phoenixinoz

Lol....Badge, you sound like my better half when he's trying to convince me he wants something. Lordy...thou protesteth too much

It's at his point I say

"Go get yersen ya boy toy...you wont be happy till yer do"...lol

Badge

Ok thanks! You were reasonably polite but the bloke I just answered to sounds like a typical bull bar hater or maybe - 4x4 hater. I have no problems with lights, bull bars or 4x4 used consciensiously and appropriately (probably like you and many others) and don't like to get in to emotive political arguing about safety hence I dismissed it.

As to I think you protest too much, it's amusing to an extent when people say things like that. It's bit of a cop out to avoid extra analysis. I am justified in my situation to explain my decision because I was cricitised. Fair dos? I think so. Lets lay the matter to rest.

I'll let you know what I do.

badge

What pisses me off, BTW, now I think about it, is the buggers who drive with high beam on continously regardless of traffic...

phoenixinoz

Badge, I wasn't having a go. I was expressing an opinion, just as I respect your opinion in terms of wanting a bullbar. As a matter of opinion, I happen to think you are a considerate person and you probably wouldn't drive it like a hoon anyway, so you're maybe safer than *Joe*average anyway.

I was joking about the protesteth too much <twas tongue in cheek m8 >

And I agree re your comment re people driving with headlights on. This drives me BONKERS too

Timber Floor Au

Gday Badge,

I need a bullbar for front of my ute too. with some nice roospotter lights.

We were up in samford last nt at the hotel havin a steak and a cpl of local beverages....

Way back to Beau' we nrly cropped 4 roos in separate incidents..

Rod my mate who was driving was so fatigued, without good spot lights on the unlit roads, that we were all petrified we would hit one of the buggers..

Not that we were worried to much of knockin over a roo, but that we may inadvertantly die.

Theres a guy down at GoldCoast does some BRILL stainless steel bars, and also www.flexiglass.com.au sell off some of their seconds, I have my name down for a canopy pmsl..

Gurl at reception there said you sad bugger, waitin to save a few hundred bucks cos of our misfortune, I smiled n said YEP CYA lol

Good Luck m8

Badge

That's OK.

Actually I am more amused about the Eric bloke who jumped on my case. Being a reasonable person, I KNOW there is no correlation between bull bars and driving confidence. Putting on a bullbar with no functional need, is nothing less, at worse, than a decision of styling and preference, nothing more. I see boys in souped up cars, laugh, and say "if it floats their boat" - right up until they drive stupidly - then they are just idiots.

This decision and preference has got me thinking about that age old argument about 4x4s which I have been mulling over for a few weeks as there is a 4x4 club at work. I own a 4x4 ute but have never seen it as a 4x4 if you see what I mean.

I have recently heard some arguments which actually blow a lot of anti4x4 arguments clear out of the water: Most diesel 4x4s use no more fuel than a Falcon or Commodore or Europe big 6 or 8. Most have a footprint no bigger than a big car anyhow. About the only thing bad about 4x4 is the height - you can't see past them!!! (Nor vans for that matter, nor people movers).

What it comes down to is DECISION ABILITY and STATUS - snobbery if you will. The biggest thing on the planet, eh?

When people are complaining about 4x4s, they're complaining about the ostentation, if you think about it.
eg when I see a man with agood looking girl in a sports car, I don't think "small willy" I think , "he's doing well". If I see a rich mother in Toorak doing the school run in a 4x4, I smile and think "she doesnt need it, but she's probably doing well - [and probably!] she can't drive either". That's about the short of it. Infact my confidence allows me to take someone with a better car than mine, I love turning up in old cars.

If a family with more than 3 kids get a 4x4 because they camp more than twice a year, I think it is justifiable. You can only get 1 car half the time.

What I am saying is that there are as many people complaining about 4x4 because they are problems wth their own image or someone elses - than people who have no need for 4x4s.

Its all down to envy, status and snobbery really. Why do 4x4 cop it so much? I'm not a fan of big 4x4, I'd like a Nissan or Lc in a midsize if it were possible. Just high enough for ground clearance.

cheers

Badge

phoenixinoz

This reminds me of a story an Aussie mate told me a few months ago.

Her and her hubby have a mate that lives up north somewhere, on a farm, and they regulaly go to help cull roo's at night to keep the population down.

Anyways, one night her hubby shone his spotlight at a bloody big roo, he reckons he stood 6/7 feet *easy*. He was a big buggar of a roo.

Anyways, mates hubby shines his spotlight at the roo, takes aim and fires.

Roo falls down dead. Everyone is amazed cos mates hubby can't normally shoot for a toffee.

They go over to inspect the roo..... and not a mark on him!!

After much piss taking, it turns out the poor bloody thing had diesdof a heart attack!

And her hubby still can't fire straight

Ialibu

My Uncle owned and ran a major hire company in western NSW for several decades and he said that if he could get away with it he wouldn't have put Bull Bars on his hire vehicles as they affected the front end geometry on all types of vehicles they were mounted on. Apparently it cost more money in the long run fixing the problems caused by the extra weight on the front end than what the Bull bars cost.

Its all about how you feel not how someone else feels or talks.

cresta57

Badge,
Knowing where you live i.e semi rural a roo bar is no big issue. Where we live dodging roos is a daily occurrence. I posted a while ago about being unlucky enough to have hit and killed one, I've clipped another one since and we've all had several very near misses. To say that my driving skills are lacking because I hit a roo that was going full speed and leaping probably thirty feet at a time in pitch dark is a little silly, however, I respect the city dwellers opinions on roo bars being child killers as they are far more dangerous in the event of an accident with a pedestrian. The fact that an unsupervised child with parents moronic enough to allow them to run into the road in the first place yet still blame the motorist for the accident is entirely another debate best left for another time.
My experience/opinions on roo bars are if you drive the Ute along unsealed i.e corrugated roads frequently, as we do on a daily basis, don't buy the nice shiny alloy bars. We see them laid at the edge of the road up here where the welds have vibration hardened to the point that they just snap and fall apart. The full bumper replacement ones are excellent, a bit more pricey and I'd go for the mild steel every time over the alloy. TJM and ARB do good after market ones with pre-drilled mounting holes for your car phone ariel your HF set ariel as well as the roo spotting cibbies.
After our lucky escape recently when the nice lady pulled out straight in front of us Deb wouldn't look at a replacement Ute that didn't have a full bumper bar and dual airbags. You can be the safest driver on the road and with your precious new cargo, congratulations bye the way, you probably will be yet you still can't always avoid the drink drivers and the red light runners of the world.
Good luck and congrats again.

chopper boy

When vehicles are designed the manufacturers spend a fortune on making the front of vehicles "Pedestrian Friendly".
This basically means that if you hit someone with your vehicle that person should go onto the bonnet or be deflected off to the side.
Putting bull bars on vehicles kill people, so when someone in a Ute seriously injures or kills you or a member of your family with their bull bars, you'll agree with me that they are completely unnecessary, just slow down and fit some spot lights.

Cheers'en.

Gjn200

Get the damn bar!!
Too many do-gooders around here..... If things that hurt pedestrians should be banned, what about trucks JCB's etc etc etc.....Oh, thats different.

Badge

I was going to say this but thought better of it.

Thanks mate, I did contact ECB and TJM and only one does the full bumper bar replacement for my early model.

I have found a shop in Melly that makes them to fit, both nudge - 450 - and full replacement 900, and will approach them and ask about the metal and manufacturing used.

Cheers Cresta - I really appreciate it

Badge

Badge

If it happened to me, I'd say that was the luck of the draw. It could have been a truck or a van, with no chance of deflection. Either way I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. IF - if my aunt has balls she would be my Uncle.

The issue is that spots fitted directly to grills or bumpers are either too loose or low. That's why I may go for the bull bar - its a means to an end, and serves a higher purpose anyhow - I do worry about those dark roads sometimes.

B

JayDeee

Go for what you think is necessary, I know for a fact that it would not BE SAFE to drive where I live without roo bars, (having come a close croper many a time) and anyone who wants to tell me different can put their kids in a car with no bars and drive them around if they feel it necessary to prove a point. If roos or any other large wildlife (emu's etc) put you and your families lives at risk then roo bar that car up, if not then save the money, end of story really.

Hoep you are enjoyng it all
Kala

Badge

By calling around all the wrecking yards in Melly I have now found one cheap.

Badge

JerrySpringer

Well,well,well, you forgot the motorcyclists and cyclists, those other vunerable road user who -surprise surprise - you will find using the road without the supervision of their parents.

If you think children who wander into the road are the only ones at risk of being killed then you are sadly mistaken and should really open your eyes to who else you have to share the road with.

And you really should look into the causes of pedestrian accidents - you will be surprised at how many are killed on the pavement, or how many are killed by out-of-control vehicles, vehicles jumping red lights, and so on. In fact, what makes you think that if you hit a pedestrian or motorcyclist or cyclist you are automatically blameless? You seem to forget that drivers can act as inappropriately as anyone else on the road/pavement. And Badge has already said he likes to drive fast, but with poor visibility......what else can we say apart from 'stupid'.