The Strongest Lightweight Bull Bar for the 70 Series Land Cruiser by Offroad Creative
We have fitted what we believe to be the strongest lightweight bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser made here in Australia by Offroad Creative. If you have been following the progress of our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser build, we have discussed how we would be making several changes in stage two of our build. We have discussed in several build posts why we are removing our ARB Large Tube Deluxe steel bull bar. Here is our post on the ARB bull bar and our post on the cost of stage one of our build detailing some of these planned changes.
Why the Change?
As we have discussed the reason for our change in some detail in the posts mentioned above, we will not go into too much detail in this post. But in summary, the big factor for us has been weight without sacrificing quality, protection, and safety. The ARB large tube deluxe steel bull bar is one of the heaviest bars for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. Especially when you include the weight of the one recovery point, the radiator protector / bash plate, and the other parts that are needed to support this bar. All up the total weight is approximately 80kgs.
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- Weighing the ARB Steel Bull Bar
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- Weighing the ARB Steel Bull Bar
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- Offroad Creative Alloy Bull Bar Weight
The ARB bar is by no means a bad bull bar, this is not what we have been saying. ARB have been making bull bars for a long time and they are extremely popular especially for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. If you are not concerned about weight, have the GVM and like this style of bull bar then you won’t have any issues. However, if you are weight conscious (even if you have the payload) as weight affects many things, then the ARB bull bar might not be the best option for your setup. But also, be careful going with the same style bar but a different brand, especially the cheaper Chinese made bars (example, Ironman which is lighter than the ARB bar), as they are not comparable to both the Offroad Creative and ARB bars when it comes to quality and strength. If we had been provided accurate weight information by ARB at the start of our build, we would have made very different decisions.
To add to all of this, there is the perception that a strong bull bar needs to be made from steel. This is not the case. Just because companies like ARB, TJM and Ironman continue to make bull bars for the 70 Series Land Cruiser out of steel because they always have, does not mean there are not more innovative ways to manufacture a strong and effective bull bar without sacrificing weight. Of course, there is the issue of cost and what people are willing to pay which plays a big part in this. But as we will show you, this new lightweight Offroad Creative bull bar is not that much more expensive when you look at what you get with this bull bar.
Offroad Creative Bull Bar Features
Here is a summary of the features of the Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser:
- Manufactured in Australia, not overseas like most other bull bars.
- Lightweight at 50kgs without any reduction in strength.
- 5mm aluminium construction with additional rear supports and reinforcements.
- 5mm steel winch mounting plate.
- 4mm steel bash plate.
- 2 x 10mm steel recovery points.
- Single hoop to protect radiator (option in the future for multiple).
- 2 x 9-inch integrated LED light bars with DRL (daytime running lights).
- Black textured powder coat finish with the option to colour coded if required.
- Full ADR and airbag approval.
- Crash and destruction tested for ADR and airbag approval.
- Cost $3,300
Lightweight But Strong
The Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser is lightweight at 50kgs without sacrificing strength. This bull bar is constructed out of 5mm aluminium which is equivalent to 3.5mm steel while being at least 30% lighter. Remember that strength of a bull bar does not just come from the thickness of the material used, engineering and quality of welds plays an important part in this. Offroad Creative have further increased the strength of this bull bar by ensuring additional bracing and support has been used throughout the rear construction of this bar. You can see from the pictures below all the additional bracing behind the front of the bar. Compared to our previous ARB large tube deluxe bar which has far less bracing. We are confident that the Offroad Creative bar is as strong if not stronger.
Here is a summary of some of the important facts when comparing aluminium and steel. Aluminium can be made just as strong if not stronger than steel. As aluminium is approximately one third the weight of steel, strength in aluminium is achieved by making parts thicker and in the engineering and design of these parts. The use of reinforcements or bracing in the correct ways significantly improves the strength in aluminium constructed parts while reducing weight. On top of this, aluminium is highly effective in absorbing energy during impact, this provides additional protection for passengers in vehicles during a heavy crash. There is enough literature online discussing the strength and weight benefits of aluminium over steel.
Quality Made & Tested Here in Australia
The Offroad Creative bull bar is made here in Australia on the Gold Coast. Compared to most other steel bull bars that are designed in Australia but manufactured overseas. As you would expect with Australian manufacturing, the overall quality of the Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser is amazing. The build quality is fantastic, and the design is far superior to anything else we have seen. The angles and curves of the Offroad Creative bar follow the lines of the front of the 70 Series Land Cruiser perfectly. Far better than those on any other bar we have seen. It really requires you to physically see this bar to appreciate how well the design works for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. Another design feature that we love on this bar is there are no visible bolts other than those supporting the front of the bash plate. This gives the bar a nice clean look with all mounting bolts well hidden from view.
ADR & Airbag Compliant
To maintain the ADR and airbag compliance of the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser, Offroad Creative have had this bull bar crash and destruction tested in Australia. ADR stands for the Australian Design Rules. Being ADR compliant means that your vehicle when fitted with the accessory will still comply with all ADRs when it was new ensuring performance and safety are continued to be met. This means that the accessory does not affect the ADR compliance of the vehicle. With bull bars testing involves a pendulum test where a huge weight is swung onto the bull bar to measure movement after impact and to ensure it does not exceed ADR specifications for the vehicle and bar. The testing is done to measure how the bull bar absorbs the energy of the impact. You want a bull bar to absorb more energy rather than less as this reduces the amount of force that is transferred to the passengers in the vehicle therefore protecting them.
We have seen the Offroad Creative bull bar that went through the crash and destruction testing. We were impressed with the state of the bar after what it went through. At a quick glance we did not notice much damage at all. On closer inspection, there were a few small dents in the front of the bar where the impact occurred. Behind the bar there was more minor damage where the bar had crushed slightly. This provides us with plenty of comfort knowing that the Offroad Creative bull bar will protect us in any impact.
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- Offroad Creative Bull Bar After Destruction Testing for ADR Compliance
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- Offroad Creative Bull Bar After Destruction Testing for ADR Compliance
One Hoop Design
The design feature of the Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser that has resulted in the most questions and comments is the one hoop in the centre of the bar. The one hoop design will provide more than enough protection to our radiator during an animal impact. This hoop is located at the perfect height and angle to protect the radiator. The hoop is not as high as the one on the ARB bar which would not be an issue with a large animal strike as it should not be coming over the bonnet. Not having three hoops is of concern to quite a few people. We can understand the concerns that not having additional hoops will not protect your lights and therefore increases the risk of damage from a jumping kangaroo. However, we are willing to take this risk. In the worst-case scenario where we did have a significant impact, we are confident that the vehicle will still be mobile, and we will not be stranded. In such a situation where we did have a significant impact with a large animal or vehicle, we believe no matter what bull bar we are running there is a good chance we would encounter some damage and as a result would need an insurance claim.
Offroad Creative are planning in the future to add additional hoops to the design of this bar. So, if you feel more comfortable with the three-hoop design there will be an option for this at some stage in the future.
Integrated LED Light Bars With DRL
One of the awesome features of this Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser is the integrated 9-inch LED light bars that come with DRL. DRL stands for daytime running lights. What is so cool about these light bars is that they work as daytime running lights when you have your park lights or headlights turned on. Then on high beam they work as proper spotlights. These lights are a great feature of the bar as standard. When we add a light bar across the top of our Pioneer Platform roof rack, we will have more than enough light when driving at night. The light bars do come with their own wiring harness, and you can run a switch inside your 4WD to turn the spotlights on and off. We have run this to our AUX lights switch to turn on and off with high beam. The lights work as daytime running lights from our normal headlight switch.
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- 9-inch LED Light Bars with DRL
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- 9-incl LED Light Bars as Daytime Running Lights
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- 9-incl LED Light Bars on High Beam
Steel Winch Mounting Plate & Recovery Points
As standard the Offroad Creative bull bar comes with a 5mm steel winch mounting plate with two 10mm recovery points. The winch mounting plate and recovery points are bolted directly to the chassis rail with more than 12 bolts. This mounting plate is strong and secure, ensuring that there will be no issues when using your winch or the recovery points for a recovery situation. The recovery points are big enough to fit a soft shackle as they need a bit more room than a standard d-shackle. Compared to the ARB bar which only comes with one recovery point at an additional cost. The design of the winch cradle does make installation a lot easier compared to the ARB bar which requires the winch to be fitted to the bar first and then mounted to the vehicle. This design allows you to mount the winch on the vehicle and then fit the bar which is far easier. With the ARB bar, once you have mounted the winch inside the bar, you then need to lift the bar with the winch, which is extremely heavy, and then slide the bar onto the chassis rails.
Steel Bash Plate
Most bull bars do have they option of a bash plate however this is usually an addition at an extra cost. The Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Land Cruiser comes standard with a 4mm steel bash plate. Compared to the ARB bull bar (which has a radiator protector plate), the Offroad Creative bash plate provides far more protection as it extends further underneath the vehicle. This meant we were able to remove the factory plastic barrier that we had mounted underneath with the ARB bull bar setup. Overall, we have far better underbody protection with the Offroad Creative bull bar and bash plate.
Winch Control Box
At the time of installing the Offroad Creative bar and our new Carbon winch we chose to mount the winch control box on top of the winch. This will be problematic for some as there is no way to access the control box. This is however a short-term solution. As we forgot to organise additional zero-gauge cable and have a custom bracket made for the control box, we have not yet mounted this in the engine bay. Once we make a custom bracket, we will move the control box to the engine bay so we can access it if we ever need to use the cabled remote control. In the short term we will use the wireless remote.
Not That Much More When You Include Everything
At first glance the cost of the Offroad Creative bull bar for the 70 Series Land Cruiser might seem on the more expensive side at $3,300. However, if you consider everything that you are getting for that price it is not really. This bar is Australian made with most other brands made overseas. With most bull bars you will just get a bar, then you will need to add more for lights, recovery points and a bash plate. The cost of a pair of decent 9-inch LED light bars will be somewhere between $200 to $300. If you want to two recovery points you are looking at $150 to $250. A decent bash plate will cost you $190 to $270. On the low side a total of $550 and on the high side over $820.
The ARB bar we removed costs $1,974 for the bar only. You then need to add another $761 for their LED fog lights, radiator protector and one recovery point. That is a total cost of $2,735. Then there are other popular bars for the 70 Series Land Cruiser like the ATD Customs steel bars out near Toowoomba that start from $3,800 for a bumper bar and $5,660 for a hooped bar. Or you could go with a cheap Ironman bull bar, but you will get what you pay for. We have seen the design of the Ironman bull bar, it looks like the ARB bar, but when you have a closer look at the construction of the bar, you will see why it is cheaper. There is far less material used in the construction of the Ironman bar which is why they are lighter than the ARB version, but they are nowhere near as strong.
In our opinion, $3,300 is not a significant cost for this Australian made bull bar by Offroad Creative especially when you factor in the quality and design, plus everything else that you get with it.
Saved Weight & Looks Great
Overall, we are extremely happy with the change. We have saved 30kgs with changing to the Offroad Creative bull bar from the ARB steel option. Even though we have saved a significant amount of weight we have not lost any protection, other than the risk of a damaged headlight. The new bar is lightweight but as strong as any steel option based on the construction, design, and engineering of the Offroad Creative bull bar. With the icing on the cake being a far better-looking bar and a transformed front end of our 76 (70) Series Toyota Land Cruiser. Honestly, it looks like a completely different 4WD. Based on some of the feedback we have received we know there are a few hoping and waiting for us to hit something with this bar. We will be giving it a good test over the coming months with a few good trips planned and a lot of kilometres out west. After some decent testing we will do an updated review post letting you know all the pros and cons as well as if we had an animal strike and how we fared.
But until then, if you want to know more about the Offroad Creative bull bar and some of the amazing 4WD builds they are doing, check them out here on their website or here on Instagram. This is not a sponsored post, we paid for this bull bar.
Thanks for reading our latest 4WD build story on what we believe is the strongest lightweight bull bar for the 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. If you want to keep up to date on our future posts, please join the 4WD Adventurer community here.
The thoughts of Peter.
