Prerunner style light bars

[Sev]

I have done some searching but haven't been able to find a good answer, so i'm just going to ask it directly.

Is there any purpose to the prerunner style light bars, other than a mounting place for more lights. mainly do they provide any added protection the the front of the vehicle, or would they end up doing more harm than good. I really like the prerunner look but since i dont live anywhere close to a desert i'm trying to justify getting something like this.

[mt.aero]

Keep in mind its just a light bar and not a bumper. Since its not likely built to take an actual hit, it will get pushed back into the truck upon impact. Possibly increasing damage.

[Sev]

are there any made that mount to the trucks frame with a thicker gauge of steel, or would that end up being a custom piece.

[Nomad 13]

A lot of the hoops they put on bumpers (like the Shrock bumper) are there to protect your lights and winch components. The light, small gauge tubing ones that bolt on over your existing bumper are just to mount lights. The larger, heavier gauge tubing ones built by companies like Calmini are made to offer protection for your lights, rad and grill in the case of contact out on the trail. They offer some protection in car to car contact but not as much as a solid plate rock crawling bumper will obviously

[Dennis]

If you are talking about the N-Fab style light bar, they are only for lights and looks. It will actually do more damage to the front of your truck in an accident, just like a bull bar.

[Nomad 13]

I'm talking about these bars from Calmini and a couple other manufacturers

2" .120 wall tubing will take a pretty substantial hit. We used to use .120 DOM tubing for our Baja bumpers and they were still usually mostly intact after a race full of gentle "nudges" to let slower guys know to kindly move over ; )
Granted, our bumpers had a much more substantial mount and support bars but you get the idea. Anything is gonna crumple if you run it into a parked car at 45, even the Shrock plate bumpers. Just saying that the heavy tube bumpers will serve their purpose in an impact

[Sev]

thanks everyone for the replies, i was hoping that something like that might also provide some protection to the grill and radiator as well. i really like the off road look, but i'm 2wd which is why i was thinking about a prerunner look. ill keep looking around for ideas on how to personalize my truck

[speedbuggy67]

keep in mind not many "light bars" are available for our trucks. Many including myself that want to keep cost down and have a place to mount offroad lights our options are limited especially if you have the full plastic front bumper. The Nfab doesn't work for that, and bull bar robs ground clearance. Xoskel has the mouth bar and defiant has a lightbar for 3-4 lights. White rhino has one that fits two 6in round lights.

Scott

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by speedbuggy67

keep in mind not many "light bars" are available for our trucks. Many including myself that want to keep cost down and have a place to mount offroad lights our options are limited especially if you have the full plastic front bumper. The Nfab doesn't work for that, and bull bar robs ground clearance. Xoskel has the mouth bar and defiant has a lightbar for 3-4 lights. White rhino has one that fits two 6in round lights.

Scott

Defiant has a light bar that will work on the plastic bumper. It is expensive, but it is built well and mounts to the frame instead of the bumper.

[Sev]

thanks, thats definately one i'll look into, it seems fairly sturdy