anyone recommend a sweet grill guard for my xterra.

If anyone has pics of theirs i'd love to see some installed to help me make up my mind

thanks

I've heard mostly bad news on this site re: grille guards, as pertaining to the amount of extra damage they may cause in a collision, so I looked at mine and decided there are some extra brackets that could damage the a/c condensor coil in a light hit, that otherwise might not be, considered removing it, but am still convinced it may keep a small deer from going thru the soft parts of the grille. I have a factory installed unit

Grille guards are purely for looks. They seriously do more damage than would be done if the vehicle remained stock, even in a minor collision:

This probably would have been a busted bumper, maybe headlight, but instead its headlight, fender, bumper, grill, and hood, plus radiator and mounts (not to mention the guard itself and other damage we can't see)
http://www.xterra-adventures.com/xterra/sxfc/brian/5618.jpg
http://www.xterra-adventures.com/xterra/sxfc/brian/5620.jpg

This one may not have been any damage, maybe the bumper, but now its the bumper and the hood, plus the guard.
http://www.pnwx.net/gallerytest/album04/04_Perrycrash3.sized.jpg

Yeah - Grill Guards are poser foo foo crap.

They are purely cosmetic....and are worse than nothing.

What you really want is a real bumper with protective hoops, like a Shrockworks.

www.shrockworks.com

I think if you look at these, it will be more like what you had in mind.

I can hit deer and make venison puree with mine, rather than having a POS grill guard fold up and over the hood and fenders, breaking things that would have otherwise survived.

:D

The other real problem with grill guards is that they KILL your approach angle, making you less capable than even a stock truck.

WOW.. i had no idea. it makes perfect sense now seeing hte pics and all.

THANK YOU ALL for the input.
i'm passing.

i was worried about hitting a deer or something cuz i commute to work n stuff.

THANKS ANYWAY....
V

If its deer you're worried about...

www.shrockworks.com

:D

It works...about the same $ as a quality Grill Guard, but actually guards.

I must be a oddball because I love my brush guard. I had one on my Rodeo I hit a deer with that truck and my brush guard took all the brunt. I must be a poser.:auslachen2-big:

The Izuzu brush guard braces more straight back, unlike the X guard that goes in an "L" pattern to reach the frame...so the Izuzu guard is actually more useful, as it has a more functional attachment point.

There are others that can take a hit too...if the front end clip allows it to take a route to the frame that works...unlike the X's.

:D

You can buy any brand other than Hunter. Their grill guards are junk. They vibrate a lot when you drive. I got their guard last year and it rusts badly just after a few months. They do not honor their warranty and ignored my calls. I do not recommand anyone buying Hunter Truck products.

Would you like a bug shield. That goes on the front of your truck. And guess what your in luck i have one.
Im serious to. Anyone interested in a bug guard.

Thanks for the info everyone. I am now rethinking the type and style I plan on getting. Anthony, your pics are very informative. The Shrockwoks indeed looks like the best option so far to me.
Thanks again.

Wow. I am hearing more and more bad things about brush guards. I don't think I will get one for awhile.

Why don't you just not get one ever? ;)

^^^ agreed ^^^ go with shrock.......

Get a snowplow. It'll help with removing the deer off the road when you hit it. If you hit it slowly, it might just push it over the side and Bambi won't cry.

You don't want Bambi to cry, do you? Bambi hater! :D

I did actually credit my guard for saving my headlamps, I hit a cattle guard cross bar that was closed, it pushed the factory installed guard up and back, and the wraparounds slapped the fenders, but I think I would have been driving home with no headlights that night, the bar was exactly level with grille and headlamps and I think they would have been obliterated.
The gate was bent in a half moon shape, it was made of like 3" drill stem or something

I have to agree that the grille guards are more cosmetic and less functional, but for city driving, they are great for preventing dings and scratches from parallel parking. I installed front and back guards on my '07 X, and while they look bad ass, I know that they wouldn't provide much protection if I hit anything going more than a few mph.

Another issue that I hate about the grille guard is that the top backets sandwich between the top of grille and the hood. It rubs against the hood and prevents the bug shield from being installed. I got some heavy duty felt to absorb some of the shock, but its a pretty terrible design...

The older xterra/pathfinder grille guards have brackets that mount lower (below the main grille) which accomodates the bug shield, and doesn't interfere with the hood.

:aufkopfhauen-big:

what kind of brush bar do you have? I have a Hunter and have no idea where the extra top brackets go.

Not sure if yours mounts the way mine did but here's a photo and I circled where the extra brackets were mounted on it. You have to drill the holes in your bumper but I'm not sure if the holes are already there in the brushguard. I would think so though.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h29/shiyaru/smallshot.jpg

Here is mine,1017

I might be changing it for the Westin bull bar and a four piece grill insert. IF any body has pics of thier X with the a bull bar and inserts I'd really like to see that.SEE-YA

1018

1019

Mine took the took a guard rail with a small dent. No damage to bumper at all.

I don't know about the Grille Guards for the 'X' but I can assure you from experience that they are NOT "just cosmetic". They are awesome for protection against med-low impact but when you're talking about a high-speed collision, there's no way anything can protect against that and they are not all the same, some are definitely stronger than others. Keep in mind that a Grille Guard is designed for OFFRoad protection, not for hitting other cars or a deer when going down the highway.

Mine has saved my front-end numerous times from getting scratched and dented by loose shopping carts blowing in highspeed winds, a broken tree stump hiding in thick brush, one of those yellow concrete pillars that I chipped a decent sized piece out of in the parking lot of Sea World in San Antonio (8-hr drive and excited screaming kids :rolleyes:), and I moved my basketball goal back into place using my Grille Guard to push it with after repairing a sprinkler line under it. Take it for what it's worth but there are quite a few Titans and Armadas around where I am with the Chrome part of their bumper dented in and mine would have a small dent in it by now if I didn't have the guard.

Personally, I don't like the Westin Sportsman Guards. From what I've seen, they do appear to be more cosmetic than strong. I prefer the OEM or GoRhino for mine because from what I've seen, they are a bit stonger than something like the Westin.

As for angle of approach, that's hogwash. I've had the front of my 5500-lb Armada resting on the grille guard many times with my front tires almost completely off the ground. The Grille Guard protects the bottom of front bumper from getting scratched up by the dirt and rocks while pushing into an upward angle in a gully and my grille guard doesn't show a single mark on it. I've literally had my grille guard and trailer hitch supporting the weight of my whole truck while going through one particular ravine that an angled approach was not an option in.

There's definitely no comparison to a winch bumper. If you can find a steel winch bumper for close to the same price as a grille guard, go for it because the bumper is definitely stronger. Just my $.02

This may have already been posted somewhere else but I didn't see it (maybe I searched for the wrong thing). What do you all think of fabbing your own bumpers? I'm just not sure about the cost savings. I know that it will take a while to build but is it worth it $ to do it yourself?

DIY???? yes if you know what you are doing it will save you a tone of money... a guy i know that owns a pathy made his front bumper and the materials only cost him about $80.... i plan on making full armor and a front and rear bumper for the pathy and the X.....

Sorry Pops, but still have to disagree with you on these. I work @ an off road shop, and have installed many, many of these things and they're all junk. Cheap @ss aluminum with black powdercoating or cheesy chrome. They're good enough to hold on a bunch of lights, and that's about it.

As far as off roading, perhaps you're version of off roading is different than mine. If I took a hit on my front end and all it had was a grill guard on it, I'd have had to chop it off to open my hood.

Put something useful on the front of your rig. Something you can wrap a strap around or use a recovery point. Otherwise, put some lights on it and keep it pretty.

My version of off roading on Cliff Hanger...

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj299/cyclemut/Day1-CliffHanger054.jpg

And on Tip over Challenge...

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj299/cyclemut/PhoenixTOC1.jpg

yes the brush guard wont hold up upon recovery... and if you look at one of the guards on the X you can tell all it is is a lever waiting to meet yo hood..... they are a very bad idea.... buy a shrock and go hit a deer i bet you anything the X will prevail.. LOL

I have a grill guard and I absolutely hate it... The guys at Nissan gave it to me for 30 bucks and it was brand new. I couldn't pass it up, but I would never pay full price for a grill guard. Allen is absolutely right they are only good for holding lights, and running into shopping carts. The one thing I do like is until I get a shrock on the front I'm going to do my best to destroy the shit out of that grill guard. It's great for running into shopping carts or large construction barrels but as far as off road... they suck

grill guard = the king of mall crawler mods!!! :)

-saves you from shopping carts
-tells you when you are to close to another car and/or wall while parking
-when someone it backing up trying to get a good parking space and they back up to far and hit your front end, the grill guard saves you
-if you want to mount lights so you can really find a good parking space at night the grill guard it the place to mount them
+ a million more reasons!!

hahah :)

Ours must be different then. I've used a tow rope midway up the sidebar on mine to pull out an F150 that was high centered in mud just above his mid-wheel hub. Unfortunately, I haven't taken many pics during my outings and the only ones I have don't show anything other than going over a few small rocks but I'll post one below from jakmobile just because it's cool and his setup is the same as mine. Transformer uses a winch that's on his GoRhino.

Maybe we just have different offerings for our trucks and I haven't seen a strong one on an Xterra or Frontier yet. Mine's all steel, no aluminum. The Sidebars are solid steel and the crossbars are much weaker tubular steel. The sidebars are very sturdy but I do try to avoid using the crossbars for much. Here's a couple pics of ours, if you zoom in on mine, you can see it's got 4-bolts on the bottom and it has upper mounts that are not very visible in this pic.

For the most part, I totally agree with you guys but I'm just trying to point out that they are not all the same and there are a few that are much stronger than the others, that's all. I got mine for free when I bought the truck but I've done a ton of research on ones avail for me because I could sell it and get a better one if I could find a better one and the GoRhino is the only other one that I'd even consider unless going with a bumper replacement. I think I've seen a full hidden winch bumper replacement avail in the $600-$700 range but I haven't been able to find it yet but I'll post it if I can locate it because that sounds like a much better option for you guys.

http://i19.tinypic.com/5x73kec.jpg
http://www.clubarmada.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6744&d=1212168722
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb89/PopsRacer/Picture015.jpg

Alright, I finally found them, it's the Kennesaw Mountain bumpers I was thinking about which I'm guessing you guys already know about but these guys look to me like they have incredibly great pricing on their stuff.

http://www.kenmtnac.com/WiNissan.html

http://www.kenmtnac.com/WiFron2005.html

http://www.kenmtnac.com/sitebuilder/images/zigzagx012-460x404.jpg (http://www.kenmtnac.com/WiNissan.html)
http://www.kenmtnac.com/images/WiFr05Blackside.jpg (http://www.kenmtnac.com/WiFron2005.html)

i have never seen that place before.. prices look good, but I would still rather have a shrock even its its a couple hundred more lol :)

Alright, I finally found them, it's the Kennesaw Mountain bumpers I was thinking about which I'm guessing you guys already know about but these guys look to me like they have incredibly great pricing on their stuff.


Thanks for the link Pops... That looks like a really great site, I read the part about the different types of bumpers (I know it basic info but good for someone new). They seem very reasonably priced. So why would you go with Shrock still (don't get me wrong I love shrock but it seems very pricey) is Shrock really that much better or is it just the "name brand" for bumpers?

If those pics are off of their site, then they have some advertising issues

Those pics are off their site. Are they using pics w/o permission or something??? I don't know much about them other than the prices look good to me. Here's their homepage: http://www.kenmtnac.com/

If those pics are off of their site, then they have some advertising issues

not sure what you mean lol

Somebody posted on another forum asking about Kennesaw bumpers and from the replies they got back... STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM!!!

People were saying that they got bumpers with cracked/incomplete welds. Lightweight steel and just shoddy craftsmanship all around. One post said they bought a rear-tire carrier that began rusting just weeks after the install.

Well, so much for an affordable bumper then.... Any idea which site, I'm curious how consistant that would be and if Kennesaw did anything for compensation.

just read this thread also, and I gotta say it just saved me from buying a grill guard. The shrockrock bubmper even looks better. Thanks guys!:wink-big:

Kennesaw Mtn bumpers have been sketch in quality in the past.

I've never seen one in person, but can tell you from reading a LOT of forums, that they have been built crooked, and with mounting holes that don't line up with the truck.

It may have gotten better recently, as I haven't seen much about them, but just be aware.

Head over to Pirate4x4 and search there, there was a TON of talk about them last year, particularly with the Toyota guys.

just read this thread also, and I gotta say it just saved me from buying a grill guard. The shrockrock bubmper even looks better. Thanks guys!:wink-big:

Thank you for searching!

same here, i read up on this topic and now im thinkin of rather getting a wedge bumper than the grill, all day!

ya im not gonna lie the grill guard sucks.. VAGINA... i mean its saved me from little concrete parking things and shit... but when it comes to real hits.. it screws up more than it protects.... my friends reversed into me and made my grill guard rape my car.. it went into my lights, hood, grill, and bumber.. when really all that should of happened is maybe my lights and part of the bumber... but i got another one.. for free and a whole new front end pretty much because of my friends insurance so im not complaining.. and since 80% of my driving is "mall crawling" then i guess its kool...