Bull bar

[asavage]

Has anybody mounted a bull bar on the front?

I have to park in a neighborhood where the fellow parkers keep boxing me in. I have to push their cars ahead/back one or two feet just to commute home.

This has happened often enough that I'd like to protect the front bumper and license plate with a bull bar. I'm guessing a 2006-2012 bar would fit, but if somebody's done it, I'd like that confirmation.

I hate the way they look, but my front bumper skin really hates being used to push stuff: it always detaches at the edges and I have to snap it back into place every time.

 

[michael]

How about a rhinoceros or unicorn bar? That would make a deeper impression on them!!!!!

 

[asavage]

I was wedged-in again yesterday when I left work and walked to my car. 20" in rear, 26" in front.

I backed into the Lexus behind and pushed it four feet (no car behind it) to get out, but there was a bumper mis-match. There is no visible damage to either vehicle (I wouldn't care a whit if their car was damaged!) but when I opened my rear door, the lower garnish panel (the plastic panel that is full-width of the door and about the lower 1/4 of the metal lower half) rubs on the hinge side of the bumper. All the interior-side plastic anchors for the push pins are broken off.

That panel is 76802-42100-J2 Garnish Sub-Assembly (the "J2" is blue; other colors have different suffixes) and I just ordered one for $530. It just snaps into place.

I've also ordered an adjustable-height ball mount for my existing receiver hitch. It'll accept any 2" square tube in the vertical position instead of the actual ball mount. I'll keep it and a 18" section of 2" square tube in the back, and next time this happens, I'll slide both parts together and into my receiver, then use that to push the errant vehicle away.

I wish this RAV4 had more traction. I was driving an AWD van previously, no problem pushing them out of the way with that! But the RAV4's lack of front tire traction limits my pushing ability.

I suppose I could get a different job . . . soon, all too soon now!

 

[cashcow]

Do you lose traction in reverse too? The fwd should be better with reverse. For better traction you can get wider tires. A bull bar should also help because of added weight. That item you bought to repair was super expensive!!

 

[asavage]

I do have better traction in reverse, yes.

That $530 panel? It's just plastic. It snaps in place. The damage I sustained was that around six of the plastic tabs' mountings broke from the panel. Here's what it looked like before I bought the vehicle:

(click on most pictures for larger)



The garnish panel with broken mounting points. Notice NO damage to the visible finish; I literally couldn't tell by looking that it was damaged, but it was interfering the jamb on the right side by about 1/8" when opening the door. Other than that, the door opened/closed fine.







If I had to, I could have epoxied the mount points back to the panel and it would have been a very effective repair. It would have looked fine.

Comparison of the mounting points of the damaged original and the replacement:



That garnish panel did come to me painted correctly, so if I'd had to only replace it, it would have snapped in place and looked great.

However, look at what was underneath the garnish panel:





That triggered purchasing 67005-0R140 PANEL SUB-ASSY, BACK for $527 (which arrived in primer: not body color), and then $975 at the body shop to R&R the rear door, transferring the glass, wiper motor, latch, electrics, etc. and paint to match.

So, call it around $2,200 total for my mistake.

[During that, the car was sideswiped by an old Honda Odyssey when he was passing me too closely. His insurance paid to have that damaged fixed, so I had both done at the shop at the same time. It was a light sideswipe, but there was damage on both doors and both panels as well as the mirror. Ugh. It all looks new, now.]

 

[evdrive]

I live in San Francisco and park on the street every night in exceptionally tight spaces, with 16 to 24 inches of space in both the front and back.
The great thing about the RAV4EV is the backup camera. Use it. It allows for parking in tight spots with some effort and focus. I consistently park in spaces with 18 inches in the front and 18 inches in the back of my car and I only softly touched another car once in the last year.

I can’t believe you feel you have the right to push other cars that park 2 feet from you. That’s hit and run. If they parked on your bumper and you were stuck that’s one thing. I would consider trying harder to park and utilizing the backup camera to get out of tight spots versus damiging your own and others cars. It’s easy to get heated driving. I know I have to moderate my emotions when driving and dealing with other drivers.

That being said, the steering on the The RAV4 hurts my hand if I parallel park using only one hand. Usinig 2 hands on the wheel is recommended.

 

[asavage]

Thanks for relating your experience.

None of my cars, except the RAV4, have a rear camera, including my Infiniti and Mercedes.

However, I regard less than 3' of clearance between bumpers is "too close". I routinely, routinely as in twice a week, used to push cars out of the way to create 3' or more space in order to depart. Lexus or Civic, I'll continue to do that. Assuming that everybody has better technology these days is no excuse for parking less than 3' away from the next car. Now that I'm driving this puddle-jumper RAV4, I look harder for parking spots next to driveways so I'm not in that situation. That means parking a block further away some days [shrug]; I can walk.

I didn't come of age living in cities, and I consider close parking rude and I feel no shame in my risk management behavior. I understand your position, being used to this rude parking behavior in others, but it's not my viewpoint. Where I park for work, there is always parking available, you just must be willing to walk another block, and as I see it there's not non-rude excuse for parking so closely as to require scraping bumpers or reliance on proximity technology to depart.

(A couple of years ago, I had some joker park with his bumper actually deforming my license plate, in front of me and blocking the crosswalk. That Saturn I pushed into the intersection . . . and left it there. I assume it had to be towed away.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[davewill]

:shock: I can't believe that people act this way.

You should be arrested for hit and run. Actually, this is WORSE than hit and run as it's intentional property damage.

 

[dstjohn99]

Yeah, my reaction to this is - maybe some driving lessons? Seriously, you complain about like 21 and 26 inches clearance. So if you backup and barely touch the car behind you have FOUR FEET to turn the wheel and get out of the spot. How is that not enough for anyone with a drivers license? That's do-able in one shot, no need to turn full lock and pull forward, then turn full lock the other way and backup - which is extremely common in almost ALL parallel parking situations! Perhaps city driving is not for you. Pushing cars around and leaving them in the intersection is criminal behavior. I hope the law catches up with you. Perhaps we can use this forum to alert the local police and help them track you down.

 

[dstjohn99]

So, Al Savage of Duvall WA, VIN 2T3YL4DV4EW002609 I emailed the Duvall Police Dept and provided a link to this thread. The case is assigned to Shelly Rowe. Perhaps the police can help you move the cars around you so you can have the 6 to 12 feet you seem to need to get out of a parking space. Maybe they will even schedule a visit so you can speak with a judge about these offensive drivers that have the gall to park in your vicinity.

 

[davewill]

So, Al Savage of Duvall WA, VIN 2T3YL4DV4EW002609 I emailed the Duvall Police Dept and provided a link to this thread. The case is assigned to Shelly Rowe. Perhaps the police can help you move the cars around you so you can have the 6 to 12 feet you seem to need to get out of a parking space. Maybe they will even schedule a visit so you can speak with a judge about these offensive drivers that have the gall to park in your vicinity.

Don't forget License plate BFR9022.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The next thing that happens is that the "perp" will try to delete his posts... so I'll archive them.

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2204

 

[TonyWilliams]

I presume that the $2200 in damage was reported (here in California, any damage over $500 must be reported).

Also, if you did $2200 in damage to your car, I presume you did that, or more to the other car. I believe that fails into felony territory. Intentionally damaging vehicles.

You might also be involved in insurance fraud (it sure wouldn’t surprise me).

I’m sure the police can phone around to local body shops to find the Lexus that you damaged last year.

The worst part is that you appear to be completely clueless to your criminal activity, and brash enough to brag and admit to your activity.

I hope the police get you off the streets.

 

[asavage]

Shelly's probably in the wrong jurisdiction, but she's a good place to start I suppose