4XJournal Hilux Rockarmor bull bar install — part one

We’re incredibly lucky to have some brilliant sponsors and supporters alongside us at 4XJournal, and even more so when their product genuinely makes its way onto one of our vehicles. You see, before 4XJournal launched, we had ordered a Rockarmor bull bar for my partner’s Hilux which had seen a bit of action, with the front bumper looking rather nasty. 

Wanting to support each other, Sam at Rockarmor came on board in a big way, advertising with 4XJournal’s first issue — legend. With the front bull bar still on the boat over to New Zealand, we contacted Chris at The Structural Shop to plan the painting of the bull bar to match the Hilux’s OEM body colour. Little did we know that Sam had planned a few extras for us too, but more on that later.

As we’re a bit tight on space at our home in Auckland, Sam at Hybrid Street 4x4 agreed to give us a hand (do most of the work, thanks mate!) to install the bull bar onto the Hilux once it was freshly painted at The Structural Shop. There are some true legends out there and we’re very grateful.

Sam from Rockarmor dropped the bull bar off for us to The Structural Shop, then once Chris and the team had painted it, they then dropped it up to Hybrid Street 4x4 along with our all-new Rockarmor side steps. 

With a date locked in, I pinched my partner’s Hilux for the day and made my way out west to Sam’s workshop, armed with several coffees to kick us into high gear. 

As Sam prepped the Rockarmor bull bar I decided to give the headlights a polish. A common problem with this generation vehicle — the headlights glaze/fog over and it’s usually a WOF fail.

Plus, it looks crap, so out came the masking tape, compound, and two-inch rotary polisher. Easier now too, when there aren’t bull bar hoops in the way.

With Sam ready to boogie, we set about removing the factory front bumper which came off with all but a swift kick and in no time at all, we were removing a few more factory components before the new cradle could go on.

It was at this point that I could tell it wasn’t Sam’s first rodeo. He quickly pushed the engine crane over, stropped the bull bar on, and set about lifting it off the ground ready for fitment. 

With a neat masking tape trick, Sam quickly aligned the front bull bar and we made our final tweaks before tightening the main supporting hardware. Sam from Rockarmor prepared the rubber seal that would ensure there were no gaps between the body and the new bumper. 

Those extra treats Sam organised for us? Some nine-inch Rockarmor spotlights and side steps with scrub bars! What a guy!

I am going to leave it here though, as I have a photoshoot lined up with it all complete. I can’t believe how different it looks with the new bull bar and colour-matching the bar was definitely a good move. It’s great having a couple of four-wheel drives in the fleet to upgrade and modify, and our Hilux is definitely starting to look the part! See you in part two!

If you want to see what bull bar we ordered you can check it out here: Rockarmor GT Bull Bar N70.