Crash bars……..WHY?

[USAGUY]

It looks like our new Broncos did pretty well in the recent crash test. How important or unimportant do you think our crash bars are? Going by the name “Crash bars” they sure sound important. I’m not so sure, hey Ford just keeps em off some packages & many folks simply just get rid of em to fit on larger tires. Why did Ford even put them there? Gotta be a reason.

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[Headsong]

It looks like our new Broncos did pretty well in the recent crash test. How important or unimportant do you think our crash bars are? Going by the name “Crash bars” they sure sound important. I’m not so sure, hey Ford just keeps em off some packages & many folks simply just get rid of em to fit on larger tires. Why did Ford even put them there? Gotta be a reason.

Yeah, so we got that result in the crash test!

 

[Felix808]

It looks like our new Broncos did pretty well in the recent crash test. How important or unimportant do you think our crash bars are? Going by the name “Crash bars” they sure sound important. I’m not so sure, hey Ford just keeps em off some packages & many folks simply just get rid of em to fit on larger tires. Why did Ford even put them there? Gotta be a reason.

"Safety" requirements / standards have always been adding more stuff / weight each year. Heck seatbelts were not required until 1968. Then came the air bags which seemed to cause more harm than good in the beginning. Just more and more regulation that makes our new vehicles "safer" than our new drivers.

 

[bodean]

"Safety" requirements / standards have always been adding more stuff / weight each year. Heck seatbelts were not required until 1968. Then came the air bags which seemed to cause more harm than good in the beginning. Just more and more regulation that makes our new vehicles "safer" than our new drivers.

Fun fact about modern seatbelts. They were designed and patented by Volvo in the early 60s, but they shared the patent for free with all car makers because the saw how important they were to saving lives.

 

[USAGUY]

Yeah, so we got that result in the crash test!

. Yeh. I kinda get it. So they won’t test a sasquash?

 

[Lexo52]

It looks like our new Broncos did pretty well in the recent crash test. How important or unimportant do you think our crash bars are? Going by the name “Crash bars” they sure sound important. I’m not so sure, hey Ford just keeps em off some packages & many folks simply just get rid of em to fit on larger tires. Why did Ford even put them there? Gotta be a reason.

They trap the wheel in the wheel well in the event of a frontal collision. Of course this limits what size tires you can install. Up to you to decide how important that safety feature is for you.

 

[NC_Pinz]

I wonder if the larger tire wheel combo help distribute the load over more area reducing the necessity of a crash bar. I would like to see the crash test with the Squatch package.

 

[RagnarKon]

In the past crash bars were designed to keep the vehicle in one piece—it helped with the rigidity of the overall vehicle. At some point they realized that was a terrible idea, and you really need the front of the vehicle to crumple rather stay rigid.

These days crash bars are really only design to assist with the small overlap head-on crash. The goal is to push the vehicle away from object you are hitting rather than just crumbling on that front corner and intruding into the passenger cabin.

Here is an example of the problem crash bars are intended to help... notice how the energy from the front corner crash was directed into the vehicle and caused the vehicle to "bounce" off the corner:


And compare that to the Bronco with crash:


Not an apples to apples comparison since one is a unibody design and the other is body-on-frame. But that should hopefully explain it.

Partial front-end collisions are really difficult for off-road SUVs simply because off-road SUVs are designed to be a little more rigid, have significant ground clearance, and therefore have a higher center of gravity. If not done properly you could have the energy throw the vehicle on its side like on the Wrangler. But at least the passenger cabin on the jeep stayed intact.

 

[USAGUY]

In the past crash bars were designed to keep the vehicle in one piece—it helped with the rigidity of the overall vehicle. At some point they realized that was a terrible idea, and you really need the front of the vehicle to crumple rather stay rigid.

These days crash bars are really only design to assist with the small overlap head-on crash. The goal is to push the vehicle away from object you are hitting rather than just crumbling on that front corner and intruding into the passenger cabin.

Here is an example of the problem crash bars are intended to help... notice how the energy from the front corner crash was directed into the vehicle and caused the vehicle to "bounce" off the corner:


And compare that to the Bronco with crash:


Not an apples to apples comparison since one is a unibody design and the other is body-on-frame. But that should hopefully explain it.

Partial front-end collisions are really difficult for off-road SUVs simply because off-road SUVs are designed to be a little more rigid, have significant ground clearance, and therefore have a higher center of gravity. If not done properly you could have the energy throw the vehicle on its side like on the Wrangler. But at least the passenger cabin on the jeep stayed intact.

. Now that my friends is a pretty good answer. Thx

 

[fergthulhu]

From another thread, this has a good comparison of a 2015 F-150 w & w/o crash bars. The super crew on the left came with them, while the extended cab on the right didn't. A little later you can see the 2016 f-150 extended that has the crash bars and it fairs much better.

 

[ScottyScooter]

From another thread, this has a good comparison of a 2015 F-150 w & w/o crash bars. The super crew on the left came with them, while the extended cab on the right didn't. A little later you can see the 2016 f-150 extended that has the crash bars and it fairs much better.

Omg, in that shot at the 2:20 mark the wheel is all the way inside the truck where the drivers legs are supposed to be!

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