# A bars - Bull bars - Nudge bars



## 95350 (Jun 5, 2005)

Call them what you will - has anyone had them fitted front/rear to a Fiat Ducato (Rapido 709) my interest is in panel protection not customizing. I have seen one fitted by Vansport while it does look smart it would appear to result in a considerable reduction in ground clearance. Any websites/contacts would be much appreciated.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Although they look snazzy I think the more important issues with (front) bullbars are the potential injuries they cause to pedestrians in the event of an accident, not ground clearance or panel protection. I personally wouldn't have one.

pete.


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## navman (May 10, 2005)

Watch your insurance too.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

peejay said:


> Although they look snazzy I think the more important issues with (front) bullbars are the potential injuries they cause to pedestrians in the event of an accident, not ground clearance or panel protection. I personally wouldn't have one.
> 
> pete.


I wonder if the poster of "I hate quad bikes" would agree with you?

Olley


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Olley, !! your not thinking about getting them for the Winnie 8O 

If you do, tell me the supplier :wink:


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## 88864 (May 10, 2005)

hello olley, I always look on the bright side of life if I had a bull bar I proberly would be looking at very minor damage if any, but I would proberly looking at a dead young boy and girl, I know which one I would chose, the van is insured and repairable,


chris :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## scannerman (May 1, 2005)

balikbyan said:


> Call them what you will - has anyone had them fitted front/rear to a Fiat Ducato (Rapido 709) my interest is in panel protection not customizing. I have seen one fitted by Vansport while it does look smart itwould appear to result in a considerable reduction in ground clearance. Any web
> s*ites/contacts would be much appreciated.*


* 

Hi I thought they were illegal*


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## 88734 (May 9, 2005)

I had one on a Range Rover. They are bolted at the bottom so when they get hit, they pivot back and trash the wings and bonnet. All it takes is for someone to reverse into you and you end up with a large bill.


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

As far as I know or should I say, remember, it’s been a while since I researched this.


Peejay, the latest A Bars are designed with pedestrians in mind, you can no longer buy the bars that had cornered edges etc, they have to be smooth and round, this helps deflect the pedestrians. 8O 

As for being illegal, well no the legal ones are not illegal :lol: …..however any A Bar/Bull Bar etc that has sharp or cornered edges will be illegal.

I have an A Bar fitted to my 4x4, cost £280.00 3yrs ago, not cheap but the best aren’t.

If you decide on an A Bar go for stainless steel, and I have had 2 mot’s done with mine fitted, so you see they are legal.

Merlin is correct, if you do come a cropper and end up with a front end smash, be prepared for a lot more damage, crazy I know.


MHS…Rob


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Sorry, still not convinced that a bullbar has any real advantages apart from looking 'cool' and possibly preventing a bit of cosmetic damage in the event of a minor 'nudge'. All at the expense of pedestrian safety.

As has been said, they are bolted to the chassis and have no 'give' so in a crash will probably end up causing extra damage to your vehicle chassis in addition to panel damage in a shunt than if one wasn't fitted.

The panels and front ends on modern vehicles are designed in a certain way to crumple or 'give' when headbutted by a pedestrian 8O reducing injuries to a certain extent, slapping a technically legal and nicely rounded lump of stainless steel on the front aint gonna help matters here, its gonna make the injuries worse no matter how nice and rounded off they are.

Nope, i'm not convinced.

pete.


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

Hi Pete, 

I'm not trying to convince anyone to be honest, I gave an answer to some of the questions here. :roll: 

Would I fit one to my next vehicle, probably not. 

I can say this though, I was travelling from North Wales in my 4x4, and it was just getting dark, speed about 50mph hedges either side, (I‘ll have to say this quietly in case hymmi‘s around) all of a sudden a giant of an owl flew out of the nearside hedge, I could do nothing as it was point blank range...owl hit the A Bar and bounced off...last seen flapping his way towards the hedge on the other side of the road...no damage to my car at all, few feathers around the bar that’s all.

So if you want to be kind to owls and not pedestrians but an A Bar. :lol: 

If you want to be kind to all living things buy a tank...at least they'll hear you coming then. :lol: 

MHS..Rob


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

No probs Rob, perhaps we'll agree to dissagree.

If I had been in that situation though, I would have sounded my horn to scare him off - Hoot, Hoot. :roll: 

sorry, had to be done. :wink: 

pete.


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## hymmi (May 9, 2005)

.....................as it happens,i am around and watching you two :roll: .....


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

ScotJimland said:


> Olley, !! your not thinking about getting them for the Winnie 8O
> 
> If you do, tell me the supplier :wink:


Hi scotjimland I believe my local scrap dealer has some secondhand railway track :lol:

Peejay I don't think RV's are built with a crumple zone :lol: mine's got a dirty great lorry chassis.

Olley


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hymmi wrote;



> .....................as it happens,i am around and watching you two .....


I just knew your post would ruffle a few feathers Rob, 'owl' you gonna talk your way outta this one? :?

pete.


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

so sorry Pete..but you started it....*I don't give a hoot*

Do you think we'll have a mod along soon to tell us off for going off-topic.....Pete how you going to get out of that. :lol:

MHS...Rob


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

You can do better than that Rob, i've already used the 'hoot' joke :wink: 

You are of course quite correct about wandering here and sincere apologies to balikbyan for deviating from the original thread and hopefully he'll understand given the circumstances :roll: 

Anyway, stop changing the subject Rob, the fact of the matter is that you have sent a poor talonted owl to meet his maker you twit (twoo) and hymmi is clearly devastated, so you have some making up to do here. :wink: 

pete.

ps; No owls were harmed (by me anyway) in the making of this post


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

Yes sorry balikbyan, but I hope you have gleamed some useful info here, if it's what you want A Bar/Bullbar here are some sites for you to try and source one.

http://www.stanwelltrailers.co.uk/a_photo.php?id=98

http://www.vangadgets.co.uk/index.html?fiat_ducato_accessories.htm

http://www.247spares.co.uk/carparts...TO_MOTORHOME/part_name=bull-bar-front/result/

Pete, I did say sorry, had to use hoot again it just fitted nicely, owl let someone else carry this on now before hymmi really gives me the bird.

MHS…Rob


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## Trond (Nov 30, 2005)

balikbyan said:


> Call them what you will - has anyone had them fitted front/rear to a Fiat Ducato (Rapido 709) my interest is in panel protection not customizing. I have seen one fitted by Vansport while it does look smart it would appear to result in a considerable reduction in ground clearance. Any websites/contacts would be much appreciated.


Panel protection is the keyword here. European motorhomes have their fenders made of plastic or fibreglas. It does not require much power to inflict severe damage to these expensive toys. Now hear me out, this happend to me:
My mh was parked at the most remote part outside our local shopping mart. My wife where inside heating up my credit card. I had my normal position laying on the bed, browsing all available tv channels and suddenly a big bang.
If you yet to see a really mad viking the next seconds are sensored..
When I came to my senses outside the evidence was clear. A lightweigth shoppingcart had been cougth by the wing and crashed into the rear of my mh.
The shoppingcart was made of steel and had no aperant signs of the hit, but I discovered that the rear end of my motorhome was made of fibreglas and the damage was severe. 
The one responsible for the shoppingcart had ofcourse left the scenery. I guess, watching me jumping out of my mh and shouting "I'm gonna kill U" was not an invitation to be honest. So I can't really blame "The one"
The insurance company gave their usual answer: "we do not cover..."

Those who have tried to mend a piece of plastic would know how hard this is. If I had a bull guard, even made of mild steel tubing the hole incident would have been wipet out with some polish.

Back to topic, bull guards.. I'm old enought to remember the original bull guards. Those that could withstand a frontal with a bull ( more likly a moose in my part of world ), also known as pedestrian killers. These where banned of obvious reasons. Modern bull guards are nothing more then a bar to attach your extra lights. They look cool on modern 4x4 along with some side bars. ( those who never leave the road ) but it aint strong enought to fix a winch.

http://www.vangadgets.co.uk/index.html?bull_bars_2.htm

This was the only link I found. They seemes to supply bull bars.

The end my story, I used a grinder to cut of the damaged fibreglass and replaced it with a rear fender from a volvo that i found on the scrapyard. This is made of steel and got a damper so if anyone should bump my rear at slow speed I just say: It does not apear to be any damage to my veichle so I continue my vacation, have a nice day sir!

My recommendation is: Get hold of someone who are able to bend pipe and weld, let him construct someting, bullbar front and rear + side bars to protect your investment or pay for some serious insurance.

Still waiting for the global warming.....


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## 92609 (May 1, 2005)

As with many other parts of our live the European Parliament has something to say on this. The relevant document can be found Here

In the discussions I have heard most of the accent has been on the way Bull Bars cancel the designed in safety of cars, whereby in impacts at slow speeds they tend to scoop up the pedestrian onto the bonnet. Note CARS.

The ergonomics of van type vehicles surely don't have this effect. Unless the vehicle comes to a very rapid stop the pedestrian will be hit first forward and then run over. Just a thought. I would not like to be hit by the front bumper of a LandRover for instance Bull bar or not!

Geoff


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

If a pedestrian doesn't hear or see my 6.5 tons of RV coming down the road and steps off the sidewalk (whilst giving you that look) then they face the consequences. Being slapped by the RV is gonna sting. And our RV doesn't have crumple zones either so in the event of someone breaking it they are going to go to hospital anyway. Roads are for vehicles and sidewalks are for pedestrians and they should not be mixed up, in our politically correct world it is always easier to blame someone else or castigate a small minority rather than sort the problem out properly.
How come bull bars are legally certified to EU standards if they are so dangerous anyway?

Keith


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