A few hours ago ARB officially announced their new line up of Alloy bull bars. Yep you read that right, alloy.

These type of bars have typically been the realm of competitors such as TJM and ECB and I’m sure both companies are paying particular attention to this news.

I’ve written before about my love affair with ARB Bull Bars and truth be told I have never owned a 4×4 (and I’ve owned many) that didn’t have a ARB bar attached to the front. I’ve also written before that personally alloy bars have never done it for me.

So reading this news you might say I was a little conflicted.

The benefits:

There are a lot of redeeming features about alloy bars. There’s the bling (if you’re into that sort of thing), but also the significantly reduced weight.

This translates into three main benefits.

  1. Much easier to install
  2. Less fuel consumption
  3. Less drop on your front suspension.

An easier install:

If you’ve ever tried to remove or fit a steel bull bar you pretty quickly realise it’s a two person job. Add a winch and you’re in three person situation or the need for some sort of rigging assistance. With an alloy bar you can lift and position it yourself with a lot less effort. That’s good right?

In some ways yes, but for me, with any late model 4×4 and their airbags and expensive guards that need to be cut, I would much rather get my bars installed by a professional. They’ve completed the task before and they will take responsibility if the airbag pops or the jigsaw takes a wild turn and destroys an expensive guard.

Worth the couple of hundred bucks it will cost you IMO.

The weight reduction:

Nobody could argue these alloy bars are not lighter thus less for your engine to push around and thus the less fuel it will use.

What I’ve not seen is an actual order of magnitude of gain. Is it a 1% gain, or 10% gain or more. Someone needs to run that test before you can balance the fuel gains against loss of strength with an  alloy bar.

That is of course unless the ARB marketing team know that most will never stop to do that math and be happy that something gained no matter how marginal is enough.

I’d be fascinated in a controlled comparison of the fuel saving of not having a roof rack v’s an alloy bar and steel bar. I’m kinda nerdy like that! Test or not I’ll still lol at someone with a roof top tent and an alloy bar and talk to me about the fuel gains – as depicted in ARBs own press release!

ARBALLOYBULLBAR Front

Less drop on your front suspension:

Putting a steel bar and a winch, some lights on the front of your 4×4 and your 2 inch lift is likely to be 1.5 or less. So there is some upside to this that I’m just going to pay for the alloy bar adopters 🙂 No question there.  Smart off roaders will factor this additional weight in picking their front suspension setup.

The looks:

ARBToyotaPradoSummitBar0215_179I’m still a long way from strapping an alloy bar to my own 4×4 but I have to give ARB some credit. They have kept the iconic ARB style in this new bar. As I opened the press release I was fearful but pleasantly surprised. How this bar wears over time with layers of baked on mud, only time can tell.

The unknowns.

I’ve asked ARB three questions that were not answered in the release…

Update: Sam from ARB has replied to my questions and I’ve detailed below. Thanks Sam I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

1. Where are the bars made

I will be sad if I learn that these bars are not made under the Australian sun but not surprised. ARB offshore a bunch of stuff these days so not adverse to it. Hope it doesn’t impact the quality if a product that has always been the flagship for the quality standard for ARB

“The bars will be manufactured in our ARB owned manufacturing facility in Thailand … It’s not a case of simply outsourcing product to Asia like a lot of our competitors. We have full control of the workforce, materials, machinery and processes to ensure the quality is no different from product manufactured here in Melbourne.”

I have a lot to say about this that I’ll cover in another post, but confirmed.

2. What make and models are these alloy bars going to be available for?

It’s hard for anyone to get excited about these bars if you don’t even know if you’ll be able to fit one to your car. Given the pictures they provide if you own a new Prado you’re safe. Pretty important information IMO and would be nice to know.

“At the moment, the only Alloy bull bar available is for the pictured Prado model. The range will be expanded over time and new models will be released in due course. “

ARB tend to move quickly on this so whilst it’s only one model now, with demand I’m sure it will pick up. I think it was a good choice as the factory alloy bar on a Prado is shocking!

3. What is the retail price for us everyday buyers not the OEM purchasers?

I still can’t find a price for these new bars anywhere and have asked for a basic price comparison to their steel bars for a 200 Series Landcruiser.

The RRP of the new Alloy bull bar is $2504 + $279 for the optional winch kit (Australian East Coast Metro prices). In an apples for apples comparison, the price for a steel Deluxe winch bar for the same Prado is around $1875 (Australian East Coast Metro).

Please note these are eastern metro prices. Pretty good. TJMs is $2300

Final thoughts …

I can image the board meeting where profit and loss statements we’re being reviewed and marketshare was being lost to the alloy market. ARB needed to respond and they have. I don’t know if that is how it came to pass or not but I never like defensive strategies driven from management as a product strategy. More so from a company that has so clearly led the way for decades and built a massive business out of it.

I think (with some more information to come) on face value they’ve done a great job with the design. I just hope this change doesn’t deter the aura that ARB bars have (and rightly so IMO) for so many years.

It would be sad to see them become just one of the others.

ARB Alloy Bull Bar

6

Overal

6.0/10

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Easier to install
  • Less front suspension drop

Cons

  • Less Strength
  • To Much Bling
  • It's just not ARB