[Light Bar / Brush Guard / Bull Bar / Skid Plate]

It looks like a nice piece.

 

I looked through your other thread... Have any of the 11 skid plates out there seen any genuine off-road abuse beyond just mud? Have you had a chance to give one a few hard impacts, and see where it breaks, see if the bolts hold, or see if it transfers any forces to places on the car that can't handle it?

 

Many people here take "off road" pretty seriously.

Thanks for the reply and great pics.

 

No. None of the cars with my stuff have seen true "off road" conditions. They have been more from the rally community. The skid plate, for that matter, could easily be upgraded to 1/4" aluminum should someone want to go there with it. Ans since the rest of the bar mounts to the frame, I like its chances in holding up rougher terrain.

 

I hope to get my OBS set up to take more challenging terrain. I once had a pretty nice Tacoma set up and did some moderate off-roading so I have that bug - as they say.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[Light Bar / Brush Guard / Bull Bar / Skid Plate]

Not to knock it, but ...

Not the most welcoming response but I can appreciate the honesty, so thank you.

 

Removing 5 bolts every 3 to 4 months is not that big of a deal. There are tons of skid plates on the market that are solid and for good reason - mainly it is easy to get something (i.e. stick or rock) jammed up in a hole which can do quite a bit of damage. I understand the naturally response to that would be to sat the damage wouldn't be as bad as "cooking your oil", but that simply hasn't been what I (and others) have observed. I haven't seen any changes in my oil temperatures and neither has anyone else with this set up or other skid plates without vents for that matter (that I know of and/or asked).

 

Since we're being honest here, vents and oil changing holes are simply cosmetic. They introduce weaknesses into the material/surface which essentially reduces the effectiveness of the skid plate to a greater extent than there is an inconvenience in removing it for an oil change.

 

Thanks for the reply, I do appreciate the honesty.

 

On a more positive note, the bar itself is serves many purposes. The front hoop obviously provides mounting (x4) tabs for lights and anchors the top hoop which offers 4 mount light mounting tabs - eight total. Just behind the base of the bumper the cross tube stiffens the front subframe and protects the bottom of the radiator shroud - which many folks realize is one of the weakest points on these cars. Straight back from there is a tube running to the center jack plate. It bisects the oil pan, providing direct protection for it while not getting in the way of the drain plug. The rear most cross tube fastens to the jack plate using factory threaded holes. The entire piece stiffens the frame resulting in better handling.

 

We've had a lot of positive feedback from the owners of the bar so I am very pleased with it's success. But, as I mentioned in my original post, I'm interested in hearing from Legacy/Outback/Baja owners here to see if there is any interest for a similar product.

 

Thanks again for your replies. I look forward to more input.

[Light Bar / Brush Guard / Bull Bar / Skid Plate]

Hello all.

 

I am new here as I recently started my own business. In short, I build/supply offorad and rally parts/accessories for Subarus. Well, for now it's really just Imprezas - but that is sort of why I am posting here. I created this light bar for my Impreza and have (in the last 2 months) sold 10 - hence how/why I have started my own business:

 

 

 

 

Recently, an owner of a Baja asked if I could make one for him. Well, there isn't much in it for me to make just one so I'm trying to gauge interest. Since this is for the Baja, that means it would be compatible with the 03-06 Legacy/Outback if I am not mistaken - pending differences in shape and height of bumpers from model year to model year.

 

So, if anyone is interested, please let me know. I will admit not knowing the rules here relative to posting references - so I pre-apologize for providing a link to another Subaru website but you can get all the information on what I'm doing and what I've done. I'm also an Authorized (paid) Vendor on that site so you can browse my vendor section if you like.

 

But let me get the thread requirements detailed:

 

1. Description = See above and link below

2. Location = New Lenox, IL - skemcin@gmail.com

3. References = See link below

4. No cross posting = Understood

 

Thank you.

 

Questions/Concerns/Feedback all welcome.

 

re: http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23268