[Gussyb]

Hi,
Has anyone got photos of homemade bullbars for a series 2 sierra just for inspiration? Also wondering how much it cost to make.
Thanks
Gus

[Gwagensteve]

I’m not sure what a series 2 Sierra is, but bull bars are complex and time consuming to make. They also have to meet legal requirements for radius, protrusions etc.

Cost? A couple of hundred dollars would cover any materials you’ll need, but expect a few days of hard slog. They’re also a pain to weld up as they waro

[Gussyb]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I’m not sure what a series 2 Sierra is, but bull bars are complex and time consuming to make. They also have to meet legal requirements for radius, protrusions etc.

Cost? A couple of hundred dollars would cover any materials you’ll need, but expect a few days of hard slog. They’re also a pain to weld up as they waro

The series 2 is the SJ410 and SJ413 and understand the legal requirements and how time-consuming it will be to make but any bullbar would be better than the aluminum rubbish that's on the front of mine now. I've noticed a lot of hoopless bars here but i was thinking something more like a 5 poster that you'll see on cruisers

[TASSIETOYUKI]

So what makes a series 1 Sierra then? I thought that the SJ410 was the first Sierra? Happy to be proved wrong though..

[Gwagensteve]

To avoid confusion its probably best not to use "series1, 2" etc to describe a Sierra because literally nobody will know what model of Sierra you mean. best to use SJ41X, or engine size, or year, or track width, or suspension type or almost any other descriptor than "series"


It doesn't matter much in relation to bull bars, all Sierras have the same chassis at the mounting end and pretty much the same profile.

Bumpers (i.e hoopless bars) are popular for those of us trying to make our cars as light/simple and compact as possible, and where we're not concerned about animal strike. i did hit a girl on a motorbike once (head on - she was on the wrong side of the road on a blind corner) and the bumper was enough to deflect her and the bike onto the ground. In our local area roos seem more likely to hit the side of the car than the front ro end up on the bonnet, but that's just my experience of half a dozen hits or so.

If you're aware of the legal requirements, you'll be aware it will be very difficult to make a 5 post bar legal due to design- as per the ADR they're required to "substantially follow the profile of the vehicle") and headlight obstruction. Just because you see them on cruisers doesn't make them necessarily legal.

You'd also be aware a 5 post bar is very, very heavy because of all those uprights and that's a terrible thing on the front of a Sierra, especially when there's only 2.5mm thick chassis ends and 4 10mm bolts to attach it.

The purpose of a 5 post style bar, as I understand it, (other than appealing to a certain kind of country bogan aesthetic) is to deflect animals (generally cows) down and under the vehicle in an impact, or at least prevent them from rolling up onto the bonnet and into the cabin. I'd suggest a Sierra isn't the best vehicle to hit a cow with regardless of the design of bull bar on the front. The chassis will bend around the area of the engine mounts and bar will tear off the front of the vehicle.

If you want a 5 post bar for cosmetic reasons, go crazy. I'd suggest making the bar out of 2mm sheet and thin wall tube to give it some chance of deforming to absorb impact rather than bending the chassis or tearing off the front of the car, and also to try and keep weight down. Google will help you with design and proportions, I"m not sure 5 posters are really in the wheelhouse of this page.

I'm no fan of aluminium bars but they do have a purpose - in any big hit the bar is sacrificial and an aluminium bar will be fine at absorbing impact and preventing it being transmitted into the chassis. They're not designed to hit roos over and over again. As I've explained a bar that does transmit all the force of the impact into the chassis isn't a great idea on a Sierra as it will likely total the car.

[pete_79]

This is about as dumbed down as it can get.
All states have to meet the same ADRs.

https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/downloads/bull-bars-legal.pdf

5 posters are wrong in every way on Sierras (and illegal on Jimnys).