a few thoughts on these bars and the protection they hopefully afford:
first (full disclosure) I installed the GM guard. yes, it does attach to the thick, beefy "power bar" that lives behind the cladding and this means you have to use a hole saw to drill throught the cladding and a drill bit to drill a rather significant mounting hole in two spots. the real impact of this is that if you removed the guard, you would need to replace the front bumper cladding.
I am not sure how the WAAG bar attaches - I suspect it simply attaches down by the tow hooks, as the GM guard also does. Now here ismy two cents if this the actual case and for any other bar that only bolts on at some point located far underneath the bumper: if you are installing this bar for real "protection" for your Av in the event of a big time hit (deer hit, T-bone another car, what have you) then you may find that such "bolted underneath only" basr will fold in against the hood and grill area. But I do not have the WAAG bar installed, this is just my experince with other such bars.
I also have experience in T-Boning left turning cars (fools) whilst having a fully bolted (under the bumper, and in and through the bumper) guard on my truck (not the Av, yet) and I can tell you that the more significant mounting points the better, yes a pain to install but ya get what you get. Ideally, after such an incident you want to be able to scrape some of thier paint off of your bar (or deer fur, as the case may be) and be on your way while the tow truck comes for their demolished car.
One final note: ask WAAG for their bar's perfomance in connection with air bag actuation. TJM, for example, will certify to their bars' proper intergration with air bag sensors. I would assume WAAG or anyone else should also be prepared to do so.
you may return to your regular programming . . . .
