off-the-shelf bull bar from a manufacturer like ARB or TJM is always going to be a safe bet and tick vast majority of boxes. These are all ADR compliant. Guaranteed to fit well. And offer an extremely versatile number of accessory mounts and protection.
Bars like the original ARB deluxe or ARB commercial bull bar have been on the market for over 2 decades. There’s a reason for it. They work. Bars from manufacturers like this are made with strength in mind. They utilise thick plate steel, thick wall tube for the headlight protection and are generally a one-piece design. Again, aiding in strength.
The plate design of them means a lot of lower-slung components are protected. Having the tube hoops too means that your headlights, radiator, front grille, and other expensive components will be protected in the horrific case of an animal strike or worse.
Bars like this also offer a versatile array of mounting options for accessories. They’ll pretty much always fit a 12V winch and will have a stack of mounting tabs for things like spotlights, lightbars, UHF radios, and even AM/FM whips.
The other fantastic benefit about having a large, protective bar with hoops is that if you do run out of mounting options for accessories, there is a plethora of universal clamp style tube mounts which you can utilise and maximise the bar further.
Custom steel bars
Now, this is my sort of flavour! If you’re tackling tough tracks. Want a unique flavour. Or are building a vehicle where approach angle is everything, then you might want to consider a custom bar. Companies like Kinsela’s Kustoms, SEQ Fabrication and others are all well known for insane looking bars that tick the boxes.
When you’re tackling tough tracks, you want to protect the parts of the vehicle that might encounter rocks and boulders, whilst also keeping approach angle in mind. Custom bars can often mean a high clearance bar, designed purely to expose the front of your tyres and keep as much of the bodywork out of the way. In the case of some bars, you might even have to remove parts of the front of your 4X4 to fit the bar. All in the name of clearance.
Custom bars can be made from plate, or tube, depending on what your flavour is. You’ll usually have to specify what sort of accessories you’ll want to fit. A low mount winch and a lightbar is an easy ask. But as soon as you start talking about high-mount winches, UHF antennas and bulk lighting, the design and fabrication process gets a little more hardcore.
What to look for in EVERY bull bar
Now, by now there’s no doubt you’ll have a bit of thinking to do. How hardcore am I really going to go? Do I need to maximise protection? What accessories do I need to fit?
It can be a pretty daunting task choosing a bull bar, but don’t be alarmed! I’ve pulled together a bit of a checklist for you, so you can do your research and make an informed decision! See, Unslealed 4X4 have you covered!
Things to look for:
- Is the bull bar ADR compliant / Airbag compatible (if applicable to your 4X4)?
- Mounting versatility for accessories including winches, lights, recovery points and aerials?
- Is it one or multiple-piece design? (Important to know for strength)
- Do the side wings protect the guards and flares?
- Does the bar have incorporated high-lift jack points?
- Is it steel or aluminium?
- Does it offer hoops for headlight protection?
- Is there a variety of powder coat finishes for matching your 4×4?
- Is it suitable for future mods such as brush bars and bash plates?
- Is the bar going to compliment the styling of the vehicle?
- BONUS – Do you have a 4×4 insurer that covers your modifications?
Hopefully armed with all this information, you can go and choose the perfect bar for your 4×4! There is an ocean of manufacturers out there but coming into the decision process with a clear understanding of what you want for your unique situation is what is going to make the difference!
Stay safe, and I’ll see you out on the tracks!
One bit you missed is how they are attached to the chassis and how deep are the mounting channels.
You should also ask:
1. Is the bar compatible with the vehicle’s air bag release?
2. Has the bar been tested at five stars on my model in an ANCAP collision safety test?
If the answer to those is no or don’t know, there is every reason to think it may do more harm to you than good in an impact (and this was demonstrated by Crashlab in a BHP-commissioned study of a HiLux with steel bar in a frontal offset collision as per ANCAP).
AFAIK, only ARB has tested bars with some models in an ANCAP collision safety test.
I choose to not fit a bull bar, I just avoid running into things.