Roo Bars ...........

We get an awful lot of questions about Roo Bars from Canada and the US, where it seems that they are not freely available. The following should answer most of your questions. Please note that it is not practical to "mail" heavy things like Roo Bars overseas, so you will have to bite the bullet and fabricate them yourselves if not available where you are. Sorry!

Roo Bars (as in Kangaroo - Australian terminology) aka

Bull Bars (Australia)

Brush Guards (Canada & US)

In Australia, Kangaroos are a major after dark road hazard on many country roads (and indeed close to some cities, such as Canberra). To help protect the front of the vehicle from collisions with these otherwise cuddly creatures, many cars sport what we call Roo Bars on the front of the vehicle. In the club website, you will see Subarus fitted with many variations of these - steel, alloy, plastic etc. In the north of Australia, stray buffalo cause a similar problem and many trucks are fitted with much heavier duty versions called Bull Bars.

In Australia, Roo Bars are freely available as an optional extra when you buy a new car, available as an aftermarket item, or you can just plain make one up youself. Regrettably for you folks in the northern hemisphere, I understand that similar items are not so readily found (if at all) - must have something to do with the absence of kangaroos !

As it is not really practical to purchase a Roo Bar, sight unseen through the mail (overseas mail, and customs etc) and then expect it to fit, I suggest you do what the rest of us do when we can't buy just the thing we want - break out the hacksaw and welder and make your own.

The method of fitting a Roo Bar to the front of the vehicle varies. Mine has a secondary mounting bar which fits inside the front bumper with tabs extending backwards to mount onto the vehicle sub-frame (using same bolts that hold the bumper) and U-shaped plates which curve forward under the bumper to mount the Roo Bar (see basic diagram left). The advantage of this design is that it avoids having metal hanging down under the front sill tray, thus maintaining maximum ground clearance.

Another method is to have the Roo Bar mounting brackets curve directly under the bumper and sill tray to mount directly onto the sub-frame. The only problem with this is that it reduces ground clearance. On the plus side, it keeps all the ironwork away from the aircon radiator - my clearances are a little close, if I hit anything serious, my aircon radiator is history!

The best option is to have a Roo Bar built (preferably out of alloy) which incorporates a replacement bumper - uses the regular mounting points, looks good and works well.

Happy welding!