[stonedpirate]

Hello,

Just spooted a great jimny with ARB winch bullbar.

Since i am only interest in beach and road driving and wont be doing anything in the outback or deep bush, is a bullbar recommended?

I heard the weight like 70kg and you need new suspension up front to stop them from leaning forward. Is that true?

Would putting more weight up front make it perform worse on deep soft beach sand?

Also, would i ever need to use the winch on the beach? Might be useful for dragging large sharks up when fishing but other than that, would there be a situation on the beach where i would need it?

Or would a lighter the better approach be better for a beach car?

All info is greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Bucketload]

Mate, if you like the car buy it and if you don't want the bar I'm sure you can jump on here and someone will give you their bumper, fit it for you and give you some cash on top for the bar. In theory any way

[Fatzook]

IMO the lighter the better, but will you really notice the extra 50kg's?

[monley]

Fatzook wrote:

IMO the lighter the better, but will you really notice the extra 50kg's?

I didn't notice the extra weight on mine

Also they don't weigh 70KG more like 25-35kg

[Mike57]

Removing the front bumper and replacing it with something else is a good idea probably even for beach driving. It greatly improves the approach angle and eventually you will probably end up breaking the plastic bumper anyway and should consider some sort of modification.

There are also other ways to mount a winch without going the full ARB bull bar.

Yes, it does weigh something like 50kg or so (not sure if it is 70kg so check with ARB on that). Yes it will add weight to your front suspension but you don't necessarily need to upgrade your suspension. 10mm spring spacers will fix any droop and since it is only a small amount of lift you won't risk full compression of your springs (like with a 50mm spring spacer).

I am not sure that the extra weight will affect beach driving but with a Jimny every bit counts.

I have the ARB bar and am very pleased with it and the way it looks but check out the other bar options that are lighter or just chop the front bumper yourself. Check out Zukenutter's build thread, he has done a nice job without using a bull bar.

[Fatzook]

monkey wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

IMO the lighter the better, but will you really notice the extra 50kg's?

I didn't notice the extra weight on mine

Also they don't weigh 70KG more like 25-35kg

With a winch? I think 70 would be about right.....

[monley]

Fatzook wrote:

monkey wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

IMO the lighter the better, but will you really notice the extra 50kg's?

I didn't notice the extra weight on mine

Also they don't weigh 70KG more like 25-35kg

With a winch? I think 70 would be about right.....

Maybe with a winch...but why would you need a winch on the beach?

[BertZook]

naaaah that thing of "bullbars improve approach angle" is only for other 4wds

jimnys have a really good approach angle (and departure lol )



at least in the older bumpers.... the new model needs a chop chop



anywhoo, another advantage for having a bullbar on the beach is

1- recovery points.... (I know jimnys dnt get bogged), but when it happen, ull have a point to be snatched from

2- a place to put ur fishing rods..... donno wht kind of fishing u do, but if its on the beach I bet u re (or will be) using one of those loooooong rods in order to be able to trow ur lure far away over the waves thing...... those rods dnt fit into a jimny, so having a bar u can add some fishing rod holders so u can carry em from there up to the roof

3- other mounting places to put ur spotties (if u like to do some night fishing) and for the UHF antenna, u need it to drive on big beaches, or in order to call for help or to chat to others on how big was ur fish or where is the "spot" of the day

4- they look cool, and would make ur jimny look less gay


the winch, I donno.... depepnding if u wanna do some other kind of wheeling, but u can take it off and sell it here before it gets rusted by no use after years on the beach

[Benz]

nah you will be fine on the beach with a bar.

it wont make a noticeable difference.

keep it for the recovery point option.

drop they tyres to 10 psi keep the revs up above 3k for soft stuff and you will go just about anywhere

[atari4x4]

good spot to mount spotties, UHF antenna & a good spot to mount a fishing rod holder.

[tonka_tuff]

the winch would come in handy if you were wheeling on the sand on your own and got megggaaaaa stuck and couldn't dig.. you could just winch,use your spare as an anchor..

[jimny_timmy]

Arb bar is 60kgs. Didn't really notice the difference till I putthe winch in. Even then, I still get up sand dunes most large 4x4s can't.

[got_bar_work]

Imo if u drive anywhere out side of the city u need a bull bar
More for animal strikes then anything but all the other things can put on them are a good point

[Microwire]

If you are fishing for large sharks then a bullbar would be a great place to mount a game fishing chair.

Just like these blokes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bc-Cv9C-E8

[MrRocky]

I dont like the extra weight over my front tyres, the last big 4x4 i had the the bar was so heavy it took 2 of us to move it and i can lift a sierra diff comfortably on my own. Just seems to make the front end less responsive and lurch about more. Have had a few near misses and done a shitload of outback driving, as long as your not doing 100 clicks at night time then generally your pretty right.

[zukenutter]

if you need a winch on the beach you've done something very wrong. Personally I'm not a fan of steel bars but if its already got one I'd say keep it. As Bert said, great place for hanging stuff.

[stonedpirate]

yeah, i guess it looks cool too

I am going to attach a sling shot to it to launch baits into the sea with a handline.

Summer shark fishing will be sweet.

[Gwagensteve]

There is no advantage or need in a bullbar for many 4WD's, let alone a car that's used primarily on road/beach.

The weight over the front wheels is not insignificant and will reduce capability on sand with no other obvious gain.

Steve.

[Benz]

Gwagensteve wrote:

There is no advantage or need in a bullbar for many 4WD's, let alone a car that's used primarily on road/beach.

The weight over the front wheels is not insignificant and will reduce capability on sand with no other obvious gain.

Steve.

I saw no change...

[Gwagensteve]

That doesn't mean the effect isn't real. ANY additional weight is a disadvantage, and not just in sand.

Steve.

[Benz]

meh i guess so.

it's not that bigger deal though...

have been in and witnessed situations where a winch was a huge help on the beach.

was once stuck on a stupid angle on a dune which caused my fuel to run to one side of the tank and staved the jimny of fuel.
was quite a arse clenching experience.
winching from the top of the dune was the only safe way to straiten the car on the dune as any pull from below would of pulled the car over.

guess you could of done it with a snatchy but would of been a little risky with the sudden sideways forces involved

but i still wouldn't buy a winch for beach work in a jimny

[Liljim]

Mine sagged down a bit when i fitted my ARB, It annoys me a bit, but I did $1400 worth of damage to one of my old cars by hitting a wallaby (it hopped away) so I'm going to put spacers in to correct the sag, I"d rather a chopped bumper a la zuknutter though...

The bullbar definitely improves approach, I measured it with a stick.

[abclarke]

stonedpirate wrote:

yeah, i guess it looks cool too

I am going to attach a sling shot to it to launch baits into the sea with a handline.

Summer shark fishing will be sweet.

Anyone else notice how this guys posts all relate to looking cool or not looking gay?