Bull bar (nudge bar)

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Introduction

Bull bar / nudge bar (terminology depends on a world region) is a metal or plastic bar grid, which is mounted on vehicle's front or rear end.

There are various designs, and most are aftermarket products.

Front bull bars (which mount in front of the front bumper) are much more common than rear bull bars (which mount in front of the rear bumper).

Read more about bull bars in this generic world Wikipedia article: "Bull bar".

The topic of fitting and using a front bull bar is loosely associated with the topic of front bumper issues. That wiki article also contains explanations on various Jimny plastic OEM bumper types.

The term "bull bar" is sometimes also applied to aftermarket-made metal "off-roader" front bumpers which entirely replace vehicle's OEM plastic bumper. This article does not deal with such bumpers.

A bull bar MUST NOT be used as an anchor when towing or recovering a stuck vehicle!! It will rip off very easily. Most bull bars also can't handle the weight of an idiot jumping on them.

Uses and purposes

Bull bars are a popular accessory on many 4WD vehicles, as they are closely associated with vehicle's perceived "ruggedness".

In some areas of the world (like Australia, Africa, Scandinavia etc.) bull bars actually have utilitarian purpose of defending the vehicle in case of collision with wild animals, which commonly roam around. However, in most other cases they are just fashion accessories.

Most bull bars can be used as mounts for additional driving lamps, and that is very useful for Jimnys, as Jimny's factory plastic bumpers are useless on their own as mounting points for additional lamps.

Contrary to popular belief or impression, bull bars are actually undesirable for off road use (in general case). Primary reason is that most bull bars mount onto the chassis below the bumper. That way, bull bars actually decrease vehicle's approach/departure angle and ground clearance. This issue is especially prominent in Jimnys with 2nd gen. front bumper, because that bumper already hangs quite low. A typical bull bar worsens this to the level of rendering the vehicle almost useless off road.

Having a bull bar on a vehicle is currently illegal in certain countries. The main reason is that most bull bars will adversely impact the fate of anything that collides with them.

Front bull bars

OEM Suzuki front bull bars

Suzuki even used to make 1st gen. and 2nd gen. front bumpers in special editions with integrated plastic bull bars. There have been no reported sightings of a 3rd gen. front bumper with an integrated plastic bull bar.

The primary purpose of those plastic integrated front bull bars is fashion. They have hardly any practical function or use, except possibly as "bump stoppers" in very mild collisions.

The availability of those front bumpers depended on a country.

It isn't known if these OEM plastic bull bars can be transplanted from one front bumper to another. Maybe they are bolt on, or perhaps they are glued-on, or even die-cast as a single piece with the bumper?

• OEM 1st gen. front bumper with integrated plastic bull bar - examples 1, 2 and 3
• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - A01.jpg

  Example 1

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - B01.jpg

  Example 2

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - D01.jpg

  Example 3

• OEM 1st gen. front bumper with integrated plastic bull bar - example 4
• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - C01.jpg

  Example 4 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - C02.jpg

  Example 4 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 1st gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - C03.jpg

  Example 4 - view 3 of 3

• OEM 2nd gen. front bumper with integrated plastic bull bar - example 4
• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 2nd gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - A01.jpg

  Example 1 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 2nd gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - A02.jpg

  Example 1 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bumper, 2nd gen, with integrated OEM bull bar - A03.jpg

  Example 1 - view 3 of 3

Aftermarket-made front bull bars

Introduction

There are various designs of aftermarket-made front bull bars for Jimnys. Most are made of stainless steel, while some are made of ordinary painted steel.

It is assumed (but not tried) that a certain aftermarket-made bull bar can only be used with a certain OEM plastic bumper generation. The assumption is based on the fact that the vertical length (depth) of 1st gen, 2nd gen and 3rd gen OEM plastic front bumpers differs significantly. So, an aftermarket-made front bull bar for 1st gen. OEM front bumper would probably collide with the bottom of the 2nd gen. OEM front bumper, because that bumper reaches much lower towards the ground than the 1st gen. front bumper. In the opposite case, the bull bar would probably fit, but its bottom would hang too low compared to the bumper.

File:Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, demounted - A01.jpg

Stainless steel front bull bar

• Here is an example of a demounted aftermarket-made front bull bar for Jimny's 1st gen front bumper.

Examples with 1st gen front bumper

Aftermarket-made front bull bars for 1st gen. front bumpers are the most common, as they are the oldest, before the laws and regulations regarding bull bars were "tightened".

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 1st gen. front bumper - examples 1, 2 and 3
• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - A01.jpg

  Example 1

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - B01.jpg

  Example 2

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - C01.jpg

  Example 3

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 1st gen. front bumper - example 4
• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - D01.jpg

  Example 4 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - D02.jpg

  Example 4 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - D03.jpg

  Example 4 - view 3 of 3

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 1st gen. front bumper - example 5
• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - E01.jpg

  Example 5 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - E02.jpg

  Example 5 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - E03.jpg

  Example 5 - view 3 of 3

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 1st gen. front bumper - example 6
• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - F01.jpg

  Example 6 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - F02.jpg

  Example 6 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - F03.jpg

  Example 6 - view 3 of 3

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 1st gen. front bumper - example 7
• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - G01.jpg

  Example 7 - view 1 of 2

• Suzuki Jimny front bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - G02.jpg

  Example 7 - view 2 of 2

Examples with 2nd gen front bumper

Aftermarket-made front bull bars for 2nd gen. front bumpers are not so common, as the laws and regulations regarding bull bars became "tighter" during this era.

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 2nd gen. front bumper - examples 1, 2 and 3
• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - A01.jpg

  Example 1

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - B01.jpg

  Example 2

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - C01.jpg

  Example 3

• Aftermarket-made front bull bar in front of 2nd gen. front bumper - example 4
• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - D01.jpg

  Example 4 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - D02.jpg

  Example 4 - view 2 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 2nd gen front bumper - D03.jpg

  Example 4 - view 3 of 3

Examples with 3rd gen front bumper

There are no known aftermarket-made bull bars for 3rd gen. front bumper (at least not in Europe). The reason is probably that EU laws and regulations got so strict by the time when 3rd gen front bumper was introduced in 2012, that bull bars became entirely illegal as new installations.

DIY-made front bull bars

File:Suzuki Jimny front DIY bull bar, over 1st gen front bumper - A01.jpg

DIY front bull bar

• This is a (not too pretty) DIY-made front bull bar on a 1st gen. front bumper.

• DIY-made front bull bar in front of 3rd gen. front bumper - example 1
• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A01.jpg

  Picture 1 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A02.jpg

  Picture 2 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A03.jpg

  Picture 3 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A04.jpg

  Picture 4 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A05.jpg

  Picture 5 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A06.jpg

  Picture 6 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A07.jpg

  Picture 7 of 8

• Suzuki Jimny - front bull bar, over 3rd gen front bumper - A08.jpg

  Picture 8 of 8

Rear bull bars

Introduction

Since all Jimnys use the same rear bumper (exceptions are some Japanese domestic models and some Brazilian models), any rear bull bar which was made for Jimnys should be compatible with any Jimny.

Note that most rear bull bars collide with the tow bar (specifically, with the tow neck and/or the tow ball). Therefore, most rear bull bars can not be used if the tow bar is already fitted, and vice versa. But there are always exceptions, like in one of the pictures below.

OEM Suzuki rear bull bars

As far as it is known, Suzuki has not produced an edition of the rear plastic bumper with an integrated plastic bull bar.

However, Suzuki did offer a rear bull bar made of metal tubes, very similar to aftermarket-made models. It was probably one such model which was endorsed by Suzuki. The model offered by Suzuki had a disclaimer in Suzuki's accessories catalogues that it can't be fitted together with a tow bar.

Aftermarket-made rear bull bars

• Aftermarket-made rear bull bar in front of rear bumper - example 1
• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - B01.jpg

  Example 1 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - B02.jpg

  Example 1 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - B03.jpg

  Example 1 - view 1 of 3

• Aftermarket-made rear bull bar in front of rear bumper - example 2
• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - C01.jpg

  Example 2 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - C02.jpg

  Example 2 - view 1 of 3

• Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - C03.jpg

  Example 2 - view 1 of 3

File:Suzuki Jimny - rear bull bar - A01.jpg

Aftermarket-made rear bull bar AND a tow bar

• Here is an exception to the rule. Tow bar together with a rear bull bar. It was probably a tight match.

DIY-made rear bull bars

Add pictures of a DIY rear bull bar here if you have them.

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Page last edited on 3/02/2017 by user Bosanek