Nissan steel bullbar vs anything

Signed the paperwork for a new ST today.

Dealer kindly reduced price of Nissan steel bar to $1,750.

The plan is to call him early next week to let him know whether to supply & fit a bar.

I have read lots of posts on this site & I am still unsure which way to go. Obviously if I want a Nissan bar I may as well get them to install it now, but until this point in time, I had not done much investigation regarding bullbars for quite a number of years.

I live in an area where hitting a roo is a matter of time. These hits are generally below about 60kph, before I reach a paved road.

I don't want to muck about agonising over which bar to purchase for too long.

The ARB Delux (black) is not much dearer & whilst the TJM appear a bit cheaper, I'm just not sure. Apart from protection, their only other use will to mount lights.

Also really don't want to change the springs & the dealer says that they don't regardless of the bar they install.

Any suggestions?

Thanks fellas

ARB manufacture the Nissan bar anyway, so they're almost the same. There are minor differences but you put them beside each other and you can see they're related.

ARB test theirs for airbag compliance (naturally, "Nissan" bars are also tested). I do not know about TJM first-hand, but a quick look at an existing bar will tell you - there has to be a compliance label stating that the bar had been tested to allow airbag deployment.

An alloy bar would be a lot lighter. Steel bars are heavy sunzabeeches, but I'm not sure how the alloy bar would withstand even a low-speed impact with a roo. These critters are the very reason why we went with a steel bar.

The dealer MIGHT change the springs if you get enough weight on the front (read "steel bar plus winch") and you get a recall for the bonnet retention strap. If there's 80kg or more (I think), they put heavy springs on the front (at no cost to you), otherwise you get the same squishy ones that everyone else gets.

FWIW roo strikes are something I've lived with for years and I wouldn't be putting on a steel bar just for the roos. Both steel and alloy will bend under the right circumstances with an animal strike, the one difference is how much damage the bar does to the car in an accident and in most cases the steel bar will win that fight over an alloy, but each strike is different to the last.

^ What the Kraft said.

I have hit a few roos and a wallaby but so far I have been lucky and hit them on the front, not in the air.

I have just had (yesterday) a TJM steel bar fitted and it has the airbag compliance sticker and is marketed as airbag compliant.

Only issue I have is that it is the T15 winch bar but there is no slot for the winch cable!
Will be ringing them tomorrow to find out what gives

i have a nissan steel and hit many at 100km/h + and personally wouldnt look at anything else. last friday night i hit one on the ground not on the hop twice (knocked up the road)then ran over it with now visable damage. trees and vehicles are a different story but i dont hit them.

Scubamurph said:

I have just had (yesterday) a TJM steel bar fitted and it has the airbag compliance sticker and is marketed as airbag compliant.

Only issue I have is that it is the T15 winch bar but there is no slot for the winch cable!
Will be ringing them tomorrow to find out what gives

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there is a hole that you mount the fairlead or harse too depending on what you need. good choice on the TJM.

to the OP i personally would go aftermarket instead of the nissan. I have noriced well as far as the D22s that the aftermarket ones have better mounts and extra things like hi-lift jack points

Went to ARB & sales person confirmed the Nissan bar is built by ARB & is almost a cross between the ARB Commercial & Deluxe bars.

Purchasing elsewhere, there ends up only being a few dollars difference between the Nissan & Deluxe so I have decided on the Deluxe.

The alloy bars (ECB etc) do look nice but not really suitable for me.

Still not sure whether I would have just been better off with the Nissan bar but too late as I have told the dealer not to bother. If there had been a greater variation in price I may have chosen differently.

Thanks for the advice.

Good luck with it all Joe. With a 2010 build they should have attended to last years bonnet latch recall by now but it might pay to confirm with your dealer than nothing needs to be done with the new models when a bullbar is added.

KraftyPg said:

Good luck with it all Joe. With a 2010 build they should have attended to last years bonnet latch recall by now but it might pay to confirm with your dealer than nothing needs to be done with the new models when a bullbar is added.

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Will check,

Thanks Krafty

KraftyPg said:

Good luck with it all Joe. With a 2010 build they should have attended to last years bonnet latch recall by now but it might pay to confirm with your dealer than nothing needs to be done with the new models when a bullbar is added.

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hey krafty, just looking on here about fitting a bull bar yaself as apposed to getting it "professionally" done as im about to purchase possibly a arb bar. are there any hidden tricks?? and what is the go with the bonnet latch? i have a 08 king cab, cheers

I don't know about Nissan bars, I've only ever fitted home made bars to other vehicles but I think from other posts on here the general consensus is do it carefully, measure everything and don't cut too much. There is a few threads on here relating to the D40 and fitting factory bars I believe.

The bonnet latch recall was issued last year sometime and effected all D40's from memory, any vehicles with more than 55kg on the front needed to get a bonnet strap put on. (Don't start people on the bonnet strap effectiveness they love to hate it). If the car's already had it's recall the repair is at the owners cost, if not Nissan should still honour it as it's a safety recall and they don't expire. If it's been done you should have a service sticker on one of the pillars or in the book, or give Nissan the VIN and they will tell you, however don't talk to Nissan until the bar is on because they are legally allowed to tell you that without a bar no matter what you plan to do they do not have to make allowances for anything more than they see at the time of inspection.

I would go for a non nissan bar as they have the high lift jack points which Nissan are missing on there bar. I have a nissan bar and thats my only gripe with it.

I have the same model nav, I fitted the ARB deluxe bar mainly due to price had the bar colour coded fitted with IPF spotties inc HID kit for $600 less than the Nissan bar. I still havnt seen a recall for the bonnet latch but I havnt got a winch though.