What are my options for SERIOUSLY protecting by front grille and real bumper?

[NuMystic]

Have an '09 Yaris 4 door sedan and moved to a neighborhood that is putting a severe beating on my car.

Rear bumper is covered in scratches and scrapes and the front grill is already cracked which also caused hairline cracks in the paint surrounding it.

Virtually all of this is coming from other drivers when parking. This is a densely populated area where the only spots are parallel parking and people are constantly bashing their way in and out of spaces. No matter how careful I am, it is absolutely inevitable that both the front and rear are going to continue getting hammered.

Moving or renting garage space is completely out of the question.

So before I get the repairs and repainting done I need to have a protection plan or I'm just going to have to do it all over again in 6 months.

Can anyone recommend products that offer serious front and rear protection?

I'm open to anything from things that adhere to or replace the bumpers to a full on nudge/bull bar type solution. Just not those dumb bumper bully things for the back please. :)

[CTScott]

That's a tough one. The Yaris bumpers and grill are relatively fragile, where frequent flexing from contact will lead to cracking, so anything that sticks onto the surface will exacerbate the issue.

There is nothing off-the-shelf that I am aware of, but the best solution would probably be rubber pads which mount to the metal support, under the bumper skin, and protrude through holes in the bumper skin, so that they take the impact, rather than the bumper skin.

[CTScott]

Something like this:

49100

[Yaristeve]

For the rear, I would install a trailer hitch with the biggest, greasiest, scratched/nicked up towing ball or install a trailer hitch bike rack (even if you don't use it for bicycles). On the front, a similar tow hook perhaps?

[yaris2010RS]

i have been thinking of making a small rally bar on the front of my car for protection and another set of lights....

I have been looking for a cheap used one from a truck as a base line to start on and make it fit

kinda like these, i like the truck style better and saw one recently like this on a subaru and it looked great

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/rsyaryar/2403_1_lg_zpscdc49512.jpg
http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/rsyaryar/threequarter_resize_zpsd5bdf5d0.jpg

[TPA5]

i have been thinking of making a small rally bar on the front of my car for protection and another set of lights....

I have been looking for a cheap used one from a truck as a base line to start on and make it fit

kinda like these, i like the truck style better and saw one recently like this on a subaru and it looked great



I want to make one of those for my Yaris so badly. Out where I live not only do I contend with nutty drivers, wildlife collisions are relatively common. Even something like a coyote or dog could mess up my front end unpleasantly. Plus those things look dang cool.

[NuMystic]

i have been thinking of making a small rally bar on the front of my car for protection and another set of lights....

I have been looking for a cheap used one from a truck as a base line to start on and make it fit

kinda like these, i like the truck style better and saw one recently like this on a subaru and it looked great

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/rsyaryar/2403_1_lg_zpscdc49512.jpg

Anyone have any tips on actually getting this done for a Yaris Sedan. I REALLY need a bull bar for mine and don't even know where to start.

[yaris2010RS]

for the sedan im not 100% sure but what i was planning on my HB is to remove or cut out the lower grill and mount it onto either the bumper support bar or bottom rad.

Keep in mind you would need to make it removeable in the even you need to remove your bumper

[yaris2010RS]

Just to Clarify..... Kinda...

Behind the front bumper, you can mount either where the I/C is mounted to on the bumper support or on the bottom rad support

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/rsyaryar/IMG-20120206-00073edit_zps3ce4b6ae.jpg

on the outside of the bumper it will look something like this if you choose the rad support. PIAA Lights go where the blue dots are. Red dots would represent holes or soemthing

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa375/rsyaryar/IMG-20120512-00066edit_zpsba218a61.jpg

[nookandcrannycar]

Have an '09 Yaris 4 door sedan and moved to a neighborhood that is putting a severe beating on my car.

Rear bumper is covered in scratches and scrapes and the front grill is already cracked which also caused hairline cracks in the paint surrounding it.

Virtually all of this is coming from other drivers when parking. This is a densely populated area where the only spots are parallel parking and people are constantly bashing their way in and out of spaces. No matter how careful I am, it is absolutely inevitable that both the front and rear are going to continue getting hammered.

Moving or renting garage space is completely out of the question.

So before I get the repairs and repainting done I need to have a protection plan or I'm just going to have to do it all over again in 6 months.

Can anyone recommend products that offer serious front and rear protection?

I'm open to anything from things that adhere to or replace the bumpers to a full on nudge/bull bar type solution. Just not those dumb bumper bully things for the back please. :)

I've often thought that if someone wanted to torture me (and keep me in this country :biggrin:) they would force me to own a car and live in parts of New York like yours, or similar parts of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, or San Francisco. When I was growing up, three different households on my dad's side lived in different parts of San Francisco...and trying to find a place to park while visiting them was a huge nightmare. More recently, a cousin on my mother's side owned about 35% of an old house in Pacific Heights in San Francisco that had been divided into condos. She had a 1 car garage and one space between the garage door and the start of the sidewalk. Whenever she held an event at her place it was a battle to see who could get there first and get that one space.

I like the idea, from another post on this thread, of putting on a trailer hitch with a ball as covered with grease and dirt, etc. as possible (and both front and rear if possible) :thumbsup:.

[nookandcrannycar]

Anyone have any tips on actually getting this done for a Yaris Sedan. I REALLY need a bull bar for mine and don't even know where to start.

Yeah, this might work better....but I still like Yaristeve's somewhat twisted suggestions :biggrin:!

[Yaristeve]

When I was growing up, three different households on my dad's side lived in different parts of San Francisco...and trying to find a place to park while visiting them was a huge nightmare.

You know what was worse was that the residents felt it is perfectly normal and acceptable to "park by feel". I had an uncle who lived in one of those hilly areas and he would just back up until, "clunk" and then move forward until, "clunk". When my dad said something, my uncle just said, "This is how you park here. Everyone does it." This was back in the 60s tho, so I hope things are different now...

[nookandcrannycar]

You know what was worse was that the residents felt it is perfectly normal and acceptable to "park by feel". I had an uncle who lived in one of those hilly areas and he would just back up until, "clunk" and then move forward until, "clunk". When my dad said something, my uncle just said, "This is how you park here. Everyone does it." This was back in the 60s tho, so I hope things are different now...

I'm thinking of the late 60s and 70s. Even in the 2000s I would see people sitting in lawn chairs in rare empty spaces, saving them, and would only leave (after a fair amount of time) if SFPD shooed them away. Of the cities I mentioned the only one that has SOME very densely populated sections I've been to where the condition of people's cars is respected is Chicago.

I remember going to the Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Blvd. in late 2010 and trying to find a place to park on a nearby side street, before giving up and parking in the huge garage that is part of that complex. Somehow that wasn't as frustrating --- partially because the cost to park in that big garage wasn't outrageous (it might have even been validated?) and partially because if you get frustrated driving on those streets you can just head farther up into the hills (less congestion!) for a few minutes or more and then try again. I remember what that area looked like before that gargantuan complex was built around the year 2000.

[nookandcrannycar]

Anyone have any tips on actually getting this done for a Yaris Sedan. I REALLY need a bull bar for mine and don't even know where to start.

If you know someone who has had this done, did it effect their insurance rate?

[Absolutely Red 12]

For the rear, I would install a trailer hitch with the biggest, greasiest, scratched/nicked up towing ball or install a trailer hitch bike rack (even if you don't use it for bicycles). On the front, a similar tow hook perhaps?

No joke!!
I had an Expedition with a hitch and ball. It lined up perfectly with the average Honda Civic grill!!:thumbsup:

[Flipper_1938]

http://whowhatwhy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/armed-guard.jpg

[nookandcrannycar]

No joke!!
I had an Expedition with a hitch and ball. It lined up perfectly with the average Honda Civic grill!!:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

[nookandcrannycar]

http://whowhatwhy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/armed-guard.jpg

Too bad the OP lives in New York!

[Captain Slow]

if anyone ever makes a bull bar for the front of the yaris count me in. I would snatch one up so quick and slap some rally tires on that bad boy as well as a trailer hitch, fog lights, roof rack and anything else I could possibly put to make it look like I was going on some kind of crazy econo-box powered expedition.

[yaris2010RS]

if anyone ever makes a bull bar for the front of the yaris count me in. I would snatch one up so quick and slap some rally tires on that bad boy as well as a trailer hitch, fog lights, roof rack and anything else I could possibly put to make it look like I was going on some kind of crazy econo-box powered expedition.

+1 lol

[NuMystic]

+1 lol

You do realize he's not even joking (http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40748) right? :wink:

Being that I don't have a shop or heavy metal working tools, is my best bet to just find a shop that works on a lot of burly SUV's and ask how much they'd charge?

I'm looking for something like this, but can't even imagine where they'd mount the thing:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/compatibility-chart/B0001EV9F0?ie=UTF8&i=0

[CTScott]

I bought some tubing last fall to experiment with making one for Crashy 2, but haven't gotten around to doing so yet. The ideal mounting place for strength would be where the front bumper member bolts to the supports for it. That would place the mounting of it on one side at the tow hook cover and the mirror of that on the other side.

Making one that mounts without having to cut holes in the bumper would be difficult, since the Yaris does not have a front lower frame.

[Captain Slow]

i am totally serious :D

rally yaris FTW

[yaris2010RS]

I bought some tubing last fall to experiment with making one for Crashy 2, but haven't gotten around to doing so yet. The ideal mounting place for strength would be where the front bumper member bolts to the supports for it. That would place the mounting of it on one side at the tow hook cover and the mirror of that on the other side.

Making one that mounts without having to cut holes in the bumper would be difficult, since the Yaris does not have a front lower frame.

could it not bolt to the lower rad support? where the plastic skid plate would bolt to?

you could come out from below the front bumper with some flat steel and then weld up the butt end of the bull guard? only part thats stopping me from attempting this is the fact i have no way to bend steel tubing.

[CTScott]

could it not bolt to the lower rad support? where the plastic skid plate would bolt to?

you could come out from below the front bumper with some flat steel and then weld up the butt end of the bull guard? only part thats stopping me from attempting this is the fact i have no way to bend steel tubing.

The lower radiator support is paper thin, so just pushing down on the bar would cause it to twist. The only things I would trust to bolt it to are the long bumper piece (which is incredible strong) or the mounts for it.

I have a bender and have some 1" and 1-5/8" pipe that I was planning on experimenting with. I was going to start with the 1", as I don't want it to be too heavy. I made Crashy's brush guard out of the 1-5/8" tubing and it weighs over 25 lbs.

[yaris2010RS]

wow thats alot of weight infront of the wheels. also with that kind of weight the leverage on the lower rad support would be huge

[CTScott]

wow thats alot of weight infront of the wheels. also with that kind of weight the leverage on the lower rad support would be huge

Exactly. In Crashy's case, the obliterated lower radiator support was replaced with part of the plow frame, and the bar mounts to that. Also, Crashy's 4" front suspension lift counteracts the weight of the bar (and the plow, when it is on).

With the 1" tubing that I bought, the entire thing should weigh under 10 lbs, if I go all the way out around the fogs, and less than 5 lbs for a bar that only covers the middle.

[W.A.S.P]

Guys. A few days ago I saw a white LB Yaris just like mine in North Jersey, with a chrome bull bar. It looked pretty good.

[yaris2010RS]

^no way! sick!