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Well, on our way to Austin, TX roughly 2:30 AM and in the middle of no where......BAM!!! We smack into a deer at around 45MPH. All I can say is the OS is STOUT! We do have to replace the Radiator, fans and condenser. Passenger headlight got messed up but works along with some brackets and bracing but no severe damage. I tossed in some radiator hole sealer and we made it back to Phoenix with not a single leak. SO! instead of wasting 500$ on a plastic bumper that does absolutely anything we are gong to fabricate a tube style bumper with some better lighting points and bracing. It will be a few weeks till we can get started.
Dang!
Those pesky Texas deers!!
They do have a habit of jumping out in front of MOVING vehicles... Don't know what the deal is, why couldn't they wait a sec after you have passed, to hop across the road?
Glad to hear you were able to MacGyver your way back home
Can't wait to see what kind of bullbar you guys come up with!
PS: I never noticed you build custom cycles.. I just checked out your site, Very cool bikes!
Especially if you "trim off" just the lower front black section of your bumper (the section that include the fog lamps and lower lip, basically everthing from the front center-bumper down.
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Hamman, First of all, I am sorry about your misfortune.
I would advocate against any bull bar installation for at least two reasons:
1. The bumper, the radiators are designed to break/deform in a collision to minimize the peak force upon impact by lengthening the collision time. The decision comes down to whether one wants to protect the car or the occupants of his/her own car as well as the occupants of other cars that involved in a collision. Since the installation involves the safety of other motorists I would welcome some regulations against installing such aftermarket items. Keep in mind that manufacturers and IIHS put a lot of emphasis on passenger safety. Modifications, like this would seriously compromise the collision rating of the vehicle. They may even interfere with the proper triggering of the airbags. On the same ground I am against permanent hitch attachments for apparent toughening up the back end as well ( I know, for some regulation could only be bad as it appears to decrease freedom of choice).
2. Looking at the installation points of most bull bars, they could rather protect the bumper from scratches only. Unlike police interceptors there is no reinforcement in the frames, so by apparently protecting the bumper one might cause a frame deformation upon impact, which is a higher cost to fix than buying a new bumper.
Some threads discussing installing a bull bar are here: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ou...-bar-pics.htmlhttps://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ou...gged-look.htmlhttps://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ou...-bull-bar.htmlhttps://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ou...-w-photos.html
Hey AWCAWD, I am not doing a bull bar. We are building a complete new bumper. It will be of 2" OD tubing and be a full overland style bumper. I had made a front and rear for my Xterra that had a winch mount and tire carrier. So, no bull bar The plastic bumper will be cut roughly in half where the grill is separated and that will act as some moulding if you will for the metal bumper to flow with. There is a Photoshopped rendition of an outlander that is lifted with a tube bumper. That is pretty much what we're after
The upper and lower radiator mounts are going to be replaced along with the front main bumper plate which will either be a new OEM one or one we fabricate out of much denser steel. The one on there now is really flimsy and can be bent back and fourth by hand!! We ultimately just want more protection from such accidents along with keeping the car sound and safe!
Last edited by Hamman; Apr 25, 2018 at 11:35 AM.
Reason: more info
Heck ya! This is almost exactly what I had on my Xterra that I built out of some left over 2" tubing and sheet metal. I'll post up a pic of it here shortly. I already did some work today. The windshield wiper reservoir is going to have to be removed or fitted with a smaller unit and I need to re-position the oil cooler. It's just not a simple bracket that is removable but once you remove the front part of the fender liner it exposes it.
Last edited by Hamman; Apr 30, 2018 at 10:35 AM.
Reason: info update
Ok well phase 1 is under way! Last night we cut the front bumper in half and curved up the outer edges to flow with the wheel arches. We ditched the windshield wiper reservoir for now as that thing is HUGE!!! I need to get some longer transmission cooler lines as we are relocating the cooler to the front to still allow ample air flow. It already looks way better! The OS has such an aggressive front that it can pull it off once things are removed/relocated and painted black. We will get some tubing this weekend hopefully and start the bones of it. Pics to come shortly.
Ok so first update pic. Please keep in mind, this is wayyyyyy early in the build I bought some hood pins as the hood latch was a bit sandwiched. Bumper has been cut in half where the tubing will meet up and we will do a small stinger that matches with the upper grill area with a light bar or baja lights in it. For now, I bent up some aluminum to protect the condenser until some mounts and things come in the mail. We put a small 6" louver vent in the bumper too for some offset. Honestly, it looks way better then we thought it would. Cannot wait until the bumper is welded up!! Picture is crazy blurry but you get the idea.
The hood pins are awesome! I got them for like $15 at O'reilly Auto, easy to install and really flow with the look of the build. Need to find some new wheels and tires soon too. Along with getting started on the custom 2" spacer lift and rear tire carrier
Last edited by Hamman; Apr 26, 2018 at 02:56 PM.
Reason: info
This Tacoma bumper is pretty much exactly what we are going to do. Simple but stout. I don't wanna do an overly bulky fully enclosed steel one. They look way rad, but I think it'd be overkill for the little OS.
GONNA LOOK AWESOME!!! I'm starting to get a itch to do some kind of bumper on mine now, which I have no need for or money to build!!!! It's all your fault!!! LOL!!!
Apr 24, 2018, 03:05 PM
The plastic bumper will be cut roughly in half where the grill is separated and that will act as some moulding if you will for the metal bumper to flow with. There is a Photoshopped rendition of an outlander that is lifted with a tube bumper. That is pretty much what we're after 
GONNA LOOK AWESOME!!! I'm starting to get a itch to do some kind of bumper on mine now, which I have no need for or money to build!!!! It's all your fault!!! LOL!!!