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Brush Guard or Damage Multiplier


AlabamaDan
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I've been thinking about some amour for my QX4, but I've heard these brush guards may be more for looks than function.  I want something that looks good, but only if it offers protection as well.  So let's settle it - is this a damage multiplier or a guard?  Let's not talk opinions, but engineering.  What makes it weak and what should we look for in a strong front end protector?

 

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The trouble with brush guards, as I understand it, is that the guard tends to slap into the front of the truck if you hit something and damage more things than would've gotten hit by what you ran into. It looks like that one's got half-decent lower mounts, but if those bent pieces of flat bar are supposed to be the middle mounts, I wouldn't trust them for much. And if those fail, and the lower mounts don't, you've got a bunch of leverage acting on a part of the truck that probably wasn't designed for that.

 

Even if all the mounts are good and attached to solid parts of the truck, that thing doesn't cover a whole lot, does it? It might keep most of the sticks or tree branches out of your headlights (provided they don't get stuck in the little cross-bars), but they'll still hit the bumper cover or drag along the hood/fenders as you pass. I doubt it would do much if any good against a hoof rat, unless said hoof rat was considerate enough to stand in just the right spot. About the only thing I think it would be good at is pushing something wide, like the bumper of another vehicle--assuming, once again, that the mounts could take it.

I'm also imagining trying to clean out behind those headlight hoops after a good snow. Especially if it's melted a little and then re-frozen. That might not be as much of an issue in your area, though!

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These are very light duty. The name says it all. "BRUSH guard". Thats just about all they're good for- slow speed pushing of grass and small bushes on a tight trail.  Any impact of significance and they will fold up.  @RainGoat is a good source of info on this topic.  He has one and has front end damage. 

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I had one years ago on an s-10 blazer. I had what would've been a minor accident, I rear-ended a Ford pickup at very low speed. The guard folded back, creased the hood, both front fenders and broke the mounts on both headlights. Without that "guard" I'm sure the damage would've been minimal. We joked afterwards that the grille guard actually did it's job, as the grille wasn't damaged at all! Lol

Needless to say, unless it's a strong fabricated unit, I'll never have one again.

 

I love what@KiwiTerrano

has, any info on that? (But I'm sure it's not available here)

Edited by 01Pathmaker
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As far as I know, there is no such thing as a guard that actually helps during a rolling impact. There are large amounts of energy even during 15mph impacts that tubing just can’t hold up against.

I think a guards place isn’t to protect anything during a high force impact but they are there to protect against purposed low force contact, like pushing down trees, heavy brush, and tow/winch points.

I’m sure there are special designs that ARE made to offer some protection during moderate force impacts like deer and fender benders, BUT these same designs may actually end up causing much more damage during a high force impact since they are very ridged and attached directly to the frame. If you bypass the shock absorbing front/rear end of a vehicle then you might see total loss damage to the frame and insurance will deny coverage. Of course this has no significance to our dated vehicles..

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3 hours ago, 01Pathmaker said:

I had one years ago on an s-10 blazer. I had what would've been a minor accident, I rear-ended a Ford pickup at very low speed. The guard folded back, creased the hood, both front fenders and broke the mounts on both headlights. Without that "guard" I'm sure the damage would've been minimal. We joked afterwards that the grille guard actually did it's job, as the grille wasn't damaged at all! Lol

Needless to say, unless it's a strong fabricated unit, I'll never have one again.

 

I love what@KiwiTerrano

has, any info on that? (But I'm sure it's not available here)

It's an XROX bar. They're Aussie made, ~1300AU plus shipping, will hopefully be fitting one to my R50 in the next few months. They're airbag compliant and also have mounting bolts for recovery points on the side of the winch cradle.

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These are very light duty. The name says it all. "BRUSH guard". Thats just about all they're good for- slow speed pushing of grass and small bushes on a tight trail.  Any impact of significance and they will fold up.  [mention=40800]RainGoat[/mention] is a good source of info on this topic.  He has one and has front end damage. 

 

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a guard that actually helps during a rolling impact. There are large amounts of energy even during 15mph impacts that tubing just can’t hold up against. 

I think a guards place isn’t to protect anything during a high force impact but they are there to protect against purposed low force contact, like pushing down trees, heavy brush, and tow/winch points.

 

I’m sure there are special designs that ARE made to offer some protection during moderate force impacts like deer and fender benders, BUT these same designs may actually end up causing much more damage during a high force impact since they are very ridged and attached directly to the frame. If you bypass the shock absorbing front/rear end of a vehicle then you might see total loss damage to the frame and insurance will deny coverage. Of course this has no significance to our dated vehicles..

 

I agree with both of these. I have a front frontrunner style & a rear bumper gaurd. Both have “pushbar” rubber contacts. They are very useful for people low speed backing into you (or nudging others).  

Off road, I found them very useful at literally “guarding” against brush. They pushed branches, bushes, saplings & other pliable plantlife out of the way & made a HUGE difference in preventing cosmetic damage. I also was able to use the frontrunner one in front to mount effective auxiliary lights. The key is really to be mounted low where you actually impact the brush.

 

The rear protected me from a trailer that came loose & made it possible to stand on the rear bumper without slipping off. While the front was mangled in an accident, I was actually pretty pleased with its performance. It undoubtedly took some of the force of the impact, lessened the damage & left my truck driveable.

 

All that said, I was very happy with mine. They were for camping & light duty & did just what I asked. I always wanted a full metal bumper & winch but that was well beyond my means & really my needs. Now that I’m commiting to a more hard core vehicle & I have more cash to throw at it, I’m doing more.

 

That XRox is a different beast entirely.

 

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6 hours ago, AlabamaDan said:

That is nice looking.  How does it mount that makes it stronger?


It's not really a brush guard, it's a whole bumper, so its mounts don't have to work around the factory bumper cover or crash bar or whatever. I assume it bolts straight to the unibody where the factory bumper mounts, where the body's built to take that kind of load.

 

The nice thing about RainGoat's guards is that if they do fail, there's only so much damage they're gonna do to what's behind them; they don't have a big tall section to slap back against the body and cause damage away from the site of the actual impact. Worst case, your bumper cover gets screwed up, and that was gonna take a hit either way. Looks like a good setup and sounds like they were well-built.

Edited by Slartibartfast
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Sounds like the consensus is damage multiplier for the big grill. What about those smaller safari bars? Same thing?

VANGUARD VGUBG-1073-0886BK 1997-2003 Infiniti QX4 Front Bull Bar With Skid Plate B/K https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XC6ZDPQ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_zkOZBbN2G8B5N



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It won’t protect your sides very well so it’s mainly for parking lot bumps & brush on the centerline between ruts. It would also give a mounting point for auxiliary lights but I don’t think that’s as important in these days of ditch lights & LED bars. I’m not as sure on the Quey but I love what[mention=40509]Pathy_02[/mention] has done with his grill LED. That & ditch lights would completely meet the forward & lateral light I was needing back in my desert days. There are roof mounted light bars too (& for cheap) but they reportedly whistle alot & the reflected light is pretty bad so they’re best for low speed work or looking for a campsite.

 

 

 

 

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I agree on the lack of coverage, I just thought I’d ask as a resource for future readers. That leaves a real bumper. Problem is those are only custom build on a truck this old.


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