Vehicles that allow you to travel through challenging terrain come with a 4×4 drive train that allows them to do so. Much like your Hilux, every off-roading vehicle is more rugged than your average car, but no vehicle has all the bells and whistles right. When it comes to traversing the Outback, other than the essential tools, your vehicle needs front body protection too, which is why investing in a proper bullbar is a wise move. This large piece of (usually) metal is mounted on the front grille to protect your vehicle from external factors that may damage it.
Benefits of Bullbars
General Protection
Wile off-roading doesn’t actually take place off a road, you are still driving your Hilux on a terrain that can throw anything at it in the literal sense. Sticks, stones and all kinds of other debris can go flying at the front of your vehicle… However, with a Hilux bullbar you won’t have to worry about these hazards. Without a bullbar on your off-roader, debris can get jammed in places you’d never imagined and cause serious issues.
Animals
While no one wants to hit an animal when out in the wild when it does happen, you want you and your vehicle to stay safe. With a bullbar you have a barrier strong enough to keep animal strikes away from the windshield and thus reduce the amount of damage. You should avoid animal strikes by avoiding travelling at dawn or dusk but when disaster strucks a bullbar will make a big difference.
Mounting & Recovery Points
With a Hilux bullbar, you can add extra gear to it as long as it comes with the proper mounting points. If you want to add a winch on it, make sure to get one that has the mounting points for it and if you want to be able to get your mate out of the mud recovery points are a must. You can also add a mounting point for a sand flag and bullbars are the best place for one since the best position is to have it as far up front as possible. UHF antennas and additional driving lights can be added too.
What To Look For in a Bull Bar
Material
One of the most common materials when it comes to bullbars is steel, but you have the option of aluminium and plastic ones too. Steel bullbars are the strongest but also the heaviest ones which means an increase in fuel consumption. Plastic bullbars are not the strongest but they are the lightest and most affordable whilst aluminium ones are both light and strong. They may not be as strong as steel ones, but they are definitely stronger than plastic bullbars.
Style/ Design
There are three main styles of front grille bullbars: centre, full and bullbars with skid plates. Full bullbars are the best for heavy-duty use since they offer the most amount of protection covering everything at the front including the headlights. This is thanks to the brush guards that curve around the headlights.
A centre bullbar is less protective than a full one since it doesn’t wrap around the headilghts, but it still offers a significant amount of protection. These bullbars are still a popular solution and if you happen to want some protection for the headlights further down the line you can get a pair of headlight guards separately.
Bullbars with skid plates are two parts being put together – a bullbar and some steel metal on the bottom part of your Hilux. Skid plates are placed under the bullbar to provide extra protection for the undercarriage of your vehicle. These plates are removable and they offer protection from big rocks, tail parking barriers and curbs too.
Accessories
If you are going to explore mainly at night, a pair of driving lights or even a light bar should be on your list of bullbar accessorises. You can go for side steps and rails too, you’ll just need to make sure that your bullbar is going to have compatible outer tubes. Your bullbar can be outfitted with cover plates and buffers, as well as a suspension upgrade if you get one that weighs more than the OEM bumper bar.
How Do You Clean A Bull Bar?
1. To keep you bullbar looking shiny you’ll need to clean it from splattered bugs, red dirt and watermarks and for that you’ll need autosol or silver polish. Get yourself some microfiber cloths and make sure you have a water supply too so that you wash the bullbar before you start applying any of the above solutions.
2. Start by giving your Toyota Hilux bullbar a good wash, make sure to hose the dirt away and leave no traces of it as this will get in the way of the autosol/ polish. Next, get either your autosol or polish and put some onto a microfibre cloth. Start rubbing the bar in a circular motion. You will see a black residue on the cloth which means your bullbar has a protective coating on it. This is a good thing and it means that you should continue applying the autosol/ polish. Lastly, buff off the autosol/ polish with a cotton cloth or a wool polish pad and you’re done.
