Australia is known as one of the wildest countries on the planet and with good reason. If you're driving in a rural area which is a long way off the beaten track, then you're almost certain to encounter a variety of wild animals on the side and (often) right in the middle of the road. It's little wonder that there are so many accidents, especially around dawn or dusk, and the damage caused by hitting one or other of these critters can be significant. If you've just invested a lot of money in a new four-wheel-drive vehicle, you need to spend a bit more to safeguard your investment by fitting a grille guard or a bull bar. What are these and how can they protect your vehicle?
Augmenting Your Look
Manufacturers of these aftermarket components fully understand that you care about the appearance of your vehicle. Consequently, they have designed these add-ons so that they not only protect, but look good as well.
Optional Guards
Firstly, you might want to consider fitting a full grille guard, which is fairly easy to mount to the frame of the truck. The guard fits on a couple of centre uprights and has side elements that can also protect the headlights against flying stones.
Alternatively, you could consider a simpler option which is designed to protect the centre of the vehicle primarily. While this guard does not wrap around to cover the headlights, you can select some additional, bolt-on guards to complement the look.
Full Protection
For the best protection, consider a full bull bar fitted with skid plates. This will protect the underside of the vehicle as well and ensure that your ride comes out on top, even if you hit one of the bigger, four-footed obstacles. Toughened steel is used to create the skid plates, and they are welded to the bottom of the bull bar, which in turn is bolted to the underframe. With this approach, you'll be able to safeguard the integrity of the vehicle and also the front bumper and other peripherals, against minor impact. As an additional benefit, you may be able to protect your truck if you're unlucky enough to impact a big rock on the side of the road, or even run up against one of those tall curbs.
Looking Back
If you want to go even further, think about extending protection to the back of the vehicle as well. You can introduce a guard to protect the rear bumper, which might cause those sleepy drivers coming behind you to wake up a little bit, rather than running into your truck!
Ensuring Protection
Have a word with your accessory shop to see what additional protection you could add to your pride and joy.
