I completely understand the market for them, if you don't want to risk insurance claims and still shed weight, great product!

But it should be known by now that anyone preaching safety by running them is just spewing words out for nothing.

 

Some people don't live in culdesacs in Wyoming and have to street park in actual cities, next to actual terrible drivers.

 

I'm wandering dangerously off topic with the question, but it is related.

Has anyone heard of someone getting into a front end collision with no front bumper beam (or an aftermarket bumper beam)? I'm not so much concerned with how the car would do since no claims are being made about that by the manufacturer, but am concerned what lengths an insurance company would go to in order to prove that the owner tampered with their own vehicle and removed a safety component (in order to deny paying the claim)>

That would be my number one concern about not running a front bumper beam (or an aftermarket piece). I'd be pretty careful about that as a result of the potential liability.

 

If you've ever dealt with a claim inspection you'd feel how I do about it. Which is that they generally don't look THAT closely.

If its a low speed front/rear collision, you most likely drive away.

They come to your house, look it over and make a basic estimate. After that it'll be a shop giving the actual numbers, which is where they won't know the difference or you can tell them and they won't care. They get paid by the insurance co, so its not like they give a shyte.

Am I saying they WON'T look and remove a busted up bumper to see if the support was crushed?

no.

But I am saying, they won't know its aftermarket if they are glancing to see bends/crushes/cracks. They see bent = replace, bumper destroyed = replace.

Its up to you to risk it, but having one there even aftermarket will greatly increase the odds of them not suspecting anything in the event it happens.

Just keep your stocker and throw it back on before they come to see the car. Hit it with a hammer to get money for a new STM. JOKE JOKE JOKE DON'T COMMIT CRIMES... lol

 

So clearly the factory piece is safer, obviously. But in the case of insurance claims, has anyone actually been in the position with a denied claim due to aftermarket crash bars? There's so much talk of it, but I have not seen anyone actually come out and say they have been denied.

 

I cant see the stm front crash bar being that much worse than the oem. Without a front crash beam I can see small parking lot fender benders doing more damage to your bumper and front end. I'm not saying it definitely will, but I can see the argument for it being there. Also, that bar should be able to absorb the more minor collisions before the front crash sensors get triggered. That right there would get expensive if you have to replace airbags. Just something else to keep in mind.

 

or you wind up like i did, explaining to them that no, the brakes, bumper, headlights, intercooler, and ACD are in fact not aftermarket...its called an evo not a base lancer.

took 6 weeks for them to finally call a dealership with the part number off the acd pump and find out i was right.

 

Way overpriced.they are about a 1/4 the price I would charge for a complete Nhra certified roll cage which is way more work to do.

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...r-what-do.html
^ He had no rear bumper support and his insurance claim did not get rejected

 

You know, none of that would have happened HAD he had his oem rear crash bar. j/k.

 

Even if a million doesn't get rejected, someone might be the lucky guy to get rejected.

I think the STM bar is overpriced honestly.

 

Ya, just depends on the situation and the person your working with I guess. I have AAA, and I called them when my engine blew at the track to get it towed since I get free towing. I told them what had happened and they had no issues towing me from the racetrack to back home, about 150 miles.

Sometimes you might get someone on the phone who might be a little more over zealous and start asking lots of question, other times they will just get you taken care of with minimal questions/hassle.

 

The aftermarket bars are a complete waste of money. They don't support the bumper cover, they don't support the intercooler...so what purpose do they serve? The oem front bar is meant to withstand a low speed impact (under 20mph) to prevent damage to the frame rails and core support.

Insurance adjusters are dumb, but not dumb enough to believe the factory front impact bar is made of a single piece of steel tubing. You could easily have the collision shop take one of the mangled impacts bars they have laying around and set it next to your car along with all the other busted parts when the adjuster comes to look at it. So, if this STM bar can't do the job of the part it is supposed to replace, wouldn't that make it useless $275 bar of steel?

 

i normally wouldn't care about crash bars, but i was involved in a little fender bender a few days before christmas. fortunately, it was only a low speed impact, and my stock front crash bar saved my intercooler and pipes.
all i suffered was some headlight damage and minor bumper and hood damage. the civic that hit me wasn't so lucky though; it had a hollow aluminum crash bar and the impact bent the crash bar and cracked the radiator. seems like that aluminum crash bar did more damage than good lol

 

i would say that MOST accidents are low speed impact, so ppl saying theyre useless bc they only help low speed impact are supporting the reason to have them..

im still more curious about fitment etc.. the demonwekrz i had for my gsr was perfect fitment even after i had a rear end bump, so i dont believe that "chassis flex" is the reason for a misalignment.. its still steel not playdoh