[Conrad_Turbo]

Is there a front bumper light bar available for the Rav4? I want a place to mount additional lights and don't really like how most bull bars mount to the underside of the Rav. It seems most bull bars on the market for the Rav won't be strong enough to actually push anything, or take much of an impact, but is instead really an oversized light bar. Besides most bull bars seem to mount very low on the chassis and could in fact reduce ground clearance?

This is what I am thinking of:

 

[Bluenoser]

I've seen some Aussies and NZers on here post some pics of that smaller type, mostly in the 4.1 forums. They've got some nice stuff like that down under, but don't know if it's available in NA.:shrug:
I also think bullbars are just glorified lite bars, that offer little or no real protection.....it would be different if they had upper chassis mounts as well, to make them more rigid.........

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

I also think bullbars are just glorified lite bars, that offer little or no real protection.....it would be different if they had upper chassis mounts as well, to make them more rigid.........

I agree. Almost seems that it could cause more damage if the bull bar was pinned between the bumper and whatever the vehicle came into contact with. I just dislike how low they are mounted (although I must say the ARB is my favorite bull bar for the Rav) and lack of strength they have.

I'll see what I can find for light bars down under. I am thinking of having a lightbar come out the upper vent section of the front bumper. I just want to see what is out there before I come up with something from scratch.

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

I think I'm building my own...

I just mocked up Hella 500 series lights, outside ones will be fog and the center will be projectors. Anyone interested in one?

 

[JohnDoe11b]

You can always get a brush guard which is actually attached to the front bumper frame

And it is strong enough to push vehicles.

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

You have any pictures how it is attached to the chassis? I'm assuming it's attached at 4 pts?

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Bump? Just curious where that style of brush guard is mounted to.

 

[Sensei]

Conrad; I think you could easily attach an external light bar to the same bumper reinforcement I have used in a small project.

I first attached two Hella lights directly to the bumper hoping there was enough material for it to hang on to. They never fell off, but they were really moving around when I hit uneven road (and we have lots of that around here). The lights were mounted to a steel plate which goes between the bumper and the license plate. The bumper is only 3-4mm of plastic with nothing behind it, so naturally, it will flex with all the added weight.

I originally planned on getting a bull bar even though mounting a new one was outlawed in my country in 2007. I'll probably still get one if I can find a fair-priced used one. Until then, I've had to do some reinforcement of the bumper.

Behind the plastic bumper there is already a reinforcement made of steel, but it sits below the license plate and there's a gap between it and the plastic bumper. I welded a steel plate on top of the reinforcement so that it sticks up behind the license plate. Next, I attached a small wood plank to the new steel plate so that it touches the inside of the plastic bumper. After refitting the bumper, the steel plate holding the lights and the license plate can be reattached and screws will go through the bumper and into the wood. I'm very happy with the result. Here are some pics:

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Wow very cool, thanks for posting up the photos! I plan on doing virtually the same thing, having the tube mounted to the bumper support as opposed to welding it. I just don't want to put any holes in the OEM bumper, everything will be removable if need be.

From what I see for brush bars for the Rav is that they only bolt up at the bottom...pushing on the top of the bar will put a ton of stress on those bolted connections. Good to see the steel bumper behind the bumper skin.

 

[Kamandeer]

bump

 

[mensajero]

Have you checked JAOS?
Welcome to Jaos

 

[mensajero]

I think I'm building my own...

I just mocked up Hella 500 series lights, outside ones will be fog and the center will be projectors. Anyone interested in one?

Although, that looks cool. :thumbs_up: What you would need is SOLID bar. JAOS might have it. I once had a Rally car with lights in the front. If they are not firmly ajusted, they will vibrate creating a terrible headache to whom ever is sitting inthe front seat.:wall

Here is the catalog

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Although, that looks cool. :thumbs_up: What you would need is SOLID bar. JAOS might have it. I once had a Rally car with lights in the front. If they are not firmly ajusted, they will vibrate creating a terrible headache to whom ever is sitting inthe front seat.:wall

Here is the catalog

I could run some FEA before building it to ensure deflection is at a minimum, super easy. Although the two 1"x0.5"x0.065 supports passing into the bumper would deflect very little with just the weight of lights. I agree the last thing anyone wants is bouncy/vibrating lights!

Thanks for the heads up on the Jaos catalog.

I haven't built this light bar yet, too busy building other parts for customers. Hopefully I'll have some time to build it this summer.

 

[mensajero]

I could run some FEA before building it to ensure deflection is at a minimum, super easy. Although the two 1"x0.5"x0.065 supports passing into the bumper would deflect very little with just the weight of lights. I agree the last thing anyone wants is bouncy/vibrating lights!

Thanks for the heads up on the Jaos catalog.

I haven't built this light bar yet, too busy building other parts for customers. Hopefully I'll have some time to build it this summer.

Conrad_Turbo, since you do your own stuff. Which is cool I was looking around the net and also found this. You can get some ideas from these.
ECB Toyota RAV4 Bullbars

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Conrad_Turbo, since you do your own stuff. Which is cool I was looking around the net and also found this. You can get some ideas from these.
ECB Toyota RAV4 Bullbars

Awesome link! Wow those auzzies can come up with some cool stuff!

 

[ewilda100]

Hey all! I'm working with Dark Defense which builds some absolutely killer lights, ditch lights, light bars and all and they use real CREE led chips and they are stupiddd bright. I have tried the baja designs and would chose these over it any time.

If you guys wanna check out my insta I am on there as @wild_rav4. If you use my promo code "WILDRAV4" it'll get you 28% off anything on their website ( www.darkdefense.com )

Let me know if you guys have any more questions. Shoot me a DM on insta or here I will help you guys out. Right now on my build I have got the DDS4 pods used at ditch lights and working at building a prinsu style rack and getting their DDS4 array up on my roof.