Which Bull Bar to fit - ARB or IronMan or other?

[ROnEM]

I have an Land Cruiser 200 (2012 - pre latest facelift) and looking to fit a bar and winch.

Not sure which bar/package to go with steel/alloy - ARB or Ironman or other.

Not looking to do big off-road other than things like Gibb River and Oodnatatta Track.

Just want something that can provide us with a bit of protection from wildlife and pull the LC200 and 2.5t van out of the mud if we need it.

Also looking at 50mm lift at front to fix vehicle's front rake and support bar & winch, no lift at rear, but matched suspension with front and also poly air bags for when the van or horse float is in tow.

All advise, comments and suggestions appreciated.

Cheers

Ro

 

[crackacoldie]

My personal preference is for ARB or TJM. The Iron Man product, from what I have seen, is lighter guage steel, howver, having matched with the right winch, should not be an issue. Again this is my personal opinions only, not based on anything technical.

Cheers

Cracka

 

[bigman0510]

WE have ARB everything on ours, I have never had an issue with any of their products. Also we did the ARB suspension upgrade I think it was 50mm front 30mm rear? I can put the panda on the back now with no helping devices and there is minimal sag and it doesn't bounce around when driving. I would do the same all over again.
you can check out the photos over here:
http://www.4wdadventurers.com/showt...c-Toyota-Landcruiser-200-GXL&highlight=series

 

[The Alberto]

G'Day ROnEM,

I had 2 x Ironman "Protector" Bars on my Triton over a 2.5 year period - now I'm not into bagging a product or a person's choice, this is just my experience with these bars.

I really liked the look of it, but to be honest it was just not up to the standard that ARB or TJM supply (having said that it is generally $700 odd cheaper too!!). The first bar developed rust marks in the chrome tubing on all the welds after about 8 months, always garaged and no beachwork and was replaced under warranty. The second was not rusting but had other issues - Not sure what you are looking for but the frontal clearance under the sides of the Ironman is much less than ARB or TJM and the mounting brackets they use leave much to be desired. I had them install an Ironman winch with the bar as well, and everytime I used the winch (no matter how tight the bolts were) the bar always tilted forwards. I took it back everytime it happened and they tightened the bolts with rattle guns, loctite everyting and it just kept happening. A friend of mine has the same bar on a Hilux and it does the same thing so it is not just mine. Also during a cape trip last year coming out of a creek, the bottom of the front driver side hit the bank and it broke 1 of the 2 bolts on that side and bent the other. Now this wasn't a hard hit, and was no harder than the one that my mate's 200 with an ARB deluxe bar copped after me and sustained no damage at all. To fix mine, the bolts just could not be removed as they are fixed into the mounting bracket. The whole bar had to come off and the mounting bracket replaced. Unfortunately, this could not be done in Seisa or Bamaga so we had to patch it to get home and I could not use the winch for the rest of the trip. I am not sure about the mounts for an LC200, they maybe different, but IMO a winch bar that moves everytime you winch is useless.

Personally, I went for the TJM T3 bar this time, the mounts are 100% better and after getting underneath, the whole design just looks stronger. I am also very happy with the look on the Prado, I have seen them on a couple of 200s as well and they look schmick. Time will tell if it is worth the extra $$, but so far I am very impressed. Having said that, I really don't think you can go wrong with either the ARB or the TJM range of bars.

Here's Mine.....



Here's a pic showing the difference in the front clearance from the Ironman to an ARB Sahara Bar. This pic was taken just north of Palm Creek on the Tele Track.



Hope this helps!

 

[Feldty]

Im a big fan of ECB Bars. They have an Alloy Winch bar as well with a bracket to the chassis i believe. I bought one for my NAV and love it. My father is onto his third. Good price and made in QLD. My 2 cents worth anyway.

 

[straydingo]

I had a ironman protector on the Pathfinder and was satisfied with it from a construction and quality point of view. (It also had no marks on it when I backed in the driveway and manage to hook it on the gate. Bullbar 1, Gate 0). I had two minor issues with it;
- the indicator/parker light assembly. It has since been modified and is LED, but if a globe blew it was necessary to remove the assembly from behind the bar to replace it. (would've been easier to remove the bar to do). I bought the LED assembly which turned out not to fit, went to the factory and asked how I get it to fit. They were obviously busy, but dropped everything and did it for me on the spot.
- cut out for the winch. Again it has since been changed, but the cutouts on the top of the bar above where the winch sits were badly placed to fit lights and get you hand in to move the winch clutch lever.

Currently I have an colour coded ARB commercial bar on the D4. One of the uprights is not vertical, which ARB says is impossible since it's jig built. But I know what I see, and measure....
otherwise it is all fine.

Next time round, I might give Opposite Lock a shot....

 

[Bushman]

ARB Sahara Bar on our PJ, I wanted full bar this time around after having Sahara bar on previous Pathie, but the other half wanted the Sahara Bar again, Though the PJ's Sahara Bar dosen't recovery points like the Pathie on did.

My mate has TJM bar on his PJ, looks great, other than the hook hanging out below the number plate, you'd never know it has a which it's all neatly tucked in behind.

 

[mfexpanda]

We have a ARB winch bar on the Colorado and an Alloy ECB on the pathy very happy with both

 

[leesy]

I have an Land Cruiser 200 (2012 - pre latest facelift) and looking to fit a bar and winch.

Not sure which bar/package to go with steel/alloy - ARB or Ironman or other.

Not looking to do big off-road other than things like Gibb River and Oodnatatta Track.

Just want something that can provide us with a bit of protection from wildlife and pull the LC200 and 2.5t van out of the mud if we need it.

Also looking at 50mm lift at front to fix vehicle's front rake and support bar & winch, no lift at rear, but matched suspension with front and also poly air bags for when the van or horse float is in tow.

All advise, comments and suggestions appreciated.

Cheers

Ro

I think the ARB bars are the way to go, they do all of the development and testing as well as providing them to most of the major car companies, from a suspension perspective i have had Old man emu which sagged and was crap, Ironman ok but it felt soft and a little boaty, EFS i have had on my Patrol and it was great, i am having it fitted to my new V6 D Navara this week! good luck

 

[Dogger]

I have a 200 series 2013 model and i had a 2009 model i had ARB delux winch bar on both they are excellent and smart looking bars. only down fall is price like its $2500 colour coded. I alsohad one one my LC ute and have hit a few roos and a duck and only broke a driving light cover and a fog light shroud.

 

[Sammy D]

I am a tuff bar fan. We always had arb bars (still have two on hilux's) and they do do the job but On our last two cars (Pajero and now LC200) we have gone with tuff bars with twin siderails and from what I have seen I would never go back. If you go with the arb or tjm or ecb make sure you go steel and not alloy. The alloy bars in those configurations just don't have enough strength IMO to hold up to wildlife abuse (it isn't fun losing your radiator when you spent money on a bulbar that you thought would stop damage) With the tuff bar we have gone alloy, well we wanted steel but had a miscommunication on ordering and decided to lump it and see how it went. We have been pleasantly surprised and were so happy with the way it stood up to the roostrikes without failure that we deliberately ordered alloy for the cruiser.

So basically I think the arb in steel is certainly good enough, I would still get side rails though. But don't write off tuff bars without at least a little look, they are expensive but if you spend a bit of time on gumtree you can often find a secondhand one in good nick. My sister in law and her hubby picked up a second hand bar with siderails that had been replaced by an insurance company because one of the siderails was bent, so a visit to a workshop and they had the siderails fixed and a perfectly good bar/rail combo on their vehicle for a quarter of new price.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/maclean/other-parts-accessories/tuff-bullbar/1114858418
This one doesn't have siderails but just using it as an example.

 

[peterg]

Each to their own. I'd want a 4inch lift with that bar so I could still go off road properly.

 

[4wdphil]

What about a Rhino bar
http://www.rhino4x4.com.au/toyota-landcruiser-v200
They look great and do the job. Just as a side note these bars are the only ones on the market that are compatible with the tech pack on a ranger.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

I've had ARB steel bars on my last couple of 4x4's (21 years) and I cant fault them

 

[DLT]

Hi Ro,
In my opinion you cannot go past either a TJM or an ARB product - both companies spend a fortune of R&D & product testing which has produced the best 4wd accessories in the country.
DLT

 

[Drover]

They are all pretty good, depends what you can afford but they all require a suspension upgrade to go with them as the original suspension on all vehicles is rubbish if your going to do a bit of load carrying.

 

[Fabulous]

We have an ARB bar on the Patrol, but if I had to do it again, would consider TJM or Ironman - pretty hard to justify the cost of the ARB - great stuff, just expensive !

 

[dagree]

I have an Ironman on the Prado.... Not as heavy duty compared to the ARB or TLM ones but not bad value for money :greedy_dollars: (Had a mate in the business )

 

[Dean Anderson]

ARB Colour coded. t's a bit more subtle than the Tuff version. But as long as I don't hit a buffalo it should be OK.

 

[Smergen]

ARB colour-coded deluxe bar here also. Fantastic bit of kit and haven't regretted it one iota. Really makes the front end I think and adds protection as well. Happy to post pics if required but available in my Tow Rig thread also.