[Jack jr]

G'day i was thinking of making brush bars for my soft top sierra and was wondering could you just run a bar from the bull bar to the top door hinge,
i know it wouldn't be as strong as a standard brush bar design but it would be simple to make and would protect the front panels from
rubbing on a bank.
cheers Jack jr.

[Joe]

Redna's roof sliders are bolted to them, i reckon just brush bars bolted in that spot would push the panel in with enough force but would probably work ok tied into a set up like this

[Jack jr]

that's what i was concerned about, i wouldn't want to put any bars up around the windscreen a it is often folded down but i may look at using a bar to connect the hinges together would that work?
thanks Joe.

[alien]

You could do your sills, then connect down to them?

[ZUZUKI]

Many of the 'bull chasers' vehicles used in Northern Territory have bars that go straight back from the top of the bull bar area to the top of the firewall or door hinges - usually on 40Series Toyota Land-Cruisers, which are made of sterner stuff than Sierras.
Maybe you could incorporate a bar that links the top door hinges or 'pads' that follow the curve of the top of the firewall - running across under the windscreen, that at least transfers forces into more panel area than just on one side.
Rgs, Michael

[Jack jr]

I just went up and folded the windscreen, a pipe wont fit under it otherwise it would of been a good solution.
when you say do the sills do you mean cut them out and weld in thicker steel?
Cheers Jack jr

[alien]

Yeah spot on - build the sills into rigid sliders and mount off those. Then you won't lose ground clearance or create 'anchors' hanging under the sills like most sliders do.

[Gwagensteve]

I'm no fan of brush bars. I've had them on a couple of hiluxes over 20 years ago and wouldn't fit them to a car again, especially a Sierra. They add bulk and weight which is the last thing a Sierra needs. I'm not really convinced they will save much panel damage - in my experience the front guards don't get much damage - most of the panel damage seems to occur to the door and B pillar area, other than the very font corners of the guard. (which can be protected with headlight hoops on the bullbar)

The best way to keep the panels off banks is with track width and headlight hoops on the bull bar. one of the issues with brush bars is that they have a fairly small surface area, so if the bank is soft, the bar will dig in and you'll still tag the panel. I've dealt with panel damage in my car by skinning the panels with ~1.6mm sheet, this has pretty much eliminated the problem and as Sierras have flat panels, it's easy to do.

Connecting the bull bar to the body at the hinges isn't a great idea in my opinion. The bulkhead isn't readily replaceable like a body panel is. It's also all that strong. If the car fell over and landed on the brush bar, I think it's likely it would push the bulkhead in, which would mean the doors wouldn't fit properly etc. If the car took a knock on the front corner, instead of bending the bull bar, and perhaps damaging the guard, which is replaceable, the force would be concentrated and transferred to the bulkhead, which will pretty much total the body tub.

[Bruce]

Brush bars can be removed if needed