xj front bar

[Burmonster]

my alloy bull bar is starting to get pretty damaged and look pretty crappy, i wanted to know if it is a good idea to make my own bar, with the air bar and such. i would like to have a go at building a bar, but i dont want to change the airbag compliance (i dont want to nudge an object with my homemade bar and the air bag goes off, or have a legit accident and it not deploy). how have others gone about to make a bar??
any help/ideas/tips would be great
thanks
burmonster

[Steve F]

The XJ uses an accelerometer (negative acceleration actually) to decide if it should deploy the airbag. A bar will affect this slightly as there will be less deformation and you may slow down quicker, so the bag may deploy a little earlier.

Cheers
Steve

[Burmonster]

ok cool. i think that was my only problem with makeing my own bar. if im goin to hit something hard enough to deploy the airbag, earlier should be fine. just bumping into a rock or tree wont set it off, and thats wat i was worried about.
is there any other issues or reasons u think might stop me makeing my own bar??
so does this accelerometer measure the negative acceleration of the whole car, eg i hit a wall and stop almost instantly, or could hitting a big roo or brakeing really hard set it off??
out of intrest, could a recovery ever set off the air bag??
have you made your own bar steve?? do you have any tips??
i was thinking of makeing a tube style bar, maybe a flat bar setion in the middle with a bar hoop and side bits.
i am open to any suggestions on design, but i like the tube bar style used in comps these days.
i would also be makeing brush bars and sliders/side step and intergrateing it all together.
thanks
burmonster

[Steve F]

Yep,made my own bar front and rear along with tyre carrier. The main thing is to tie it into the frame back as far as you can. There are two large sleeved holes in the frame, I think they have bolts through them already but cant be sure. Anyway, tie into those and the steering box bolts on the drivers side as well if you can.

The accelerometer is mounted in the center console and measures the whole car, along with some other readings, braking wont set it off but hitting a roo could, basically whatever is deemed to meet the requirements to fire it.

Here's a couple of pics of my bars.





If you search the fab section you'll find the build.

Cheers
Steve

[anthonygubbin]

Originally Posted by Steve F

Yep,made my own bar front and rear along with tyre carrier. The main thing is to tie it into the frame back as far as you can. There are two large sleeved holes in the frame, I think they have bolts through them already but cant be sure. Anyway, tie into those and the steering box bolts on the drivers side as well if you can.

The accelerometer is mounted in the center console and measures the whole car, along with some other readings, braking wont set it off but hitting a roo could, basically whatever is deemed to meet the requirements to fire it.

Here's a couple of pics of my bars.





If you search the fab section you'll find the build.

Cheers
Steve

Does that set up (spotties & winch) restrict your radiator Steve.

[anthonygubbin]

Originally Posted by Burmonster

my alloy bull bar is starting to get pretty damaged and look pretty crappy, i wanted to know if it is a good idea to make my own bar, with the air bar and such. i would like to have a go at building a bar, but i dont want to change the airbag compliance (i dont want to nudge an object with my homemade bar and the air bag goes off, or have a legit accident and it not deploy). how have others gone about to make a bar??
any help/ideas/tips would be great
thanks
burmonster

Hey mate google gojeep", Marcus shows you how to build one a bit like Steve's.

regards Anthony

[Burmonster]

looks great steve.
by frame do u mean chassis??
did you need a lot of extra braceing for the recovery points??
obvously steel is heavier, but do u think a basic bar with tube wings, brush bars and steps would be greatly heavier than alloy?? what u mean is, will i likley need to upgrade my suspension to take the weight (i am considering a winch and dual batt set up at well, but i think that would need a suspension upgrade)
i would proberly also like to make mine winch compatable and be able to mount some spotties, wat did you need to take into consideration in designing for the winch??
if i was going to maybe chop my guards in future, will i need to take this into consideration so the flares (might be bigger than stock) will clear the brush bars.
thx 4 the help
burmonster