Vanguard Off-Road® - 3" Optimus Series Sport Bar without Skid Plate

The end result is great but getting it installed not so much. First it arrived without any instructions at all in the box. I had to contact Vanguard myself and it took over a day for them to email me instruction which were only one page and extremely confusing. Secondly the instructions clearly show that you have to modify the stock plastic undercarriage skid plate on the vehicle. I had to cut it into three pieces with a big chunk missing on each side for the brackets to fit. The brackets shown in the instructions did not work for my vehicle, it is very confusing because the bar comes with 6 sets of brackets and you have to figure out which works for you. Finally with the help of my wife holding the bar in place we were able to figure out that it was the L bracket with a slight 45° angle that worked best. So after all the complications I finally got it installed. The pros are that it looks amazing, the shape compliments the mean look of the RAV4 and I’ve already gotten a ton of compliments. Very durable steel and well made. If you can look past the installation issues I’d recommend it to anyone. Let customers know it requires modifications to the stock undercarriage skid plate. Many people will not want to cut the bottoms of their brand new vehicle up.

The only thing I would say is the bracket where it mounts to the chasis doesn’t line up with both bolt brackets.

I purchased this for my 2025 Subaru Outback that is no longer listed. Found some great guys that installed it. Looked great worked great. A friend got a 2026 Subaru Outback and wanted one But for some reason you no longer carry it, Why? P.S. The custom install was more than the coast of the bar.But it looked great.

Got this bull bar for my 2016 sportage, had to remove the lower portion of my air box to install the driver side bracket as it was covering the hole for the bracket bolts, once that was out of the way was able to attach the bracket without issue. It is very stout and was easy to modify the plastic skid plate on my car around the brackets with a dremel. Also installed my blazer lights in the pre-drilled holes. Recommend this for yours, took about 3 hours to install from unpacking and with the modifications.

I really like the bull bar, I just have not had he time to get it installed yet. Soon I hope.

Installation wasn't easy in the beginning but once you got in one of those bolts and nuts tighten then in became a breeze in end and it looks awesome. Love it.

This item never seems in stock and I don't know why. I am very disappointed in the quality and the attention to detail. Has bad powder coating. It was damaged and I believe it occurred at the factory and whoever was performing quality control either didn't care or has been instructed to ignore problems. There was a gouge in the front portion that was obviously done at the factory. It was wrapped with multiple layers of padding and no damage to padding or the box it arrived in. The light bar provided doesn't fit in the light bar. It is designed to fit a side mount bar that is 17 1/2 inch wide. I received a 20 inch bar that is bottom mount. The light provided and the style of light is not correct and impossible to install. Has to have a side mount light bar. There are 2 holes in the guard above the rectangle opening this style bar would mount also. I would be unable to use both the rectangle opening and the holes if I chose to go overkill with lights because they would interfere with each other. I am unable to find a light bar that will fit in the guard. The picture instruction sheet is incorrect for a 4-runner (Limited) but anyone with mechanical skills should be able to figure out how to mount it. At this point I regret buying this. It is a big paper weight at the current time. Too embarrassing to keep on the vehicle with big rectangle opening without a light and the damage on the front portion. Overall I would not be able to recommend this product (or any Vanguard product) based on my experience with their product. Unfortunately I ordered this several months ago when I received a message it was in stock and waited to open the box until now to find all this out. It would not have changed my views on the product and experience but at least then I could have maybe returned it and only been out shipping instead of 5 bills for something of this quality I will not be using. I attached pictures.

Installation was simple, it fit perfectly, although I did have to get a couple of aftermarket bolts not included with the kit. Looks Stunning.

While the delivery was delayed (unknown) beyond the promised date by three days, the quality of the items received is outstanding. The packaging was solid as all items arrived undamaged. The wiring harness qualifies for 'heavy duty' and appears to be durable enough for the application AND has connections for two lights. The light 20" light bar is heavy duty construction as well and easily configures/attaches via the provided brackets to the Bull Bar. However, it's kind of a moot point w/o installation instructions and since the site doesn't provide a link for installation, installation is having to wait. Contacting CS and was instructed to wait 3-4 days for instructions to be emailed, is a bit unnerving. YouTube offers a few videos but nothing specific for 2019 - Kia Sorento SX. Even contacted Vanguard directly and not only was their website compromised w/ broken links, their customer support evidently took Saturday 220129 off, cuz no one has answered any of the 12 calls made in a two hours time frame. Good luck with installation!

Unless you're mechanically inclined, I'm not sure that I recommend this. The one picture on the instructions, didn't make any sense. I did manage to get it installed. It does look nice on the car, but it was a twist of trial and errors to get it installed. I added extra braces and it is solid now.