The side steps get more wear and tear than this "crash" bar does at the school. There is trees/bushes to possibly get close to on a trail.
The main reason probably is the light bar. Everytime we went off the road we turned on switches 5 and 6. We had two bright amber lights up by the third...
I did the same, but with different brand on Amazon(China,half the price) My instructions suggested a cloth be put in the fender gap to catch the bolt if you dropped it. I like the added height of the hood. Pops right up.
Kinda like those phony "vents" in the hood. The left one has a drain tray under it for water and the right one has a plug in the same hole to make the water goe to the left one. 🤷