RAY'S MONTERO SITE
FUTURE PLANS & PROJECTS
STATUS UPDATE... The Bars are Done! Read some of the results below or Click here to go to my Modification's Page to see the details!!!
Iron Man Truck Basher Bars
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Figure 2*
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THE PROBLEM
Currenlty I have a set of Custom Nerf Bars that I had a Southern California fabricator build for me in the summer of 1999. While on my first trip out using them in Arizona, I bent them on my first encounter with rock. I was going super slow and just contacting the Nerfs bent them. (figure 1.)
Needless to say, I was VERY dissapointed with the fabricator in Ventura that built them for me. So dissapointed that I didn't bother going back to have him fix them. I figured he wasn't worth my time.
WHAT I LEARNED
That's when I learned that when it comes to Rocker Panel Protection, the best units are built out of 1/4" thick steel tubing and mounted to the frame at a minimum of 3 points per side similar to Summit's product (Figure 2). I even took the time to draw up some plans for one (Figure 3)....
Be they round or square, material thickness and the number of "quality" mounting points are key to not getting any body damage through them.
In addition to the quality of the base materials, the quality and experience that go into the design and fabrication of each unit will directly reflect on the results.
THE PLAN
Working with Bill again at Iron Man Truck Sports, I described a pair of Rocker Panel Protectors I saw that was built for Jeep Cherokee's.
Bill surprised me by showing me a product he had called Basher Bars he builds for Toyota's using 1/4" thick steel rolled into a 2"x2" square tube. This is the same material used to build hitches.
CURRENT PROJECT STATUS
On August 9th, Bill at Iron Man Truck Sports Built my Basher Bars for me. They look great. Stay tuned for an update on upcoming field testing. Click on the pic's below to see them or for a full review, check out my Modification's Page.
NOTE:
* Figure 2 above is courtesy of Off Road.com
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Hits since created on 10, June 2000