G
Guest
Guest
Julian,
You may remember the bull bar I have on the front of my 80. I put this on
for 2 reasons. First was that we had a deer problem in one part of Bosnia
where we were rebuilding, and we had almost written off a Felicia from a
deer jumping onto the bonnet.(Other office vehicles all have bull bars). In
the Balkans the deer are huge red deer every bit as big as those in the
Highlands. Its a point if you are driving in wild mountain country that
roads are mostly in valley bottoms. Mountainsides in temperate climates are
mostly covered in forests and the valley bottoms always have a stream or
river flowing through them. Therefore the road is on land higher than the
stream and above the peat bogs that flank the stream, but its also just at
the margin of the forest. So deer come out of the forest to graze the
grassland by the stream and to drink there too. Car comes along, frightens
deer, deer leaps from field onto road towards forest, deer lands on bonnet
and makes a mess of it. Bull bars are very useful in these circumstances.
The bull bar is also useful to anchor a thin wire rope on the outside end
which is then taken up to the front corners of a roof rack or roof bar,
anchored and tensioned with a galvanised bottlescrew. This is then a very
effective deflector for travel through the forest, or green laneing.
Second reason for the bull bar was as protection from Bosnian drivers, most
of whom have had no driving lessons and have acquired a licence either by
bribe, or were given one by the authorities in the war, either to drive in
the army or to take family to safety. The Bosnian road accident figures now
regrettably reflect these inadequacies. Although my greater fear was damage
sustained when parked, especially in my city centre car park when living in
the centre of Sarajevo. I have collected several scrapes on the bar when
tucked-up in bed.
On protecting the rear, I now appreciate that my bumper may be different as
its a military spec 80, it being the troopie version and the bumper acts as
a step for access. But it is the rear chassis cross-member and plenty tough
enough I feel. But I have again collected some permanent white paint marks
whilst parked in downtown Sarajevo. The best addition here has been my NATO
tow hitch, it sticks out a long way and anyone trying to get past too close
to the rear gets caught-up in the hitch. They either go no further, or they
continue and damage themselves on the hitch and don't get too close to the
rest of the rear of the 80. Again, I have some donated permanent white
paint on my black NATO hitch!
You may also remember that I once posted a story about some yobs who went
into my rear end in a crawling traffic jam (drunken football supporters in
Sarajevo for the night when Serbia came over). The sound of the Golf's
plastic grille collapsing round my NATO hitch was a joy to behold. The
hitch then pushed the radiator into the engine block. The Golf naturally
came to a halt but its bumper did not even reach my 80's bumper. The hitch
was all I needed to protect me, it was sticky with anti-freeze though!
I have also found my rear bumper corners useful and strong enough for
pushing others who parked too close, just to get out of the car park you
understand ;o) I think my rear bumper at least is pretty tough already. I
have never seen rear light protectors on an 80, I am sure they are
available, but I think on mine at least, they are high enough to be out of
harm's way.
I hasten to add that all the techniques outlined above have not been used
whenever the 80 has been in UK. (Would never dare try this with the Pajero).
Cheers
Jon
Grand Union Canal
HZJ80 ex UN surplus from Bosnia
You may remember the bull bar I have on the front of my 80. I put this on
for 2 reasons. First was that we had a deer problem in one part of Bosnia
where we were rebuilding, and we had almost written off a Felicia from a
deer jumping onto the bonnet.(Other office vehicles all have bull bars). In
the Balkans the deer are huge red deer every bit as big as those in the
Highlands. Its a point if you are driving in wild mountain country that
roads are mostly in valley bottoms. Mountainsides in temperate climates are
mostly covered in forests and the valley bottoms always have a stream or
river flowing through them. Therefore the road is on land higher than the
stream and above the peat bogs that flank the stream, but its also just at
the margin of the forest. So deer come out of the forest to graze the
grassland by the stream and to drink there too. Car comes along, frightens
deer, deer leaps from field onto road towards forest, deer lands on bonnet
and makes a mess of it. Bull bars are very useful in these circumstances.
The bull bar is also useful to anchor a thin wire rope on the outside end
which is then taken up to the front corners of a roof rack or roof bar,
anchored and tensioned with a galvanised bottlescrew. This is then a very
effective deflector for travel through the forest, or green laneing.
Second reason for the bull bar was as protection from Bosnian drivers, most
of whom have had no driving lessons and have acquired a licence either by
bribe, or were given one by the authorities in the war, either to drive in
the army or to take family to safety. The Bosnian road accident figures now
regrettably reflect these inadequacies. Although my greater fear was damage
sustained when parked, especially in my city centre car park when living in
the centre of Sarajevo. I have collected several scrapes on the bar when
tucked-up in bed.
On protecting the rear, I now appreciate that my bumper may be different as
its a military spec 80, it being the troopie version and the bumper acts as
a step for access. But it is the rear chassis cross-member and plenty tough
enough I feel. But I have again collected some permanent white paint marks
whilst parked in downtown Sarajevo. The best addition here has been my NATO
tow hitch, it sticks out a long way and anyone trying to get past too close
to the rear gets caught-up in the hitch. They either go no further, or they
continue and damage themselves on the hitch and don't get too close to the
rest of the rear of the 80. Again, I have some donated permanent white
paint on my black NATO hitch!
You may also remember that I once posted a story about some yobs who went
into my rear end in a crawling traffic jam (drunken football supporters in
Sarajevo for the night when Serbia came over). The sound of the Golf's
plastic grille collapsing round my NATO hitch was a joy to behold. The
hitch then pushed the radiator into the engine block. The Golf naturally
came to a halt but its bumper did not even reach my 80's bumper. The hitch
was all I needed to protect me, it was sticky with anti-freeze though!
I have also found my rear bumper corners useful and strong enough for
pushing others who parked too close, just to get out of the car park you
understand ;o) I think my rear bumper at least is pretty tough already. I
have never seen rear light protectors on an 80, I am sure they are
available, but I think on mine at least, they are high enough to be out of
harm's way.
I hasten to add that all the techniques outlined above have not been used
whenever the 80 has been in UK. (Would never dare try this with the Pajero).
Cheers
Jon
Grand Union Canal
HZJ80 ex UN surplus from Bosnia