Made In Australia
All SmartBar products are manufactured on site in Adelaide, South Australia, using our state of the art machinery.
From the design stage to final checks, each bull bar in our range is rigorously monitored to ensure a consistent and high-quality end product.
In addition to our core bull bar range we also manufacture an assortment of specialty products and ARB Frontier Tanks.
We are a hands-on manufacturer which gives us the highest level of control over each of the processes involved in the creation of our product to ensure the optimal result.
Research and Development
At SmartBar we believe that the best way to improve is through continuously learning and developing new products and ways of doing business.
We pride ourselves on being technologically advanced, using cutting edge techniques and machinery in both the design and manufacturing of our products.
Every SmartBar is designed specifically for the respective make and model of the vehicle that it will be fitted to, considering every aspect from safety to aesthetic. We make it an integral part of the vehicle not only in function but also form.
Utilising advanced 3D CAD modelling software, SmartBar’s designers can fully integrate the product to the vehicle’s profile without affecting on-board safety systems including airbag deployment, crumple zones, parking assist and autonomous emergency braking. This is all while maintaining the vehicle’s ANCAP star-rating.
All of this combined puts us at the forefront of bull bar safety, with our unsurpassed safety testing demonstrating this.
Would you like to be involved in product testing new bull bars for your vehicle? Find out how.
Polyethylene Manufacturing
Our bars are made from a Hexene based linear low density polyethylene.
We start our manufacturing process by treating the polyethylene material, which has been prepared by our supplier to ensure it is suitable for automotive use.
Through a refined custom process we treat the material for UV stabilisation, add our custom black pigment and grind it into a fine powder ready to be moulded. The fine grade powder ensures a clean, consistent wall thickness and a high-quality surface finish.
The material is now ready for the next stage – roto-moulding.
Roto-Moulding
At this stage the material is added to a custom designed hollow mould.
Our team design and manage the manufacturing of all of our moulds, which helps us ensure that the result is a premium quality finished product.
Each mould is made from cast aluminium that has been CNC machined with millimetre precision to provide the highest level of detail possible and a quality finish.
Using these custom designed moulds the powdered polyethylene material is loaded into the hollow cavity, closed up and placed into a machine to begin the roto-moulding process.
As the name suggests, the machine rotates the mould on two axes to provide a continuous and even path for the polyethylene to move through while it is heated.
As the mould rotates, the raw material moves through it, heats up and becomes tacky, sticking to the edges. With even rotation and heating eventually layers start to form and create the shape of the piece.
When the process is complete, the mould is removed from the machine and left to cool. At this stage the material is still quite viscous so it’s only when it reaches an appropriate temperature that the rotation stops and the part is removed from the mould.
The product is then set aside to completely cool and shrink to the required size ready for fitting.
The result is a part in the perfect shape of the mould on the outside, with a smooth and even interior.
This natural heating, shaping and cooling process with no gluing, cutting or manipulating of the finished product gives the material and your product the strength and flexibility that SmartBar is renowned for.
Bracket Design
The less obvious components of SmartBar bull bars are the steel brackets that join the bar to the vehicle chassis.
Each of these brackets is designed and manufactured to minimise weight and seamlessly integrate with your vehicle via three axis’ of adjustability.
We do this through a sophisticated process using 3D imaging, parametric modelling, laser cutting, press forming and metal fabrication; as well as zinc and powder coating.
Most of our brackets are designed in consultation with and manufactured by our parent company ARB. Given their decades of experience working with sheet metal we’re confident that they are the right manufacturer to deliver you the very best brackets.
Our brackets are also tested to comply with vehicle airbag, winch maximum pull exertion and Australian Safety Standards. This means that not only are our bracket kits corrosion resistant and engineered for your vehicle’s unique requirements and shape, but that they are also winch and airbag compatible.
