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wilderness Guest
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:18 am Post subject: Winch bumper legalities
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Hello everbody, I have recently fitted a custom winch bumper to my Jeep and had thought about having a bull bar made up for it. The design is basicly like the one that ARB offers. However, it appears that after 2008 it is illegal to fit these due to EEC safety rules. A web search has confirmed this, indeed it appears that this item cannot now be purchased (new) in the UK. My question, then, is does anyone know if it would be legal to retrofit these to an older vehicle and if a winch bumper in itself is legal?
I am assuming my bullbar is a no - no on insurance grounds, but what about the bumper? Many thanks in advance!
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crazymac Mud Obsessed
Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Odometer: 2389 Location: Pembrokeshire, West Wales
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:43 am Post subject:
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It comes down to two things really.
How old your vehicle is (type approved bumpers had to be fitted after a certain age, I "think" it was 1998 or 1999? So if your vehicle is older then you will bo OK from that stand point.
The second is a technical point, It became illegal to sell non type approved bars/bumpers but whether you can fit becomes a bit grey! If there was one fitted before, they cannot make you remove, but it is possible they could have you if you fit it after 1998/9 (could have been 96?) But how will they prove you didn't have it fitted before?
For what its worth, I've seen bullbars cause more damage than they protect you from!
__________________________________ If I had to explain, you wouldn't understand
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wilderness Guest
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:20 pm Post subject:
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The vehicle is a 1999. I think that it would probably be best not to have a bull barr fitted due to the insurance/legal side of things, as you say it seems a bit vague, but what about the winch bumper, there are plenty of these for sale. Surely that would cause significant damage to a pedesrtian in an impact, indeed take the defender, for example, the bumper on that is hardly pedestrian friendly! Thanks for the advice.
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paul_c Off-Road Guru
Joined: 17 May 2009 Odometer: 1378
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:06 pm Post subject:
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Its illegal to fit a non-type-approval bull bar just as much as it is to sell one; and also the age of the vehicle doesn't matter, its illegal for all cars and commercials under 3.5T GVW. That includes home made stuff, etc etc.
There is an exemption to refit or replace if it already had one, as with all exemptions, you'd probably have to prove you are entitled to that exemption, rather than innocent until proven guilty.
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