Grille guards are one of the most common pickup truck or SUV modifications out there and for good reason. Few accessories have the potential to improve the looks of your vehicle, while simultaneously providing a functional and potential safety benefit as well.
However, the actual ability of a grille guard to protect your truck from damage is not cut and dry, as there are as many people who are adamantly against the use of a grille guard as there are people who swear by them. There is a lot to go over to get to the bottom of this dispute, so let’s jump right in.
Are grille guards worth it? If you prioritize added protection in low-speed, low-impact accidents and against animal impacts, grille guards are worth it. If you prioritize added protection in high-speed, high-impact collisions as well as pedestrian safety, grille guards should be avoided.
There are a number of different situational differences that will determine if a grille guard is worth it for you and your needs, and there is much more to discuss than just crash protection. Grille guards can offer many other benefits as well, so let’s review those in order to weigh the pros and cons of a grille guard more thoroughly.
What are the Benefits of a Grille Guard?
The primary reason that people purchase grille guards for their truck or SUV is to protect the front bumper area from damage during a crash. However, installing a grille guard can also have a number of other benefits as well, allowing for further customization and easier installation of different parts, such as light bars. That being said, crash protection is what most people are interested in, so let’s go over that in detail first.
Damage Protection
While thoughts on the topic of grille guards and crash protection are very much a mixed bag, there is one thing that most people can agree on: grille guards are effective in protecting the front bumper area from damage in low-impact collisions. Auto Accessories Garage, a distributor of grille guards, cites them as offering excellent protection against everything from branches to rogue shopping carts.
As an example of grille guards’ ability to protect your bumper in low-speed impacts, if you are maneuvering your truck in a tight space, and accidentally bump a standing object at 5mph, the grille guard will absorb 100% of that impact, and prevent any paint or body damage to the front bumper. While that impact would not have been detrimental to the truck without a grille guard, it would have been enough to mark at least the paint, which is avoided when using a grille guard.
Additionally, grille guards can offer modest protection against very low-speed impacts with larger objects, too, like a pole or another car. If you get into a parking lot fender bender, a grille guard can make that an experience that you drive away from unscathed, whereas a vehicle without a grille guard may have had to follow that incident up with a trip to the body shop.
In addition to the scenario outlined above, grille guards can offer some protection against low-speed animal impacts as well, such as hitting a deer on a back road. Magnum Trucks cites grille guards as being able to prevent significant damage from animal impacts depending on the speed the vehicle was traveling, as well as the size of the animal.
In summary, grille guards are effective in preventing damage to the front-end of your truck in the following scenarios:
- Moderate-speed impacts with light objects (garbage cans, shopping carts, etc.)
- Low-speed impacts with heavy objects (another car, a pole)
- Moderate-speed impacts with animals
Aesthetics
While this category is certainly subjective, it is generally agreed upon that grille guards improve the exterior appearance of your truck. A well-made and properly designed grille guard can give your vehicle a much more aggressive and rugged appearance, and this is a major reason that many owners decide to get one.
Additionally, grille guards come in a variety of different styles and shapes, with some being minimalist in that they only cover a small portion of the front end, and others being much more elaborate, covering the entire front end, often including the headlights.
Finally, grille guards come in a variety of different finishes, from chrome to satin black. All of these customization options mean that finding a grille guard that suits your truck and your style will not be difficult, and it is a great way to make your vehicle look more rugged and off-road ready.
Potential for Other Modifications
Another benefit of installing a grille guard on your truck is that it provides a platform for other modifications to be done. Most commonly, grille guards are used as a mounting surface for light bars, and many grille guards will come with a dedicated spot upon which rally lights or a light bar can be mounted.
The benefits of a grille guard’s ability to offer light-mounting options are two-fold. If you chose to mount aftermarket lighting directly to the bumper, you would probably need to modify it in a way that is irreversible. This can be a problem if you want to return the truck to stock, or if you end up not liking the lights after they are installed.
However, if you mount your aftermarket lights to the grille guard, this saves you the hassle of drilling into your bumper and makes reversing any modifications, for whatever reason, a much easier process.
Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Grille Guards
The previous three benefits are the primary topics of discussion when it comes to the advantages of installing a grille guard. They offer:
- Modest impact protection
- Better looks
- Potential for other modifications
Now that we have the benefits out of the way, we can move into the more controversial topic and the one that you should consider most carefully if you’re considering buying a grille guard for your truck or SUV: the disadvantages.
The Disadvantages of Installing a Grille Guard
As with almost any vehicle modification, there are both pros and cons of installing a grille guard. The cons list is short for grille guards, but that does not mean that they are easily outweighed by the pros, as the downsides of installing a grille guard can be quite substantial.
Increased Risk of Damage in High-Speed Collisions
This one is quite the head-scratcher: how can collision protection be listed as a benefit of installing a grille guard if increased collision damage is also listed as a con? That’s a great question, and one that we need to discuss in detail in order to develop a solid understanding of it.
A grille guard’s ability to offer protection in accidents is hugely dependent on the speed at which the vehicle (or vehicles, in a car-on-car collision) was traveling at the time of impact.
As we discussed earlier, a grille guard can be very effective in protecting your front bumper area against damage in lower speed impacts. This is because grille guards are sturdy enough to withstand and absorb the force of that impact without seeing any damage to itself or the truck behind it. However, the story is much different with high-speed collisions.
According to the enthusiasts over on the YotaTech truck forum, there are a couple of different ways that grille guards can actually increase the potential for damage in high-speed impacts.
Transferring Collision Force to the Frame
Let’s say that, for example, you are traveling at 30mph, and T-bone another vehicle. If your truck is not equipped with a grille guard, you are likely to have smashed in your front bumper, grille, and headlights. However, the crash bar underneath the bumper will likely be able to absorb most of this damage, leaving the frame of the truck mostly untouched. There are other variables that can come into the equation, but generally, you are not going to see frame damage on a 30mph impact.
Now, let’s look at the same situation, but with a grille guard equipped. The grille guard will take on much of the force of that impact, and since it is bolted to the chassis, it will transfer that impact force to the frame, which can damage the structure and make the extent of the repairs needed much more significant. Effectively, a grille guard circumvents the car’s factory crash absorption system, sending that force right to the frame. Not good!
Extending the Area that the Damage Reaches
The other way that a grille guard can increase the amount of damage sustained in collisions is by extending the area on the front-end that the damage reaches.
For Example:
- If you hit a stationary rock at 15mph without a grille guard, you are likely to damage the bottom portion of your bumper, some underbody components, and that’s probably it. Not great, but not terrible either.
- If you hit a stationary rock at 15mph with a grille guard, it may or may not protect the bottom portion of your bumper, but it also may bend up into your hood and grille area, causing damage to those parts as well.
So, without the grille guard, the damage was reserved to the lower portion of the vehicle. However, with the grille guard, the damage has the potential to extend upwards on the front-end of the truck, which can make repairs more extensive and thus more costly.
The above two scenarios are the two primary ways that a grille guard can actually increase the amount of damage sustained to a truck in higher-speed collisions. This is something that absolutely needs to be considered when weighing the pros and cons of grille guards.
So, in analyzing whether the crash protection of grille guards is really worth it, it all boils down to your personal preference: is protection from “every-day” fender benders worth potential for increased damage in the less likely higher-impact collision?
That is something that only you can decide, and is unfortunately not a decision for which we can offer the best choice, as your preferences may be different from ours. What we can say, though, is that it is an important decision that cannot be overlooked, so don’t be afraid to spend a good bit of time thinking about it.
Pedestrian Safety
The other big downside to grille guards is their potential to reduce the pedestrian safety of your truck drastically.
While this is not necessarily a downside for the owner and driver of the truck, it can be quite the downside for the person who may be hit by your vehicle. Therefore, this is something that should be considered just as carefully as the other things listed.
Just to give you an idea of how real the threat of grille guards is to pedestrians, VEHQ.com cites the United Kingdom Department of Transportation as saying that grille guards are “more likely to cause injury to pedestrians than vehicles not-so equipped.” The safety concerns surrounding grille guards in the UK became so significant that the UK government actually began to regulate them starting in the early 2000s.
So, with the decreased pedestrian safety of grille guards firmly established by leaders of the United Kingdom’s government, let’s look at exactly why grille guards can be dangerous for pedestrians.
When auto manufacturers are designing the front-end of a vehicle, the government oversees this process to ensure that the car is not especially dangerous to pedestrians. There is a lot of engineering and testing that goes into this process. However, by covering up this carefully designed bumper that was engineered to meet pedestrian safety standards with a grille guard, all of that careful design and testing is effectively kicked to the curb.
The result of this is grille guards with sharp, protruding edges that would never come close to passing safety regulations if the OEM designed them like that.
In fact, the grill results in a front-end that can be significantly more dangerous for pedestrians. Mother Jones cites some startling statistics that emphasize how dangerous grille guards can be. Research out of Germany shows that children will survive a 20mph impact 95% of the time. However, a vehicle equipped with a grille guard has the potential to cause life-threatening injuries at just 10mph.
This research goes to show that the potential for grille guards to decrease pedestrian safety is not just a result of people being over-paranoid, it is a real threat that needs to be carefully considered by anyone looking into buying one for their truck.
Final Thoughts on the Cons of Grille Guards
So, grille guards can increase the potential for damage in high-speed collisions, and be very dangerous to pedestrians, so there is no reason to ever buy one, right? Not quite. In fact, there is still plenty of reason to buy a grille guard, assuming that your living and driving situations deem the pros weightier than the cons.
For example, if you live in a rural area in the midwestern united states, where you infrequently deal with pedestrian traffic and frequently are at risk of hitting a deer, a grille guard is absolutely a worthy investment. However, if you live in a suburban area where deer are not much of a problem, and you are frequently around pedestrian traffic, you should not be installing a grille guard on your truck or SUV.
Buying a Grille Guard
As detailed above, there are certainly people for whom a grille guard can be a beneficial investment: people who are at high-risk of low-speed and animal collisions and people who rarely, if ever, encounter pedestrian traffic. If you are one of those people, read on for a quick buying guide on the things you should look for when choosing your grille guard.
What Style Suits You Best?
As we mentioned briefly above, there are a few different style options for grille guards, from minimalist center coverage to complete front-end coverage, including headlights. Below are a few of the more popular options.
- Full coverage: A full-coverage grille guard will cover everything from the lower portions of your bumper all the way up to the headlights. A full-coverage grille guard is a good option for people that are interested in maximum protection, especially those that are concerned with protecting their lights from damage.
- Center section: Center section grille guards are effectively the same as full-coverage grille guards without any framing around the headlights. Because they use less material, they are often cheaper than full coverage grille guards, but they, of course, offer less protection.
- Bull bars: A bull bar offers the least amount of coverage out of all three types of grille guards listed here. Bull bars don’t cover much of the front-end, and typically just consist of a skid plate that runs up the bottom side of the bumper, extending out into a horizontal bar that usually lays across the lower-middle section of the front-end of the truck. Bull bars don’t offer much protection from on-road incidents like animals and the like, but they are great for people who frequently go off-roading, as they protect against rocks and other hazards that you are likely to encounter while out on the trails.
Materials
After deciding on what type or style of grille guard is best suited to your needs, the next thing to consider is the material out of which you want your grille guard to be constructed. There are two main options here, with the primary difference between them being their strength and rigidity.
- Aluminum: Aluminum tubing is one of the most common materials that you will see grille guards being made out of. Aluminum is great because it is fairly durable and relatively inexpensive. Additionally, aluminum is pretty lightweight, so if you’re concerned about adding too much weight to the front-end of your truck, consider an aluminum grille guard.
- Steel: For those that are looking for something a bit tougher than aluminum, steel may be a good option for you. Steel grille guards are also fairly common to come across, and offer increased rigidity and durability compared to aluminum, though at the cost of added weight. Steel grille guards are a good option for people that are interested in maximum strength and having one of the toughest materials on the market for their grille guard.
Finish
Grille guards come in a variety of different finishes, each of which come with their own pros and cons. The most common finishes for grille guards are as follows:
- Stainless Steel: Stainless steel is, styling preferences aside, the preferred finish for grille guards. In addition to being made out of steel, which gives the added benefit of maximum strength, stainless steel offers fantastic protection against rust. This can be a massive benefit to those people who like to keep their vehicles for a long time. Grille guards will, of course, be exposed to the elements 100% of their lifetime, so having a finish like stainless steel that is rust-resistant can be a great thing to have.
- Chrome: While it looks similar to stainless steel, chrome is generally less preferable as a result of its decreased durability in the weather. While chrome itself does not rust, chrome can become pitted, exposing the metal underneath, which can then begin to rust. Additionally, this pitting looks bad on its own when it does eventually occur, even before rust starts to develop. That said, chrome is still not a terrible option, and will look good for a reasonable amount of time regardless of its potential to degrade a little while down the road.
- Powder coat: Powder coating is a great finish option for grille guards for a few different reasons. For one, it does an excellent job of holding up to weather over time. For another, you can have something powder-coated in whatever color you would like. You could go for a classic satin black, or something more audacious like a grille guard that is paint-matched to your truck. In combination with its relative durability, the ability to choose colors with powder-coated grille guards makes it a great option for those that are interested in a bit of customization.
Supplemental Add-On Considerations
As we discussed earlier, one of the benefits of a grille guard is that they allow you to add on additional accessories to your front-end without having to touch your factory bumper. This can be a great added benefit, so it is important to choose a grille guard that will allow you to add on any additional accessories (mostly lighting).
Typically, a grille guard’s ability to accept accessories will be clearly listed in its description. If this isn’t the case, however, you can look for the mounting brackets in pictures or just reach out to the manufacturer of the grille guard.
Recommended Grille Guards
Now that we have looked at all of the different things to consider when you’re looking into buying a grille guard, we can review what options are currently out there on the market. Keep in mind that a grille guard will be specific to your exact make, model, and year truck, but the options below will give you an idea of what you can expect to find when shopping around.
Westin Full Coverage Grille Guard
This Westin HDX full coverage grille guard is made out of steel and offers complete front-end coverage, the most protective option available. Its mild steel construction is finished in matte black and features 2” diameter tubing all around. Additionally, it has rubber pads on contact points to add a bit of extra paint protection.
GoRhino! Center Section Grille Guard
This grille guard from GoRhino! is one of the few center section grille guards available on Amazon, but it has fantastic reviews and promising product descriptions. It features a black powder coat design and includes all required mounting hardware. Additionally, it comes with a 5-year warranty, which is great peace of mind for anyone wary about purchasing. For the price, this is an excellent option for those looking for a center section grille guard.
TAC 3” Bull Bar
This final option rounds out our list by proving a choice for those that want the more minimalist bull bar design. This bull bar from TAC features a steel construction, as well as a two-stage black powder coat, a great recipe for a durable piece that you can be confident will last quite a while. Additionally, reviews outline good fitting, which is always something to look for when buying car or truck parts.
Final Thoughts
In summary, there are quite a number of things that need to be taken into consideration when buying a grille guard. Most importantly, you need to assess whether the pros are more important than the cons and whether you will be putting pedestrians at increased risk depending on where you live.
That being said, there is a large group of people for whom grille guards can be an excellent investment, and the information above is a great starting point for anyone looking to pick up a grille guard for their truck.
If you’re thinking of different ways to accessorize your truck or make it more functional, consider checking out my recommended accessories page. I spent a good amount of time picking out mods that can be useful for most pickup trucks.