Push Bar/Brush Guard

[CheeseSteakJim]

I always thought that we had 10mph bumpers on the cars, at least for my 86 GM. I could swear I remember reading that in a few places over the years. Is 5mph the highest speed that will not damage the absorber itself?

AFAIK the absorbers don't typically go bad even after an accident. When I got in my head-on with a truck who was doing 55 and pulling lawn equipment, the bumper impact absorbers were the only things on the nose I didn't have to replace when I rebuilt the front end. After the impact they popped right back out into place.

[88MercWagon]

That's the thing I've been worried about - mounting it to the frame means you lose the shock absorption function of the bumper. You think that'd make an accident more injurious, or would you just mangle the other guy's car more seriously?

Maybe not so much injurious to you as injurious to the frame in a low speed impact, although like Ivan said, they are fully boxed.

[Nathan in MI]

Yeah, hard to say what would happen. I'm just not sure if I mount it to the bumper if that'd be as strong. My biggest concern is, if I hit a deer, I WANT TO WIN.

[yucatec]

Dear Panthers,
Deer (usually) push the grill into the radiator and/or take out a headlight or two. One of my neighbors has taken out twenty dear and none of them have come over the hood. The panthers are lower than his F 150, but I nailed a big doe in my Pugeot 505 at 50 and she executed the standard flight pattern.

But I wonder if a bumper calmped steel grate - like Melikey's- wouldn't fold back into the radiator. Okay and helpful at low speeds -20-25, but not much use above 35.

The discussion is important to me because I often depart for sheepdog trials at 3 am, there's tons of deer and the last time I rolled off the farm for three weeks in the west, in fog at a low speed (couldn't have been doing 25), I encountered a Senator Craig suicidal deer, and crumpled the front end and dislodged two headlights but none of the radiators.

The obvious solution is a rig like Melikey's but, as (as he noted) a fixed upper brace to the frame would defeat the 5mph bumper impact.

That's a shopping center impact but, I've had my share of those.

Looking at my 89 cp, penetrating the plastic for an upper brace bull bar to frame that didn't look like Chainsaw Jim's work, would be trickey but ...

presuming that problem was solved; why couldn't that brace's attachment to the frame incorporate a pair of old stock absorbers?


Donald McCaig

[yucatec]

Dear Panthers,
Deer (usually) push the grill into the radiator and/or take out a headlight or two. One of my neighbors has killed twenty dear and none of them have come over the hood. The panthers are lower than his F 150, but I nailed a big doe in my Pugeot 505 at 50 and she executed the standard flight pattern.

But I wonder if a bumper clamped steel grate - like Melikey's- wouldn't fold back into the radiator. Okay and helpful at low speeds -20-25, but not much use above 35.

The discussion is important to me because I often depart for sheepdog trials at 3 am, there's tons of deer and the last time I rolled off the farm for three weeks in the west, in fog at a low speed (couldn't have been doing 25), I encountered a Senator Craig suicidal deer, and crumpled the front end and dislodged two headlights but none of the radiators.

The obvious solution is a rig like Melikey's but, as (as he noted) a fixed upper brace to the frame would defeat the 5mph bumper impact.

That's a shopping center impact but, I've had my share of those.

Looking at my 89 cp, penetrating the plastic for an upper brace bull bar to frame that didn't look like Chainsaw Jim's work, would be tricky but ...

presuming that problem was solved; why couldn't that brace's attachment to the frame incorporate a pair of bumper absorbers?


Donald McCaig

[Archangel]

presuming that problem was solved; why couldn't that brace's attachment to the frame incorporate a pair of bumper absorbers?

Guess you could do that, but those things are big and ugly, and you'll have to be fairly handy with the welder to get them right. Still tho, bottom of bull bar moves straight back, while cause of the bumper-absorbers sitting diagonally the top of said bull bar will wanna move back and down, so something will try to flex/bend - not a good thing to happen, me thinks.

[piranah]

Yes, I know this is a way old thread, but all the photos are gone, and I am looking to see what kind of guard would fit a wagon. Anybody have any photos of what a wagon with a bar looks like?

[Lincolnmania]