Thread: Alloy roo bar materials

If the bar was made here in Australia, you'd be hard pressed to say it was anything other than one of the 6000 series alloys - 6060 is one of the most common. Might be the actual surface finish that needs to be touched up to bring it all to the same appearance.

Geoff, which Autosol did you use? There is one for Chrome (in the gold box/tube) and one for Aluminium (in the silver box/tube)?

Fred,
The Autosol is the gold label and was the only one that Repco had.
I'll keep an eye open for the silver label stuff but as one part of the bar buffed up beautifully, I don't think that is the cause of the difference.

I'll give it a proper test tomorrow if I can find the cloth wheels for the drill.

If that isn't sucessfull than Supercheap Auto stocks both the gold and silver tubes.

Don't know how much difference it will make though.

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

If the bar was made here in Australia, you'd be hard pressed to say it was anything other than one of the 6000 series alloys - 6060 is one of the most common. Might be the actual surface finish that needs to be touched up to bring it all to the same appearance.

I would have thought a 5000 alloy would be used for something like this. I know it's used for truck bodies in some cases.

I attacked both sections the same way, a quick rub with 2000 wet and dry until it looked smooth, dryed off then the Autosol.

The truckies with the really gloss shiney roo bars, wheels, tanks etc use "Purple".
It works great with aluminium - and not at all with chrome. Most auto places Autobarn, Supercheap etc stock it.
I use it regularly on aluminium my vintage bike parts with very good results.

Sheet/plate is 5 series, mostly; extruded and drawn shapes are mostly 6 series alloys.

I think starting with 2000 grit is...a little fine. Maybe down with the 400 grit as a start... (there's a possibility that the channel section has an anodised layer on it).

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Sheet/plate is 5 series, mostly; extruded and drawn shapes are mostly 6 series alloys.

I think starting with 2000 grit is...a little fine. Maybe down with the 400 grit as a start... (there's a possibility that the channel section has an anodised layer on it).

I'll have a closer look at the construction tomorrow, I'm not sure if the bumper section is extruded.or bent/welded.

I should have started sanding with something coarser but I was just standing there with a cup of tea after cleaning/polishing all day and I thought "I wonder what the bull bar would look like with a polish?'" and just grabbed what was to hand. Tomorrow I'll do it properly!

Personally, being a lazy bugger, I'd just use a maroon or grey scotchbrite pad and get a nice dull sheen.

I'm with the easy option but having seen how nicely it can polish up...

Of course if it turns out to be a maintenance pain and needs polishing every second Tuesday, then I may reach for the Scotchbrite

EDIT:
I had a closer look at the construction and the bumper profile seems to be an extrusion, cut and welded for the bends. The skirt under the bumper is welded on.
I also found a reference to materials on the ECB website (this link for a reseller in Malaysia). 6053/T6 and 5083 are mentioned but not where each is used.

I think the issue I had with different finish might be that I sanded the round second before I applied the Autosol but I just wiped off the bumper section before polishing. When I sand both surfaces (330 then 2000), they both have the same dull finish after polishing. I think some electric elbow grease and some tripoli might be needed to get the finish I'd like.

I just polish mine with kangaroo skin with the kangaroo still in it, but then if I spent an hour polishing it would be filthy within 10 mins of leaving home. I started a thread about poly bullbars on Whirlpool last year. One guy said he liked poly because the aluminium bars took so long to polish. I wish I only had his problem. The year before last I hit 14 roos. The best mine gets is a squirt with the pressure cleaner when really grotty.

The concensus on poly was forget it. Good for looks but useless if you hit something. The smartbar website video actually proves how useless they are but everyone is used to accepting what they are told so I guess they don't realise what they are seeing. End of each test shows shadowed outline of hilux ute with damaged bar overlaid to show the deflection. The poly bar was shown in perfect shape having returned so after the impact. They forgot to mention that during the impact the bar distorted nearly a foot which meant that it did not protect the ute at all. I don't know where they got the tin foil steel and ali bars from but I have had numerous hits with equal or greater impact and suffered only a slight deflection on front face. I emailed them to ask what the story was and got a carp sales pitch in reply. When I asked why they completely ignored my questions, what are they hiding etc etc I got no answer. Con job me thinks.

Dean

Here's how to do it - nipple ring optional....

Sanding a Truck Bullbar, pre Polishing Prep - YouTube