Arb bar on prado

[Shager]

So I had the arb deluxe bullbar fitted to my 2005 120 prado today and noticed on the way home it looks as if it shakes about a little. I was just wondering if any of you lot have the same thing. Also how big is your gap between the bar and guard   

[D4D]

Yep the bar appears to shake however it is an optical illusion. The bar is very securely mounted to the chassis and whilst it moves a little the bulk of the movement you're seeing is actually the body moving on the very soft body mounts. The Prado is designed this way to give a comfy ride. History has shown if you tighten up your body mounts to remove the movement you will start cracking panels.

The gap on my bar is about 20mm all round nice an even. This is to prevent the bar hitting the guard when the body moves around. There is an art to getting them even.

[BigJules]

I also get this on my Cruiser, annoys me a bit actually but it just means everything is doing what it should. There is an unbelievable amount of body flex in these vehicles and it is easily possible to use up 20mm when flexing.

[Black Diamond]

Mine was the same and all the points from D4D are spot on. The gap doesn't look the best but needs to be there

[cm4x4nut]

yep the 200 is the same.

I am not sure it is soft body mounts though because if they were that soft, it would feel like you are driving a bout down the highway. When you look at the gaps between the bar and body panels when the front end is flexed it can vary from a 20mm gap to about a 5mm gap. I think there has been a bit of flex designed into the body/chassis

However, whatever causes it, dont stress mate, it is normal. Aparently the brush bars help reduce the shake, but it is still there.

My local ARB guy, when I queried it,  reakons that the new colorados are even worse

[elle.mac]

As long as your aerials and spotlights dont break off its fine - we have a TJM bar and when we have $$ we are replacing it with an ARB as we have snapped a new aerial (second one) and a set of spotlights due to excessive vibrations.

[Burnsy]

As long as your aerials and spotlights dont break off its fine - we have a TJM bar and when we have $$ we are replacing it with an ARB as we have snapped a new aerial (second one) and a set of spotlights due to excessive vibrations.

The TJM bars bolt on just the same as the ARB ones do, they are solid with no flex in the bars or mounts themself. I doubt changing bars is going to do anything except lower your bank balance. Altering your tyre pressure to suit the road surface might fix the problem?

[Bird]

The TJM bars bolt on just the same as the ARB ones do, they are solid with no flex in the bars or mounts themself. I doubt changing bars is going to do anything except lower your bank balance. Altering your tyre pressure to suit the road surface might fix the problem?

x 50000..

[elle.mac]

the mount on our bar is abit bizzare - when i get time i shall take photos and upload for you to see - we believe its a TJM bar based on invoices that the previous owner left in the car - we have tightened the bar etc but nothing makes a difference to the amount of vibrations we get

[Bird]

the mount on our bar is abit bizzare - when i get time i shall take photos and upload for you to see - we believe its a TJM bar based on invoices that the previous owner left in the car - we have tightened the bar etc but nothing makes a difference to the amount of vibrations we get

Drop into a TJM store and get them to look at it. I have a TJM on the patrol, its a little longer than the ARB (sticks out more), there wasnt a few mth wait on the TJM compared to ARB (it was in stock at the store!), and has been sweet for years.

[Burnsy]

My TJM mount is the winch cradle and it is made from 8mm plate and weighs around 30kg, it isn't going anywhere. TJM bars usually have a TJM badge on them, I think mine may even be stamped on as well.

[elle.mac]

Bit hard were we are located nearest TJM is over 12hours away and unfortunately with impending wet season that wont be possible til next dry but we have work that needs to be done on the car in the next few months so will get Toyota to have a looksie at it as they also deal with Arb products and see what they suggest

[Black-Pig]

Scared the p!ss out of me when I drove my Dads Prado. This is normal. This flex and movement is why ARB etc have not been able to develop brush bars etc for this model Prado.

[LeighC]

I've got both a 120 & 150 Prado (in the process of changeover), both with ARB bars.  The 120 does have a lot of movement, especially on corrugations.  We've never had any problems with lights getting shaken to bits but I've gone through nearly every different style of UHF antenna, one only lasted 500kms.  The best antenna I found was the solid fibre glass ones.  I must have used 8 different antennas.

But in answer to your question, yes it moves but in 7 years the bar doesn't look fatigued.

(The 150 ARB doesn't have half the movement in it)

[Shager]

Thanks for that guys. I did bring it up with the guys at arb and they have said the same thing as what you guys have. But now I know it normal I have better piece of mind.