Side bars for protection

[John Herbert]

Hi All

After getting good advice (and some taken) regarding the purchase (that is placing an order for delivery in 2017) of my 204 Ocean I am thinking how awful it would be if my future precious metal was dinged. I am therefore thinking of having official VW chrome/ stainless steel side bars fitted. My question is do the side bars protrude out - from the side of the van, to give protection, when parked next to Mr Clumsy who just does not care when he opens his car door. I have ordered as part of the package a tow bar which, as well as being useful, should help protect the back end. I have also ordered the chrome package but would not want to rely on the small amount of bling to offer any protection. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[WelshGas]

No they don't protrude , but they look as if they do..
I just park so close that no one can get the car door open enough to get in, on their passenger side, so the driver has to pull forward to let passengers in, and I use the sliding door to get in/out. This means my passenger side normally has plenty of room. Touch wood, no dings so far and mine is a Daily Driver.

 

[VW Cali]

What are side bars?

Just today I noticed some VW transporters etc have what look like chrome exhaust pipes running length of body on the side.

Are these it?

I must say improves the look and makes it look less van like.

 

[WelshGas]

What are side bars?

Just today I noticed some VW transporters etc have what look like chrome exhaust pipes running length of body on the side.

Are these it?

I must say improves the look and makes it look less van like.

This is mine.

 

[VW Cali]

This is mine.
View attachment 15980[/QUOTE

Do look nice!

Wonder what pros and cons are. Plus costs, VW or other vendor etc

 

[WelshGas]

Sidebars are VW. Some other manufacturers sidebars foul the jacking points.
Front bars 3rd Party. TUV certificated.

 

[Borris]

Hi All

After getting good advice (and some taken) regarding the purchase (that is placing an order for delivery in 2017) of my 204 Ocean I am thinking how awful it would be if my future precious metal was dinged. I am therefore thinking of having official VW chrome/ stainless steel side bars fitted. My question is do the side bars protrude out - from the side of the van, to give protection, when parked next to Mr Clumsy who just does not care when he opens his car door. I have ordered as part of the package a tow bar which, as well as being useful, should help protect the back end. I have also ordered the chrome package but would not want to rely on the small amount of bling to offer any protection. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Hello John,
I suspect that in practice, the side bars provide only very minimal protection to the van. They look substantial but I feel that they are mainly only bling. Still they might just take the brunt of a scrape with a low lying bollard etc thus protecting the sills but I don't think they would protect against door dings etc as they don't really stick out that much.
Here are the genuine VW side bars that we had fitted to our new T6 Beach, also to provide a degree of protection. I think that the new ones for the T6 look weedy, cheap and nasty so asked the dealer to fit the old T5 versions. I do think that they make the van look less utilitarian and seem to finish it off. However it is down to personal taste I suppose.

 

[MattBW]

I can confirm a friend dinged his Transporter with sidebars fitted. He made contact with a barrier on a corner at work it didn't stop damage to the body but it probably did reduce the amount slightly and protect the sills. Probably too low to stop door dings.

I think for me they are more for appearance than protection. They are next on my list of things to do.

 

[snowy55]

The side bars are held on by pretty weedy brackets, one at each end, so don't expect too much of them.
Even when the road is only slightly damp they soon look a mess and in winter even more so, I find that this muck then rubs off onto your trouser legs when getting in and out.
We wont be having them on our next Cali.

 

[VW Cali]

Hello John,
I suspect that in practice, the side bars provide only very minimal protection to the van. They look substantial but I feel that they are mainly only bling. Still they might just take the brunt of a scrape with a low lying bollard etc thus protecting the sills but I don't think they would protect against door dings etc as they don't really stick out that much.
Here are the genuine VW side bars that we had fitted to our new T6 Beach, also to provide a degree of protection. I think that the new ones for the T6 look weedy, cheap and nasty so asked the dealer to fit the old T5 versions. I do think that they make the van look less utilitarian and seem to finish it off. However it is down to personal taste I suppose.
View attachment 15979

Very informative summary.

Many thanks. I don't really want bling for bling's saje but would be nice is less builders van appearance.

Thinking hard of other options that are both practical and improve the look.

 

[Loz]

I had some made many years ago for a Disco II and to get the strength required for rock sliding they were very heavy. Adding something like this to my Cali will seriously reduce the already small load carrying capacity.

What VW did on our Touareg Escape is use abs plastic covers everywhere underneath on suspension arms and along the sills, these are 6mm thick in places and work extremely well on the few occasions we needed them.

I will have a look at the Cali when it arrives but as the VW side pipes don't protect the doors I may just design a simple stainless bar to protect that under edge and try and keep it simple and light as possible, need to see the Seikel ones in a better photo but they seem to come down quite a bit..

 

[John Herbert]

So it seems as if side bars will not protect my (yet to arrive) expensive paintwork. In the flat where I live my parking choice is either in the flats un-allocated space car park where the cars are parked side by side with cars doors opening onto each or in the street where the cars are parked nose to tail. I am tempted (inspired by seeing a boat fender) to try and put together a side panel protection device using a long tube of foam pipe insulation with an elastic bungee through the middle of the tube stretched and tied of to hold the tube to the sides of the California. Elegant it will not be, but it could work!

 

[WelshGas]

If you notice, on my picture above, the SE came with Plastic colour coded anti-bump strips down both sides. Fixed with double sided tape.
I don't think they do these for the T6 but don't know if the T5 might fit. They would have to be sprayed to match the T6 colours.

 

[Neilgbj]

The side bars don't really add anything in terms of protection as others have said but we have them because they look good, as ever personal choice ( not sure about dirt rubbing off on trousers.....never happened despite lots of mud and grime on the bars on occasions.....). Simple choice get them because you like them or don't.....

 

[andrew bazeley]

I hadn't had my Cali for long (2008!) when I scraped against a very low wall which I hadn't see. I was very glad of the side bars, as the paintwork would have been a real mess on the sliding door. I stupidly changed them (genuine VW ones) for ones with rubber steps. The brackets just aren't strong enough, and after using the step only a few times, the bracket hass bent. Originals: good! Replacements: Crap!

 

[AlanC]

I can confirm a friend dinged his Transporter with sidebars fitted. He made contact with a barrier on a corner at work it didn't stop damage to the body but it probably did reduce the amount slightly and protect the sills. Probably too low to stop door dings.

I think for me they are more for appearance than protection. They are next on my list of things to do.

I caught my Cali on a rock while traversing the Hardknott Pass in the Lakes last year. The Sill Bar took the hit protecting the sill well. It was cheaper and easier to replace the Sill Bar than the sill.

Alan

 

[MarkVw2017]

I can confirm a friend dinged his Transporter with sidebars fitted. He made contact with a barrier on a corner at work it didn't stop damage to the body but it probably did reduce the amount slightly and protect the sills. Probably too low to stop door dings.

I think for me they are more for appearance than protection. They are next on my list of things to do.

Did you ever get the side bars fitted Matt?

 

[RetroRed5]

I got the Angled Side Bars fitted; they do protrude a little but not enough to stop the door of another car hitting the side of the Cali.

Personally, I picked them for the "look" rather than the protection they offer but I imagine they do protect the sills a little from dings and chips.

As an added bonus, the genuine VW Angled Side Bars have two LED lights built into them which give off a nice glow when you open the doors (it's a bonus because I didn't know they came with lights when I ordered them).

 

[MattBW]

Still on my list but not yet sourced any sadly.

Did you ever get the side bars fitted Matt?

 

[B J G]

For car park protection you'd be better of with the side panel strips. VW do ones and an alternative from Vanstyle is available. I think VW can do painted ones.

https://www.vanstyle.co.uk/van/side-protection-molding-transporter-p-978.html

 

[WelshGas]

For car park protection you'd be better of with the side panel strips. VW do ones and an alternative from Vanstyle is available. I think VW can do painted ones.

https://www.vanstyle.co.uk/van/side-protection-molding-transporter-p-978.html

They were standard on my 2014 SE.

 

[B J G]

They were standard on my 2014 SE.

Pity not anymore as I wouldn't have a mark on my passenger door from some white car.