MCC bar with fog light inserts, how strong is the plastic.

[nzlux]

Looking at a bar, MCC ones are the right price but all have plastic blanks in them for future fog lights.
I try not to have lights where they will get broken.
Does anyone have any experience with these?
Is the plastic strong enough / well protected for bush bashing, winching through drains etc?

[Lchundy]

I had one on my last truck no good for Bush bashing,mounting design is crap so no matter high tight you do the bolts up the bar will move and winch plate would flex when doing bog pulls.
Would only recommend for not so serious off roading

[mudlva]

I had one on my last truck no good for Bush bashing,mounting design is crap so no matter high tight you do the bolts up the bar will move and winch plate would flex when doing bog pulls.
Would only recommend for not so serious off roading

hymm interesting comment, i may well want to inspect the mounting before i part with cash then by the sounds. when i get the budget

[pouw]

Ive seen a couple of these bars mentioned in mods people have made to their trucks in Aus. Comments were basically the same as above, poor mounting a some movement. Guess they are cheap though as I have been looking at one for my NM Pajero.

[mudtroll]

Seen them on a few trucks, too light weight for serious use, bend easily. You get what you pay for.

[callum007]

Well... After installing an ARB, Ironman and MCC, Id really struggle to say there was F/A difference in mounting design. they all moved slightly depending on the winch pull. The mount has to have some give in it for the crush areas to be effective in a frontal collision. Simple fix was to mount it where you want it to stay and drill 2 extra holes each side to eliminate the allowable movement from the slotted holes.

The winch mount doesn't move, its only the slotted mount that the bar fits to that allows them to move, the bar design is sufficiently heavy imho. the position of the fairlead could also be some of the cause of the bar deflection under winch load depending on wrap # etc as they seem quite close to the winch.

As far as the fog light bits go... Mine has the lights installed, good light with typical plastic. wouldn't like to hit it with a hammer, but the lights you install wont like impacts either.

[Lchundy]

My winch didn't move on any slotted holes the winch was moving because the plate was flexing under load so winch wasn't sitting flat while pulling
And i rubbed a few banks banks and the bar twisted up and smashed my front flares with extra bolts I put in after the first time it moved.
Just saying no good for Bush bashing ok for general purpose maybe

[bob_or_jim]

Agree with the flex comment above. I have the model for a 185 Surf and even going down a bumpy road you could see it flex compared to the body. For me this wasnt too much of an issue because I have removed the airbags I wasnt soo concerned about the airbag rating the bar has. Hence I have welded any bolt/slotted fitting and removed the crumple zone plates and replaced with solid plates. Also added an additional connection point between tha bar and chassis.

Overall I like the bar and the finish is pretty good but for heavy winching applications there is a bit of work to do first.

EDIT, forgot to add info about the lights. Seem pretty cheep in the construction but am yet to have an issue with one after almost 3 years.

[floatingkiwi]

The MCC bars generally need the bar-mount interface to be pinned with extra drilled holes and bolts after the final position is established or they will move with a light tap.