Ideas on protecting the front bar from scraping???

[zzsprade]

A friend of mine came up with a simple smart suggestion for protecting the bottom of the front bar from scraping (besides angles on driveways).

By tracing the shape of the bottom of the front bar on to a piece of cardboard and then having the same shape cut out of sheet metal, this could then be bottled on to the bottom. The only problem I could see is too recess the front edge back a few mm so that you don't take out pedestrians legs (or possibly be defected).

Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas for improving this simple idea? Any ideas on the shape etc to improve it from being just a protection plate, to maybe something that could be a little more sturdy.

Cheers!

-Alex

[Dahtone Racing]

i was thinking of doing the same thing with my front bar sounds like a good idea to me

[Ash]

i already did a similar thing. i bolted in some aluminium supports that run from the under tray to the bottom of the front bar to stop it flexing when i bottom out on my driveway.

the other idea was to stop the top from poping off. (im sure u know where i mean, between the front guards and the headlight)

worked fine for a while until i had scraped through the bolt and the support fell off...

i think the best idea would be to drill some holes in the bottom of the bar and just run a series of bolts through it. so the heads of the bolts get scraped off then you just replace them...

[Ash]

thats what im thinking of doing anyway.

[knore]

Yeh where it usually hits, just put descent sized dome-head bolts

[mindflux]

I did this about 4 years ago.

Its a simple bash plate. I just got a sheet of metal cut it so it covered the bottom of the bar and extended back a bit. bent it and pop rivited it on.

.. depends how much scraping you do and how think of a metal you used

[zzsprade]

I did this about 4 years ago.

Its a simple bash plate. I just got a sheet of metal cut it so it covered the bottom of the bar and extended back a bit. bent it and pop rivited it on.

.. depends how much scraping you do and how think of a metal you used

I have to say that I like the idea of the dome headed screws.

But honestly I prefer the idea that mind flux suggested - a "bash plate"

Mindflux - any tips or suggestions?

-Alex

[RedStreakZ]

Personally I'm more worry about the scraping of the lip and splitting/delamination of the lip, that what's happening on the bottome of the bumper bar. If you really need to put something there...then using a couple of pieces where you get the most scrapes should be sufficient...

My only suggestion, is that seeing as most of the damage occured close to the front lip of the bar, it would be useful to buy a thick rubber strip to run along the bottom of the lip, so that the rubber can cushion the impact/scraping against the driveway.Thickness of the strip is important in reducing the amount of force transmitted to the bar. You dont want it to thick, otherwise it'll be to obvious. You can paint it the colour of your car to blend it in...hmmz..I might see where i can get some. Obviously being rubber, once a year you'll probably check to see if everything is still holding up. Pop rivet is not suggested, as you can't replace anything. Bolts would be a better idea.

Tell me if it's crap or not...

[benm]

I checked my front bar today, their are 2 main points on my '95 GTS-t M-Spec front bar that get scraped however I did notice a hair line split in the paint.

Upon further inspection the very bottom of the front bar has actually been split from impact on my driveway (or somewhere else). I don't think putting something at the bottom would have prevented it, all it would have done is stopped the bar from getting scratched.

[DentonR33]

$250-300 for a full respray & refibreglass of a front bar

do it once a year

[RedStreakZ]

I was busy early..sorry for da kinda confusing beginning on my earlier post...

What I meant 2 say was that scraping shouldn't be your concern since it's at the bottom, not like anyone is gonna crawl under your car 2 have a look at it...wat u should b more concern about is da splitting/delamination along the bottom lip..datz harder to fix..once broken..it's never as good as new...

Benm..adding a strap where u get the most impact is useful in that it reduce the delamination effects during impact..as the metal will carry the brunt of the impact. Also being a bit more rigid that a carbon part, it will reduce the the amount of twisting/flexing of the bar. This is one of the causes of the splitting you see on your bar.However, what you need to be aware of is, that even if it might not flex at the bottom lip of the bar, it might flex somewhere else..and so u might get it cracking at another attachment location..just something 2 bear in mind..

The rubber strip solution( i'm beginning to like my idea more ) is good in that instead of trying 2 hold the bar rigid, it instead is trying 2 absorb the impact energy...it's not trying 2 resist the impact...it's absorbing it... only thing is..being rubber..it's not very durable in term of wear and tear..so it'll need replacing...

Any solution we propose is only effective only if the add-on touches the road/driveway surface b4 the bar...otherwise..it's not worth having it there... thus, the part that we decide to add on need to be sufficiently thick...but not so thick that you can see it when standing in front of the car....

Sorry 4 da long post.

J

[mindflux]

If your after an r32 gtst front bar, let me know .. ive got three here.

the current one on my car gets scaraped to the shit house

i just interchange them, and fix them

[tridentt150v]

I was thinking of using neoprene. Like you get on kitchen chopping boards, sort of hard plastic. At marine/boat shops they have this neoprene in a slippery/frictionless compound. I was going to bolt some of this to my bar at the wear points and use them as sacrificial nodes.

Just routinely replace it. I've got a carbra and it is a mess from scrapping, so I thought I'd get it modified and sew holes in it for the nodes to stick out through.

I was going to shape the nodes sort of like a half flat donut and bolt them through the centre.

I am reluctant to use anything like dome bolts or metal sheets, cos they might rip out if scraped too hard, and wreck the bar. This neoprene is a frictionless compound and is more likely to skid along the surface every time.

Looking at the posts here maybe I should go into production....lol

[Ash]

the only problem with that is i imagne it would be quite thick? so it would stick out a fair bit.

making driveway clearence even harder.

i scrape every day going in and out. but if i had anything thicker than about 5mm i could not get up the driveway at all.

Ash.

[benm]

Ahh the joys of living in a new housing estate where all gutters are the curved smooth type. I still scrape but only when their is someone parked out the front and I have to take a tighter line. Other than that I've worn a bare patch in the grass about 1m on the side from where I take it at a wide angle.

[Nrage33]

I have a friend who used 2 layers of black masking tape. It works in a way, cos the front bar never gets any paint rubbed off, only the masking tape. I guess it helps when u just 'scrape' a kerb or road surface, but it wouldn't help when it's a stronger impact. I would think sheet metal makes a horrendous noise when it gets scraped.

[benm]

I think it may cause the front bar to crack rather than flex on impact.