Billy

I have been told that having a bug deflector on the bonnet of your ute is illegal in Western Australia, but when I go to musters, or see utes around town, there is still heaps of them around! Whats so illegal about them? I think they are harmless!

__________________

wb350

I think it is because they apparently obscure your forward vision or something stupid like that. I reckon thats crap cos most of them are clear. My bull lamp gets in the way more than a bug deflector.

Billy

__________________

cattlegrid

How do you know they will be banned? What does he Vehicle Inspection Manual, say about it for your state? I just saw today, on a late model Rodeo, a contoured deflector, that grips the leading edge of the bonnet. Dunno if it is a GMH accessory option. It was about 3 to 4 inches above the bonnet. By the way, Allens Tint & Signs, Qld, have 1100mm and 1250 deflectors " No Drill Holes" for around $140. They use a very strong double sided sticky.

__________________
" If You Can't See My Mirrors - they're probably somewhere on Parramatta Road "

Bosstress

still yet to get a bug splatterer but the other day someone came to have a look at my tonner that I am selling and he was looking at my 5 poster, he told me that the new bullbar law was that u could have as many posts as u wanted just as long as the sides rounded off. anyone know anymore on this?????

cattlegrid

The only thing they seem to be targeting, is if the height obscures your vision, whether it has sharp,or ragged edges. Apparently the talk is that all corners and edges should be rounded, the face angle should be vertical, (vertical applies to a certain year and earlier) or preferably leaning back at least 15 degrees, and the larger the diameter, the safer, as it lessens the injury damage on impact. Only heard about, and have not read any rules, regs on it. Your local motor registry or Vehicle Inspector should have the correct info.

__________________
" If You Can't See My Mirrors - they're probably somewhere on Parramatta Road "

red sled

this is a time that we as a community can get together and knock the wind out of the govts sails
its up to us if we are smart an keep our bug deflecters sensable and see through, there is no ammo to get them banned but if we have bloody great monsters covered with non transperant crap it only takes a few to get the amm banned

as for the banning of bull bars , that is a problem caused by the city cowboys who drive toorak taxi's and intimidate the little people in their 4 cyl micro machines , again the reality of life has failed to get to the buerocrats

like are they ever going to risk hitting a roo ?, sitting in their air conditioned govt limo's being choffered around the city , yeh right

i personaly have hit a 6 1/2 footer at 120 kmh with an old ford station wagon and only lost my driving lights and a slightly bent bull bar

on the same night i rescued a bloke that hit a roo with a jap ute and no bar
he was going only 90 kmh and wrote his vehicle off and had some nice scars to proove it
we all know that these bars are not for show , so we need to make our polititions realise the facts get any photo's of a car after a roo / cow hit both with and without

as for the rules re bars the powers that be want bull bars BANNED full stop not just the city bars but ALL bars so its up to us ALL OF US to get the pollies on our side

cattlegrid

Funny thing is, some pollies have properties, and vehicles with bullbars, so they're not actually for, or against, bullbars. The main wowser is Harold Scruby, who is totally anti bullbar. he is associated with the Pedestrian Council. These people are organised, and lobby the governments continuously. Next, Harold will probly tell you your lights are bigger than his. The latest RMW Outback magazine, inthe ute section, has an article, describing one of the bullbars as " would'nt look out of place in a Mad Max movie". Bloody hell, that sort of statement is'nt going to help us at all, hey?

__________________
" If You Can't See My Mirrors - they're probably somewhere on Parramatta Road "

red sled

i built a heap of vehicles for mad max movies thats a bloody insult
WHO DO I KILL

RMW would roll in his grave BLOODY CHEEK let me get my hands on the BASTARD that wrote that

i have prooved that a good designed bull bar will destroy itself on impact
this takes all the load away from the vehicle and results in no personal damage due to vehicles splitting in half or simular damage

also while on THAT subject .... if you hit something with a badly built bullbar and it increases the damage to you vehicle IE: bends a chassis will your insurance pay up ???? bet not !

the lesson for today know your bull bars design and make sure its a good quality bar that wont do damage to your car / ute / truck

cattlegrid

redsled - RMW Outback magazine, page 46, Story and photos by Freda Nicholls. Kirsty's F250, and no dis-respect to Kirsty. I'd feel uncomfortable, if any bullbar I had, was described that way. They're almost justifying Harold Scruby's stance on bullbars. I dunno what to think.

__________________
" If You Can't See My Mirrors - they're probably somewhere on Parramatta Road "

southern belle

As far as I know the police in each municipality can basically make up there own mind as far as what they want on the road. 4 UTES were canaried in the last month or so in Kal for their driving lights and 5 posters. But the blokes who own them have been a keen on the acelerator at main intersection so have the cops decided they just don't like them? I have seen the photos of what roos can do and the bars in the workshop post-roo, I can post em on the website with how many died in each car. Morbid I know but at the end of the day the big bars work bloody well on the lower utes/cars. I personally have a smart bar and have cleaned up many a large skippy never to have a dent or scratch, but they do tend to go under the cruiser not back over the bonnet at you! As for this lovely suggestion of 'No Bullbars in the City' Are they proposing a drop off and pick up point on the edge of town?? How bout freighting it across the city when I want to go out the otherside?? What a ridiculous idea! The whole point is that the bar be there for the trip, you are not exactly going to leave it at home!

Billy

With some of the Feral Utes I have seen lately, I think it would be fantastic to make an Australian Movie like Mad Max with heaps of Feral Utes, I love them!

__________________

Zoomin ute

hi guys ,
This thing about them trying to ban bullbars i think is rubbish , every year thay bring it up on the news or in the papers. From what i get from it is i think thay want to ban them in the big citys and not country areas, but if you think of it like that i still cant see how it would work as what would u do if you had to go into a city stop outside the city. to be honest i cant see it happaning. As with the bug defletors i cant see why thay want to ban them.
i just brought one for my ute for $35 from a truck accesories place down the rd witch is waiting to be fitted. i looked around and one place told me $90 and i went down the road from where i live and there $50 witch i got him down to $35. so it pays to look around !.

Zoomin ute

Sando

I don't think bug deflectors are illegal. Not One copper has said anything about the one on my ute. However I think if you couldn't see through the bug deflector there might be a case, but most deflectors I have seen are transperent or semi-transperant. CG mentioned Allens signs earlier. On my trip around queensland last year I called into atherton and thought I would have a look at them. They are good quality and there is no way they will fall off even if you don't like the sound of double sided tape. I ended up buying one from there and they fitted it, fixed my windscreen aswell and did the signwriting all while I waited. The service was outstanding and I wouldn't hesitate in buying another even if they are a bit expensive. $140 for a stylish bug deflector and no holes in the bonnet I think is a pretty good deal. Thats the end of my plug.

rustintheute

Hi Sando I have just recieved an email from Billy he asked me to ask you if there is a website or email address for the place you got your bug deflector from.

Billy said to say Gday too!!!!!

cattlegrid

Hi Ben/Billy, just thought I'd jump in here, yep Sando is spot on. I've got the 1250mm one. Real strong sticky. Might be my imagination, but I reckon it cuts down wind noise while windows are down. Dunno what it does for fuel consumption. As per instructions, use prepsol, to clean bonnet, to get full sticky ability on bonnet. Take your time when applying, get it right first time. Cost me $140 plus $15 freight. website is www.allensigns.com.au , good luck.

__________________
" If You Can't See My Mirrors - they're probably somewhere on Parramatta Road "

Sando

CG is spot on. Use some 3M marking tape (stuff thats about 3-4mm wide) to mark two vertical lines down your bonnet, then you can measure down your bonnet from a prominent point and mark the point with pencil on the tape. That gives you your reference to make sure the bug deflector is straight, then you can put the tape horizontally with a bit of tension to get a straight line between the points you markedand, then you can mark your centre point. From there you are laughing. Just make sure you follow the directions to clean your bonnet surface or buffing is even better otherwise it may not stick properly.

Sando

Almost forgot
G'day Billy hope you are having an allright time and work isn't too hard. I'll have to catch up with you next time I'm in WA (probably christmas).
Have a good one

rustintheute

Thanks for the infro cattlegrid and sando Iam sure billy would be stoked!!!!

kazza

well on the issue of bug deflectors i haven't seen anything in the DPI or any licensing places and when i asked the local vehical inspector he said that nothing came up on his dadtabase and said they must me having a go if they think it obscures your vision.