Has anyone installed Fabtech's crash bars?

motormike

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When buying aftermarket parts you really need to be careful. You really have no idea their experience and engineering / testing unless you ask. And then they should supply some sort of certification documents to prove what they are saying.

I have been unable to find any crash bars that are as strong as the OEM set-up. But I wanted to give FabTech the benefit of proving the strength of their crash bars.

I contacted FabTech via email and asked:
"Did you do any actual destructive testing to verify the design is as strong or stronger than the factory design?"

Their reply:​
"Unfortunately we do not have any destructive testing of our intrusion beam kit. The bracketry is made of ¼” thick American steel and welded here in our manufacturing facility in Southern California. "​

I then asked:
"Any Finite Element Analysis that shows the replacement parts are "equal to" or "superior to" the factory OEM pieces? "

Their reply:​
"Unfortunately we do not have any info like what you are looking for. "​

When it comes to strength of a beam, the outer dimensions are the governing factor, much more so than the thickness. They are always pointing out that their crash bars are 1/4" thick... that's better than oem, but that in now way means it's stronger, due to the smaller beam size.

Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware

For very little money FabTech could verify the strength of the bars by having an Engineer perform Finite Element Analysis of the stock configuration vs their bars.
Readylift has the crash bars with the Finite certification you suggest. $150
 

DukeCanBuildit

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Readylift has the crash bars with the Finite certification you suggest. $150
Full Disclosure: I have the ReadyLIFT crash bars, so I’m not a naysayer.

ReadyLIFT uses very carefully worded lines in their product description.

“Retain the safety and security benefits of occupant protection.”

Sure, there will be some benefits, but to what degree do they protect? The same degree as OEM beams? We just don’t know.

”and have been verified with Finite Element Analysis to meet the engineering specifications of the factory anti-intrusion beams.”

Sure, they performed some FEA testing, but their statement says very little - it doesn’t speak to how they applied loads in their testing. For all we know, they could have simply tested the tensile strength or resilience of the material and that’s all. Did they apply forces in the ways we’d expect during different crash scenarios? We simply don’t know.

I provided the specs of my ReadyLIFTs to @HenryMac and he performed some FEA modelling - they didn’t perform as well as factory beams and failed where it was expected they would.

Would they have allowed occupants to be injured more severely than factory beams? We don’t know because John wouldn’t volunteer his truck for crash-testing. ?

All this to say, in the absence of crash tests, we should not expect aftermarket anti-intrusion beams to perform as well as or better than OEM parts that have been tested in crashes.

If ReadyLIFT has guaranteed this in writing somewhere, let us know.
 

motormike

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Full Disclosure: I have the ReadyLIFT crash bars, so I’m not a naysayer.

ReadyLIFT uses very carefully worded lines in their product description.

“Retain the safety and security benefits of occupant protection.”

Sure, there will be some benefits, but to what degree do they protect? The same degree as OEM beams? We just don’t know.

”and have been verified with Finite Element Analysis to meet the engineering specifications of the factory anti-intrusion beams.”

Sure, they performed some FEA testing, but their statement says very little - it doesn’t speak to how they applied loads in their testing. For all we know, they could have simply tested the tensile strength or resilience of the material and that’s all. Did they apply forces in the ways we’d expect during different crash scenarios? We simply don’t know.

I provided the specs of my ReadyLIFTs to @HenryMac and he performed some FEA modelling - they didn’t perform as well as factory beams and failed where it was expected they would.

Would they have allowed occupants to be injured more severely than factory beams? We don’t know because John wouldn’t volunteer his truck for crash-testing. ?

All this to say, in the absence of crash tests, we should not expect aftermarket anti-intrusion beams to perform as well as or better than OEM parts that have been tested in crashes.

If ReadyLIFT has guaranteed this in writing somewhere, let us know.
really .. all in a nutshell.. if you want big tires.. you have two choices..one being is to Jack it up so high you need a ladder to get in it.. and thus keep the original intrusion bars or.. make a decision to modify or remove the intrusion bars. But to even begin to believe that a open and smaller design is safer than that of a larger, and fully boxed design is ridiculous ..its basically a compromise. (something is better than nothing) right? my suggestion is if its that concerning.. it would be best to stay safe in the cocoon of life and keep your little tires. And the original bars... pretty simple I say
 

port43

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If I am so unlucky that I run into another vehicle, that's on me. Those bars were gone the minute I replaced my bumper. I have enough steel up front that they are not needed.
 
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Stangman570

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really .. all in a nutshell.. if you want big tires.. you have two choices..one being is to Jack it up so high you need a ladder to get in it.. and thus keep the original intrusion bars or.. make a decision to modify or remove the intrusion bars. But to even begin to believe that a open and smaller design is safer than that of a larger, and fully boxed design is ridiculous ..its basically a compromise. (something is better than nothing) right? my suggestion is if its that concerning.. it would be best to stay safe in the cocoon of life and keep your little tires. And the original bars... pretty simple I say
Well said and agreed!!
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