hey, everyone seems to be talking about it but I was wondering if anyone has a picture of how much damage a grill guard when hit from the bottom can do to the front of the xterra. Saw one from a pathfinder but really haven't seen one from an xterra. Heard there were pics from back of last year but never got a chance to see them.

I presently have a manik guard in front, which I bought like a while back and I like it, but I am contemplating whether to change to a new bumper or not. Getting rid of the grill guard is proving harder than I thought so I don't know now and I was hoping for you guys suggestions.

oh yeah, and spare me the talk about how the grill guard can make car during offroading worse. I know. I don't wanna start another forum on arguments on grill guards let;s save everyone's time now.

Seek out TJ and you shall find your picture of an X with damage from a grill guard.

Rob

Is there a story to go along with this? Did someone shoot out the lights?

ouch!

I learned this lesson when my buddy up the street just kissed a large american station wagon back in 1986 with his 84 nissan truck. A bumper scratch turned into a dented hood.

it better be stout if you want a real grill bumper.

Jeez...What actually are the purpose of these things??

Jeez...What actually are the purpose of these things??

to look good at the mall

Yep ur right. All my buddies at Target where I work loved it and said it made it look Tougher. :rolleyes: I took that damn Grill guard off 2 weeks after I bought it.

Wow, I was thinking of getting front and rear brush guards but those pictures make me think twice. I could only imagine if my insurance would cover the excess damage because of the thing being on there during an accident.

Eddie

I don't get the "mall" thing. Seen that a few times. Grille guard and the mall... I'm not seeing it. And "mall crawler"... what's that all about?

I have been offroading on a ranch in south Texas that is thick with mesquite brush and cactus for years. First I had a full size Bronco, then a F250 and now my X. I never had a brush guard. I have never lost a headlight, taillight or any other damage other than putting some new "pinstriping" on my paint. The brushguards cause more damage in a minor accident. There is NO need for them.

Skid plates are highly recommended. Stronger bumpers are a plus.

The Mall thing is a reference to those who have no/too little off road experiences that would provide a context for what works/doesn't.

A newbie that is buying an X (Or a jeep, etc....) and wants it to have "That Look" that rugged, tougher sort of appearance...will tend to choose that type of option, even though their experiences are more mall based than trail based.

The Mall is used as the reference for not on trails, as in where you see them/where they frequent, etc. IE: Trucks that go to and from malls, not off road.

Soccer Mom Mobiles, Mommy Mobiles, etc are sometimes used in this scenario as well....albeit w/o the implication that they have moddded their trucks to look tougher.

Most of the angst about grill guards involves the irony that the newbies bought them because they assumed that they would perhaps, uh, guard their grill....when in fact they are really just cosmetic affectations, that to complete the irony, actually do MORE damage rather than protecting the grill.

That said...if you ARE at a mall or other similar venue with a parking lot, and an errent shopping cart were to roll into the front of the truck, the decent grill guards would provide a modicum of protection from cart carnage....

So...if the crawling you do is mall based, the grill guard is a reasonable accessory to ameliorate cart based collision carnage.

Out on the road, if you hit a deer, a soccer mom, or visa versa, the guard will tend to fold back and whack parts of the truck that would not have been otherwise damaged.

Off road, the approach angle of the truck is mauled by the low mounted chin of the protruding guard, which hits as you approach obstacles or come down/go up steep hills.

So if doing real off roading...you really can't have a grill guard, and if doing only mall crawling, you can have one, but it's just a cosmetic affectation rather than real protection.



PS - Edstorm - check your WTB section on XOC - You got a bite!

Hey thanks for the head's up. Hope you get that bumper fixed and stuff TJ.

Anyways, I was thinking about it during the drive home today and I think that the grill guard does offer a little more protection than what most people say. Everyone here in the forums mostly head towards the steel guards and that is a good thing and good advice if you are buying a grill guard. But if you already have one, it might not really be worth the time and money to switch to steel bumpers unless you really need it for offroading and stuff.

I mean I love to have a shrock bumper but the grill guard does offer some protection. I mean those pics above could have been worse damage to the car I think, if the grill guard wasn't there. The grill guard saved the car probably. it also depends on who makes the bumper. Some bumpers are really poor steel and thus useless. Others, seem to offer tough cold steel and I think that would be better and last longer, although not as tough as a steel bumper. I would go with a shrocks, arb or TJM bumper if you are going to do a lot of rock crawling but if you are just doing safari camps over the forest, and you already have a grill guard, just keep it. Not really worth changing it. Unless you want the armor. Don't take bumps that you think your car cannot handle, and it should be fine. That is what I used to do.

I'm thinking of the shrocks bumper but not be able to afford the tire carrier and the front bumper at the same time so I might get the rear bumper first.

I would guess that mpg would suffer with the new bumper in front because the tires are so open to air coming from the front. Just wondering about that because don't think I have seen an article about that.

edstorm

FWIW - I installed a ARB winch bumper on the front of my 02 Trooper and have never been able to document a change in MPG. Had the Trooper over a year before changing bumpers so I had plenty of numbers to compare. Summer, winter, city or highway.

Oh, okay. I actually got that part through context. But, the "Mall" thing seems just as random as say, the Supermarket, or Walmart, or any lot for that matter. So, Lot Crawler would work. Mall crawler was probably just chosen at random because someone "clever" thought of it as a synonym for poser, and now it's "the expression of choice". Really no direct correlation to a mall that I am missing, then. Just wondering where that came from.

Very concise, TJ. Can I copy/paste your definition into Wikipedia and take all the credit?

these posts have got to stop...everyimte i see one i strongly question having the grill guard on the front of my car

when i hit that ice and slid into that bank with my manik guard i lost my bug shield, a turn signal, holes in my bumper where it poped thru at the frame rails, 2 dents in my hood, a outa balance head light and 2 dented front qtr panels. i paid about $500 for it. i spent $200 and put a TJM bumper on to replace everything.

I have no direct experience with grill guard damage, but have seen a lot of pictures of it. I have to say, last night I went wheeling with a buddy of mine, and his 4wd stopped working. On the way out, he got stuck in the snow with only the back two wheels to get him out He wasn't buried, so three of us pushed him out in reverse. With three of us pushing on the front grill guard, the whole thing flexed quite a bit. Not a very structural design.