[seehuusen]

Hey guys,

I just thought I'd show off my new bull bar that I bought of Chuckles on the forum. THANKS MATE :bigthumb:

I have only had time to put the bull bar on, but it does come with a matching rear bar.
However, for me to mount it I need to do a rear quarter chop, but I also want to mount a 2000lbs winch in the rear bar, just for pulling up the boat, moving things and perhaps be able to move the car out of a rut or something

The old alloy bar is for sale, I've added it to the for sale section, here's the link

Nissan MQ MK Alloy Bocar Bullbar (eBay item 190480346710 end time 25-Dec-10 12:20:23 AEDST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats

$35 bux or higher (can get $35 from the recycling mob)

Onto the new bar, sanded down and resprayed with etch primer and black Rust Not epoxy paint

I've got a question but, I had to reuse the bolts that I had for my old bull bar, because, apparently, you can't buy new ones of these (you know the one that has like two bolts connected with a piece of metal)

I tried TJM Maroochydore, ARB Maroochydore and Overland Maroochydore (those are ALL the 4WD shops)
I even tried the bolt shop, after being told by the above to go there, he told me "They're Dreamin'" in the best ozzie accent ever LOL

Anyone know what the go is with these? Do you really have to make them your self?

I love how tight the new bar sits on the car, all snug up against it, it's AWESOME!!
Later on this bar will be modified to take a 9000 pounder as well

Cheers
Martin

 

[Shark]

I saw that when he advertised and thought that's a nice looking bar but freight would of made it too expensive to get over here..

Well done mate, looks great!!!

 

[neRok]

yer that bar is very nice. i asked chuckles about posting it over here and he never got back to me

you dont have to use that 'u-bolt', just makes installing easier. we put a bar on my mates a few weeks ago and didnt have any so we just struggled and used nuts and bolts, but its impossible to get to the bolt/nut inside the chassis rail. thats all the u-bolt is for, so the heads hold themself, so it shouldnt be hard to make your own.

im a steel drafty and the fabricators always tell us to not request 8.8 welded studs etc because they become very brittle and break easy. we have to stick to 4.6. so probably wise in this scenario too.

 

[chuckles]

Oh wow. Looks great mate, well done. Not sure what you mean with bolts? Any pics mate? I could make something up for ya if needed?

Let me know

 

[Jelmer160]

Don't use 4.6 bolts!! You can snap those with your fingers! Nissan uses 10.9 from factory!

With a winch on it those 4.6 bolts will break for sure. 12.9 may be to hard but 10.9 is what I always use and you bet I winched alot.

 

[neRok]

did you weld the heads together but. anything more than 8.8 would become even more brittle. if you can use regular bolts and get to them, then go for it, but thats why the u bolt is there.

edit: im going to ask an engineer at work tomorrow what the 4.6 will handle. 4 bolts means they would doing max 500kg each. and they are M12 by the looks.

edit #2: just realised it would be way more than 2tonne when pulling due to the vehicle being stuck, guess thats why the winches are like 9k pound/~4 tonne. im still gonna ask anyway.

 

[mad-marc]

You could try a wheel stud, they are m12 with fine pitch and have a cilindrical section to press-fit and rounded head.
Then you would only need a piecse of sheet metal to press-fit the studs in.

you can however fit standard hex bolts but its either only fitting bumber bracket or tow bracket.

I thought the studs for the bumber brackets were 14 mm eitherway why hassle when OM are not that expensive.

 

[seehuusen]

Cheers guys! I'm very happy with the result, and can't wait to take it out bush (also to see how the paint comes up after a trip in the bush)

Yeah, the bolt seems to be two wheel studs like mad-marc suggested, but it seems weird that you can't buy these??

 

[Jelmer160]

At the dealership you can. These are special made for Nissan.

 

[neRok]

just went and spoke to engineer.
grade size load
4.6 M12 1500kg
4.6 M16 2800kg
8.8 M16 5900kg
10.9 M16 7600kg

thats per bolt. he had to do the maths for the 10.9, being a structural engineer it wasnt in his books. he THOUGHT/GUESSED 10.9 would be rather brittle and have no 'give', when it hits its limit it would just shatter. 4.6 on the other hand will bend for a while after it hits the limit, before it breaks. so even M12 4.6 bolts should give adequate capacity to suit a 9000lb winch, according to the sums.

 

[Jelmer160]

Well, Nissan didn't use 10.9 cause they break fast. All suspension bolts are 10.9 too.

 

[neRok]

their breaking point is a lot higher, thats the difference.

 

[Squalo]

Looks great Martin. You know you need a new grille now, right?

 

[seehuusen]

hahaha, you know, I was looking at some pics today, from when I got it, and jeez the sun has faded that grill a lot!! NOT TO WORRY!! ;-) I have got a brand new black one in the shed, which I'll put on there next week! I'll chuck some pics up when I have changed it all

So far the plan is to put the rebuilt axle, rebuilt leaf packs and shackles on there, and if there's time we'll put the new grill on too

 

[seehuusen]

oh and change the rear diff, all in one day... should be possible?!? :/

 

[tassie patrol]

just remember when thinking mounting bolt's for bull bars and more so if you even think you'll be winching or getting a snatch recovery, high tensile bolt have very poor shear rate

yes they can hold huge weight , but they will shear at a much much lower rate

trust me on this I made the mistake of using 8.8 to mount my bar and had the six bolt in the side plus 2 others both sides going up from the bottom of the chassis rail, and you guessed it they all sheared and the bar came off, wasn't pretty

 

[seehuusen]

oh no, I've seen an alloy bar come off in a recovery! DEFINITELY NOT NICE!! I'll be getting the bolts recommended when I modify the bar to accommodate a winch, thanks for the heads up