Well this topic has wandered since I posted [#4], but I got to say a good brush guard is protection for you, your passengers and your investment in a 40-50K Truck. No doubt a bit selfish and not PC. Now as far as “T-Boning” goes, it is horrible, but the folks in this Forum are owners and drivers of BIG trucks, X’s and SD’s. All of our vehicles WITHOUT brush guards are probably 7-10 on a scale of ten of causing catastrophic results in such a collision; forbid that this should happen, but a brush guard won’t make much difference, other than offer you some more protection.

 

I wasn't going to comment any more, but I can't resist.

Accepting for the moment what you say is correct, then small, lightweight cars are the ones most needing extra help. Kias. Hyundais. Etc. Why then do you not see very many Miatas with huge grill guards? Why do they hardly even make grill guards for cars, but there are a wide variety for trucks and SUVs?

Because those cars don't look "cool" with grill guards. Trucks do. You can talk safety all you want, but most people buy them because they look "butch".


Sorry, but your argue does nothing to convince the reader that grill guards aren't dangerous. Just because there are other dangerous accessories out there does not make grill guards less so. You are trying to change the subject, distract the reader from real issue, grill guard safety.

The issue is not whether grill guards cause accidents. No one is saying that they do. The claim is that grill guards increase the severity of the injuries when an accident occurs, make a survivable accident deadly.

The claim is that grill guards ride higher than the factory stock bumpers. As a result, they strike passenger cars at window height, not door height. The door side guard beam can't protect against an intrusion at window height, and side air bags can't protect your head if the grill guard has enter 6"-1' into the car. As you saw in the article, the US does not even track this type of accident data, so while the argument sounds plausible, it has not been thoroughly substantiated.

Obviously they are not going to ban grill guards any time soon. All I am saying is that if you want to customize your truck, there are ways to do that without making the truck more dangerous to others.

Just think about it and do what your conscience tells you.

 

Well said J...
and just like with gas vs diesel and this vs that...
we could "discuss" for a LONG time :-)

Happened to see some testing of side impact crashes on the news the last day or so and the sled that accident creation idiot goup was using had a concrete front about 3 foot high and a relatively long point in the front center...
Never ave seen a car shaped like that, but I guess they also wanted to make their test more critical so they can sell their services :-)

 

Ok.. lets try and not change what people say. First of all I never said that grill guards are not dangerous for others on the road. Where did you get that from? In fact if you go back and read what i said i clearly wrote that grill guards are more dangerous for others on the road. Don't put words into peoples mouths. I did however say that they will protect you, your passengers, and your vehicle. Thats their job.

Don't argue with someone when you arn't even sure what they said. Making things up to make a point is foolish.

 

I didn't make anything up, and I understood what you said. A classic "slippery slope" argument.

"If they ban X, then next they will want to ban Y and Z".

 

No.. you claimed that i said grill guards arn't dangerous. I didn't say that. I admitted that they were. Now who is "changing the subject"? Grow Up.

 

OK now it is time to take a bredth..............STOP!

 

Issues like this are likely to garner divergent views.

Read here, for example:

http://forums.ford-trucks.com/ubbthr...=1#Post1765433

 

Actually, I don't consider that site a valid source document :-)
while there are some good guys there, there are some REAL trouble makers as well...

ANYTHING on TDS is grounds for a slanderous name calling -
knock down drag out fight - and that's the reason I stopped visiting there...
too bad the moderators allowed it to get like that ---
many old timers have left there because of it...
(I'm was not one of the Old-timers, mind you !!!
just had been on the site for a while and got tired of it !)

That's why I am here to help out when I can.... and know Tim and the gang will NEVER let it get like TDS !

just like we can chose our trucks, we chose where to spend our on-line time :-)

 

Well, I came upon this one a little bit late, but some of the things have really gotten my goat . So, to clear things up, let me say what I think (and what I believe many other people think...although I have no proof):

I DO NOT CARE if my grille guard is a lethal menace or not. My truck has one. My wife's Yukon has one. Any truck I buy will have one. If my truck hits another vehicle with the grille guard, will the carnage be any worse? I don't know, and I don't care. My wife and child are protected by it, and that's good enough for me. My wife and I are at the age where any accidents (barring some kind of weird horrible mechanical failure) will not be our fault. So it's a non-issue for me. It protects the vehicle, it protects the occupants, and the fact that it looks good is just a bonus side effect.

And don't give me the "you-don't-know-how-horrible-accidents-are" thing either. In a previous life, I have been the one to deliver the dreaded knock on the door at 0200, bearing only the worst of bad news. I guess I've seen enough terrible stuff in my life that I am overly cautious as far as my family is concerned. Jaded? Mean? Perhaps. But that's the way it is.

 

OK. But your opinion may change if it is your wife's truck that gets t-boned by a lifted truck with a huge grill guard.

 

Absolutely 100% correct. I am an honest hyppocrite, and I realize that in that case I don't have a leg to stand on. You pays your money and you takes your chances; HOWEVER...my wife drives a tall vehicle, so from the physics standpoint, her odds will be better than the average eco-box, hybrid, pain-in-the-tree-huggin'-butt car.

In the final analysis, I pray God that if there is an accident, nobody on either side of the grille guard gets hurt. But if that is not the case, I hope my wife's vehicle is the winner. I may be mean and rotten but at least I'm honest...

 

Actually the airbag sensors or deployment switch is not located in any "crush zone". They are decelleration sensors and are usually located under the dash. They are not contact sensors.

Although grill guards can protect occupants in some cases, look cool in some cases and can create MORE body damage in some cases, the fact remains that overly strong grill guards and replacement bumpers can create early airbag deployment by not allowing the designed body structure to absorb impact. This creates larger decelleration forces and possibly causing the airbags to deploy in situations where they normally wouldn't. That would cause me more concern about my family's safety than the possible positive effects that the guard may produce.

I like grill guards and am planning on putting one on my Expy. But safety isn't the reason. (My brain is a better "tool" for protecting my family...in most cases. )

They make a great place to put aftermarket lights!

 

Excellent point. I never considered that.

 

Fair enough.

I just see some futility in continued escalation. When will it stop? Do we all need to buy reative armor from the Israeli military and mount it on our cars?

As as additional note, if more and more people put grill guards on their trucks, the more likely it is that a severe accident involvoing a grill guard will happen and get the attention of the media and government regulators.