Do they provide much protection for the front end? For how big a critter and what speeds.

My F250 is not much for off road, primarily towing. Is a bull bar worthwhile for more than mounting lights?

I'd rate GOOD bull bars for 'up to whitetail at highway speed'. good means the military CUCV style or better.

They won't stop a moose or brown bear if that's what you mean.

lol

Are there bumper bars ( must be a real name for 'em) that are lighter and made just for lights?

They're called kind of a strange name...bumper light bars. Just google that and you'll get lots of sites that carry them.

Well, I was close!

Thanks.

There is a ton of crap on the market to catch the eye of a guy that wants a "cool" factor. However only a few that really make the grade for actual impacts, 2" front receiver, and winch worthy.

ARB and Buckstop come to mind. I think the other I have seen used is Rinnell maybe that spelling is wrong?

In anycase to answer your question about impacts. I did hit a deer in Sprague Washington at about 50-55mph with the Buckstop bumper on the left corner below the headlight. The deer flew past the driver side, side window as I was coming to a stop after locking the brakes up the instant of impact.

It folded back the driver side mirror and did not break it! and the bumper had hair and blood on it with the imprint of the hair actually pressed into the powder coated paint. The bumper did not bend or sustain any damage. Once washed off all that shows was the imprint of the hair.

Considering this Diesel has a whole stack of cooling radiators behind the grill, I can only imagine the money to repair this truck if you hit something square in the grill! My bumper paid for itself after that one impact.

It's extremely heavy with the 16,000b warn Winch mounted inside it. We needed several high lift jacks and a floor jack to align it for mounting. No buyers remorse on this for me. I would not own a 3/4-1 ton diesel truck without it anymore.