Animal strikes and brush bars

[robert]

The kangaroo in the room is that the Aussies have a problem with drunk aborigines getting hit, they even have a term for them. The guys I used to work with referred to them as bungs, the noise they made when they hit your bumper.

 

[S4railroader]

i live in deer country... thankfully haven't hit a deer with my Ram but i hit alot with locomotives. and I know its a matter of time with all my back country driving. had a 2017 Silverado take a deer through the radiator right in front me on tbe interstate last year.
im looking at IronBull's Shredder model, may be overkill but its my style lol

 

[jacobconroy]

Did they check your frame for straightness @jacobconroy? That's the problem with putting a bumper that is stronger than the support I suppose. I'm under no illusion that my ARB is probably more substantial then the Tacoma frame. It strengthens it to some extent but can't work miracles.

FWIW the question my passengers and me surviving, followed by the drivability fo the truck. It's not strictly about the truck coming out of a collision with a deer unscathed, which would be a nice bonus.

I don't remember. All I remember is that my "big and fancy truck" drove like a POS after the strike. I was young and that truck was my pride and joy. Very sad, lol.

 

[slowtwitch]

Guaranteed expense buying one, guaranteed hit on fuel economy and wear on front end, to possibly (probably not) prevent damage from something not guaranteed to happen. As added insult to injury, it will cost you more at the body shop to have it removed to fix the inevitable damage that happened anyways.

 

[redthies]

that is the ONLY deer-moto story I've ever read where someone stayed up. Hell, it's one of the FEW I've heard where the rider walked away.

One of my friends saw deer come out of the ditch going home on his BMW bike. They were bouncing straight towards him so he veered left, straightened up and carried on home. Got off his bike and there was hair stuck to the broken mount where his top rear rack had once been.

One of my brothers clients (he builds custom baggers) was leading the pack on his Road Glide when a big mule deer jumped right in front. He literally cut it in half, totalling his bike, but he stayed up and 99% blood free. The guys behind him were covered head to toe in gore. They towed his bike to the next big town where he put a brand new Road Glide on his credit card and carried on. The other guys were at the car wash and laundromat while he was signing for the new bike. And yes, I’ve seen the pics...

 

[SheepnJeep]

I hit a deer with my Cherokee years ago, I guess around 2010. It jumped out of the grass on the far side of a bridge in broad daylight. I probably hit the brakes after impact so maybe I was traveling around 60 mph. Just wasn't even thinking about looking for deer in the daytime I guess. Anyway, my car was still running and I was in the middle of the U.P. so I continued home. The body shop bill was over $4K and I still find something cracked or broken occasionally. I remember one of the guys showed me where the fan momentarily kissed the radiator, it was paper thin and he could poke through the core with a pencil. Any more damage and I would have had a long day!

Nowadays my truck has a grille guard. If I hit a bridge abutment I'm dead anyway. I figure with my past experience if it lends a "structure" that keeps a deer from plowing right into the engine bay then fine by me. It actually increased MPG when I first installed it, there was a screen welded on that probably helped with aero. Mpg went back to the same when I cut the screen out. Go figure.

 

[wheelsee]

that is the ONLY deer-moto story I've ever read where someone stayed up. Hell, it's one of the FEW I've heard where the rider walked away.

Yep.....10 years on a medical helicopter.....the above is the ONLY one I've heard with the rider walking away.....of course, the ones I flew were critical with 50/50 dying (MASSIVE trauma, but some had then been run over by another vehicle while laying in the road, but that's a story for a different post)

 

[SnowedIn]

Modern car's bumpers are designed to be softer and pliable to absorb collision. Why mess with it? What if it's a pedestrian and not a deer?

With the number of people darting out in front of my vehicle because they think crosswalks negate the laws of physics - not to mention the increase in the number of pedestrians deliberately trying to attack my vehicle - it's an easy call to protect the occupants and keep the vehicle running instead of worrying about pedestrians.

Keep in mind, a pedestrian through the windshield will kill you just as dead as a deer.

If you're spending your time driving around places that are deer/elk/animal free and boringly peaceful, then yes, you want to stick with the stock bumper.

 

[Joe917]

Far cheaper and more effective, SLOW DOWN at night, and in the third world don't drive at night.

 

[Ausmark]

 

[Ausmark]

Second pic Hit a roo Kangaroo about 6 foot or do tall at 120 kmh /80miles an hour drove it for a few months before it got fixed .I hit our coat of arms animals on a weekly basis. Both ARB bars

 

[AbleGuy]

Far cheaper and more effective, SLOW DOWN at night,

Speaking of which, do any of you actually drive any slower when, on a country road, you’ve just passed one of those (pretty useless) “deer crossing,” or “deer next X miles,” signs?

Just wondering...

 

[roving1]

Modern car's bumpers are designed to be softer and pliable to absorb collision. Why mess with it? What if it's a pedestrian and not a deer?

Ban older vehicles trucks busses etc and then maybe there would be a point to that statement. Until then...

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

I guess I better slow down in the daytime too. On the drive home 5PM this evening I was greeted by 3 deer grazing at the edge of the road. It was bright and sunny.

 

[dr_r2r]

Ban older vehicles trucks busses etc and then maybe there would be a point to that statement. Until then...

The point to my statement is that it is based on scientific studies with collisions to pedestrians at certain speed. As long as it can save a single life or minimize an injury, it’s already worth it. Can you just imagine if all cars on the roads are still using hardened steel as bumpers, what would the death/injury rate would be?