Home Automotive Steps to Finding the Right Bull bar for Your Toyota

Steps to Finding the Right Bull bar for Your Toyota

Multiple car brands have established their core beliefs a long time ago, with Japanese automakers usually putting an emphasis on reliability and longevity. One of the most renowned Japanese carmakers is Toyota. They are a manufacturer known for making some of the most reliable vehicles. Toyota vehicles are also known for being quite competitively priced without missing out on the newest technologies.
You may not be driving a “luxurious” car, but when you own a Toyota, you will have a pleasant riding experience and an eco-friendly mode of transportation, since most of Toyota’s newer vehicles are hybrid. Toyota also makes vehicles that are capable of providing good traction on the road and usually, their 4×4’s are some of the most commonly seen vehicles off the road. But every off-roading enthusiast, no matter how experienced, needs some 4×4 accessories to protect their vehicle, and bullbars are the first accessory they turn to.

Why Install a Bullbar on Your Toyota?

Protection

The most notable benefit of bullbars is that they offer general protection from frontal impacts. Since they get mounted on the front grille of your Toyota bull bars protect the windshield and internal engine components from shrubs, rocks, trees, and so on. With Toyota bull bars, safety is almost always guaranteed, especially when it comes to more dangerous situations such as collisions with large animals like kangaroos.

toyota off road vehicle bull bar
source: unsplash.com

Animal Strikes

Animal collisions can be quite dangerous, but with a quality bullbar at the front, you and your Toyota will be well-protected. If you drive through animal strike prone areas, then you should definitely get a bullbar. This doesn’t mean you can drive carelessly, and you should still be wary of animals nearby and try to avoid any collisions. The bullbar is there in case an impact does happen.

Mounting Points

If you want to equip your Toyota with extra accessories, a bullbar will allow you to do so. Most bull bars for Toyota come with multiple mounting points, with the most common being winch mounting points. This way, you won’t have to drill holes to attach extra accessories to your vehicle, such as LED lights or a UHF antenna.

What Style of Bullbar Should You go For?

toyota off road bull bar
source: arb.com.au

Bumper

First, you have the bumper bullbar which provides increased protection from the stock fender on your Toyota. This is your most basic form of frontal protection.

Nudge

With a nudge bar on your Toyota, you get a form of protection that is meant to keep your vehicle safe from light impacts. Nudge bars are used more for aesthetic purposes since they are not mounted as a standard bullbar.

Single & Triple Hoop

A single hoop bullbar comes with one metal hoop going over the radiator and attached to the bumper. A triple hoop bullbar, on the other hand, has two more hoops going over the headlights alongside the centre one. The latter are haversack but offer more protection. Triple hoop bars are great at protecting you from animal strikes.

Baja

While similar to a bumper bar, Baja bars are made to provide additional reinforcement to the chassis. They can be used with high powered winches and in off-road competitions as well.

Competition

As the name suggests, these bull bars for Toyota are made especially for off-road competitions. The advantage of competition bullbars is that they are easily removed when they get damaged.

What Materials are Bullbars Made of?

Steel

The first option and the strongest one when it comes to selecting a bullbar material is steel. Steel bullbars are also the heaviest but that’s the reason why they provide the utmost protection and can sustain heavy impacts. 

Plastic

While plastic bullbars may not offer a solid level of protection, they are the most lightweight option. As a result, they are great for your fuel economy and aesthetics, but not so much when it comes to protecting from collisions.

Aluminium

If you want to get a bullbar that is light but also strong you should go for an aluminium bullbar. With these bullbars, your Toyota won’t have its fuel economy affected, nor will it sacrifice safety. Aluminium bullbars are nearly as strong as steel bullbars, and almost as light as plastic bullbars. Unlike steel models, aluminium bullbars are also naturally anti-corrosive. This means you have to pay extra to have such a coating on your steel Toyota bullbar.

toyota off road bull bar
source: gilgandratoyota.com.au

How to Fit a Bullbar

  1. While not every type of bullbar installation is the same, the main steps are not that different. The first thing you need to do when you remove the bullbar from the packaging is to crawl under your Toyota.
  2. When you’re laying down under the front of the vehicle, find the factory drilled holes meant for attaching aftermarket accessories such as the bullbar. You then need to bolt the bull bar brackets to the holes and torque them according to the installation instructions that came with the bullbar.
  3. When that is done, go ahead and mount the bull bar to the mounting brackets. You shouldn’t tighten the bolts fully, as you may need to do a few adjustments to ensure that you have the bull bar level and that everything is even. Once you’re done with that, fasten the bolts completely and double-check that everything is in order.