Kyle95sr5

Alright, so apparently there is alot of smack being talked about brushguards. Before you say anything, I KNOW they aren't as strong as an ARB, TJM, Warn, and all those other brands. My question is why all the smack talk about brushguards? How is something made out of a stronger steel then your hood, bumper, grill, whatever going to actually hurt you truck in an accident. The only answer ive ever heard of is that they bend in causing more damage then what would of happened. How is this true? If the brush guard is made out of a strong material then ur truck, whatever you hit would do more damage to ur vehicle without a brushguard then with a brushguard. So with that being said, what is the deal. Why do people say that brushguards cause more damage in a wreck? How do they know there wouldnt of been more damage if they wouldnt of had a brushguard?

Please don't give me an answer like "sell your pos brushguard and buy an arb", or "well my brother-in-law's dad's friend's cousin said they were bad so they must be". I just want a straight answer of why they cause more harm then they do good. Please don't post up unless you have proof or a dang on good reason.

bwhyit

I don't think they are all bad but there are downfalls. If you were to hit something low on the brush gaurd hard enough then the gaurd may actually bend in at the bottom as well as the top, causing damage to the lower and upper grill area. I think this is what everyone complains about but I've never experience it myself.

Anyone else???

drguitarum2005

hes right, while stronger than a stock bumper, if you hit something low at the right speed, itll bend it and bring the top of the brush guard in too, causing more damage up top than what you would *possibly* get if you had nothing on at all. there are cases where this isnt true, but there are cases where this is also true. overall, youre putting yourself at more *risk* for something happening...it isnt guaranteed that itll do more damage.

ive also seen an argument or two that the low-hanging brackets off the bottom of the frame cause some clearance issues but IMO those are pretty extreme cases. the main consensus is that they are for what they say, stopping brush from hitting your front end, rather than protecting your front end in a collision with another car or a tree or something.

edit: oh yeah, and sell your pos brushguard and get an arb!

wjwerdna

the way I understand it is that yes, it is possibly made of more material or stronger than the front bumper, but in a decent rear ending or any other collision involving a front impact, around 20mph or so, you would instead of hitting directly on your bumper, possibly absorbing all of the shock through the several mounting points, instead hit the brush guard. the brush guard may not look very distorted or bent since its strong, but the two or so mounts that go to the frame are very likely to bend under this amount of force and moment due to the higher placement of load. Now instead of maybe needing a new bumper as was intended and designed in a minor to small collision, you need a lot, because the very strong brush guard didn't absorb the collision resulting in destruction to itself, it bent and smashed fenders, grille, lights, hood, bumper, lower fascia, and bent your frame too if you're really unlucky.

also there are a lot of pics supporting this. sorry about the crazy long post, but I think it explains it well

wjwerdna

yup, david points out that they do very well for what they are intended and named, defending your vehicle against the almighty brush and occasional tree. they probably work well against shopping carts too, which i've seen land some kills

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

This guy had a TJM w/ bull bar and pushed the front into a rock as I recall. Bent the bull bar (removed in the photo) back and that dented the fender and hood (you can see the shape of the tubing in the sheet metal). W/o the bull bar, he probably would have only scraped the side of the fender (I think that was done at the same time):

Kyle95sr5

Yes there are pics supporting this, but you don't know what the damage would of been if there wouldnt of been a brushguard. You said the brushguard takes alot of the force. If no brushguard, then the force would of impacted right through ur stock bumper, radiator, and could push that back farther into your engine. If whatver you hit went in that far, then if it would of also effected your grill, headlights, hood and maybe your fenders depending on where you hit the other vehicle. The brushguard is made to withstand some impact. Wouldnt it be better for whatever you hit to hit one of the main beams in the guard then to hit ur plastic grill or headlights.

I rearended my friends 4runner one night coming home because it was raining and he kept screwing around and brakechecking me. I slid into his rear bumper, pushing it straight down and put two nice size dents into his rear gate. My brushguard was very slightly pushed upwards which was quickly solved by us pulling down on the guard with a tow strap. The guard still had another 2 inches to go before it would of hit my hood. We were going just about 40-45 mph. I slid into him as he was moving so it wasnt a 45 to stop impact.

AxleIke

The only thing i've ever seen a brush guard do in an accident is cause more damage. Yes, in a VERY low speed (less than 5mph) it would save you. More that that, and it just bends into all kinds of things.

I was hit in my 4 runner in a low speed collision by a dodge durango that had a brush guard (luckily his fault). At the time i was running a solid 1/4" steel bumper. He hit me in head on (about 5 to 10 mph). his brush guard broke out one of my side marker lights, no other damage except for that.

However, had he not had a brush guard, he would have busted out his grille, and dented the front bumper.

Becasue he was running a brush guard, which bent, it wrecked his bumper, grille, hood, driver fender, and passanger head lamp. My trucks bumper was no where near his passanger headlamp, hood or driver fender.

I've seen two other accidents where this has occured. However, that by no means indicates that they are bad, after all, how many millions of people run brush guards. I can only speak of my own experience.

I say, get one if you want one. Personally, i think they make trucks look a little fruity, but i've seen some that do give a more aggressive look. Its really up to you.

Kyle95sr5

Please no stories about TJM bumpers or anything likewise. You can see on the bumper itself the deep scratches. If there would of been nothing there then the rock would of been pushed up into his fender ruining it, the corner light, the headlight, and maybe pushing up the hood depending on how he hit it.

bwhyit

Well there you have it. If you like the product and it makes you feel comfortable then thats what really matters. There is an argument for boths sides but personally I don't like them (mainly because of looks). In the end your opinion and experience really matters.

Kyle95sr5

How is that possible? You had a solid steel bumper and he hit you hard enough to cause the brush guard to bend. The brushguard is stronger then the bumper. So instead, the bumper would of gave and caused the same amount of damage

AxleIke

Wrong

with the brush guard, we took out the front bumper, the hood, the grille, the pass head light, and the driver fender. Without, we would have taken out the bumper and grille. Either way, the bumper and the grille were toast. The brush guard added a new headlight, a new hood, and a new driver fender to the works.

My bumper was effectively a 5 inch wide steel beam. We hit at a very slight angle, so my bumper hit almost dead center in his truck.

AxleIke

Oh, and one other thing, most brush guards, are not, in fact, stronger that the bumper. There are certain ones, that are made for taking winches, which are, but your standard JAOS type is actually about as strong as a stock bumper, assuming you are talking older style yotas, and not the new 4th gens, in which case i'm not sure what is stronger.

drguitarum2005

my sister hit a truck just slightly with the brush guard on her rodeo. not taking into account the fact that had the guard not been there, she wouldnt have hit at all (thats a rare scenario), instead of simply scraping or denting the corner of her front bumper, the guard took out the headlight and corner light because that was the thing sticking furthest out and took the impact

Kyle95sr5

the JAOS ones are little ones just meant to hold lights. Im talking about a WAAG, MANIK, Westin and Toyota ones.

I just don't know. I have a hard time believing all of this. I just cant see how it causes more damage then what would of happen. Where are the MythBusters when you need them!

Kyle95sr5

"I rearended my friends 4runner one night coming home because it was raining and he kept screwing around and brakechecking me. I slid into his rear bumper, pushing it straight down and put two nice size dents into his rear gate. My brushguard was very slightly pushed upwards which was quickly solved by us pulling down on the guard with a tow strap. The guard still had another 2 inches to go before it would of hit my hood. We were going just about 40-45 mph. I slid into him as he was moving so it wasnt a 45 to stop impact."

Just wanted to reiterate my story.

All of my knowledge is based on that.

slosurfer

I think what everyone is trying to say is that if you hit something low, there is the possibility of the brushgaurd transfering the damage upward to your hood and headlights. Whereas if there had just been a bumper, only the bumper would be damaged. An example, you hit something with just a bumper, it crumples like it is supposed to and possibly damages radiator, but grill, hood, etc... is still straight. Next hit same thing with brushguard, possibly same damage to radiator, plus the added possibility of it bending up and wrecking grilland fender that otherwise were in tact. I have seen many that hit animals low and had this happen.

drguitarum2005

thats a case for the converse argument, and a very valid one at that, however we are all offering cases (actual experience) where that simply isnt true. brush guards CAN protect you in cases, but they can also be WORSE in other cases. there are some cases where nothing will help you. there is no clear-cut, definite answer that yes, they do cause more damage always, or no, they don't cause any new damage ever. there are always cases for both sides. in most people's opinions, however, the "bad" cases outweigh the "good" cases. many don't want to take the extra risk.

AxleIke

The reason it causes more damage is that they are not significantly stronger than the bumper. So, in my case, i hit at almost a single point, mostly in his bumper, but a little on his grille.

Had the brush guard not been there, it would have dented the center of the bumper, and broken his grille.

My bumper hit his brush guard instead, and the brush guard bent. Now, becasue the brush guard has pieces that extend across the entire front of the truck, when it bent, it damaged almost the entire front of the truck.



Anyway, the point here is this is my experience. I'm telling you my experience, and mine only. I'm not saying that this will happen to you.

Really, what it comes down to is this: It's your money, and you can put whatever you want on your truck. If you want a brush guard, get a brush guard. In the event you are in an accident, it might help you, it might make no difference, and it might hurt you. You can say that about pretty much every modification you can make to these trucks.

You have to decide for yourself. Its your truck, so do what YOU want.

Kyle95sr5

Well, I started this to get an answer but what it comes down to is that there is no answer. There are too many different circumstances to say one way or the other that there would of been more or less damage. Just too many different little things that could happen. O well, ill stop my bickering now!



Just want to say, thanks for keepin it civil guys. Could of been alot bigger of a pissin contest. That is why yotatech rocks my socks! :bigclap: