Are Brush Guards Worth It?

If you frequently drive at night or in low light areas, you might be thinking about installing a brush guard on your vehicle. A brush guard is a big investment, so it’s smart to evaluate the pros and cons of having a brush guard on your truck before dropping hundreds of dollars on one.

To help you reach an educated decision, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of having a brush guard on your truck or SUV.

What is a Brush Guard?

A brush guard is a type of grille guard that you install in front of your vehicle. It’s basically a few aluminum alloy or steel bars that are mounted to the front of the car or truck and wrapped around the front of your bumper and hood.

A brush guard on a Dodge RAM. Photo credit: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington, via Creative Commons.

There are two main reasons people install brush guards on their vehicles:

1. They like the looks
2. To protect the front of the vehicle from branches, bushes, animals, and other objects in a collision

If you’re looking to add a brush guard to your vehicle purely for cosmetic reasons and think the high price tag is worth it, then go for it!

What if you’re looking for protection? Is a brush guard the best way to protect your vehicle at night? Let’s find out by exploring the pros and cons of having a brush guard on your vehicle.

The Pros of Having a Brush Guard on Your Vehicle

A well built brush guard will protect the front of the vehicle from damage caused by brush when off road. It will also help minimize the impact of a collision with a small to medium sized animal. If you hit a cow, or a moose, or another vehicle, it's not going to do anything.

The Cons of Having a Brush Guard on Your Vehicle

Even though a well built brush guard will somewhat protect the front of your car, you’ll experience other issues. For instance:

• The brush guard may minimize damage, but it might not minimize the cost of repair. For example, it will cost just as much to replace a cracked headlight as a smashed headlight.
• A collision can destroy the brush guard itself, which renders the brush guard useless. They’re not cheap to replace.

Many would agree that the cons outweigh the pros.

A Better Alternative: NightRide

Luckily, there’s a better alternative to brush guards when it comes to safer driving and vehicle protection: NightRide.

Rather than provide a layer of protection in a crash, NightRide helps you prevent collisions by increasing visibility at night. NightRide is a dash cam that utilizes thermal imaging technology to provide a lot more visibility than headlights or even night vision cameras ever could. With a NightRide camera, you can spot animals, pedestrians, bicyclists, and parked cars over 1/4 of a mile away. You can read more about NightRide cameras here.

Basically, a NightRide camera is cheaper than a brush guard because it helps you spot trouble far down the road and you’ll have enough time to avoid it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all!