Talk:Nerf bar

	This article is rated Stub-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:
Automobiles Cars portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Automobiles, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of automobiles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Does anybody know what "NERF" in Nerf bar stands for?

It isn't an acronym. The NERF trademark for foam toys has been backronymed to mean Non Expanding Recreational Foam, but the nerf bar predates the Nerf toy. 202.64.222.170 (talk) 03:12, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Gimme a Push

In 1950s hot-rod culture, the verb "nerf" meant to push a car to get it started, hence a nerf bar on the rear. With midget racers, nerfing was the only way to get it started. It was also spelled "knerf." 2600:4040:5D38:1600:A983:4ADD:CEB5:5EEE (talk) 13:24, 22 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hot rod nerf bar pictures?

I can't identify if a specific implementation is considered a "cosmetic" or "practical" nerf bar or of the bar serves an other purpose. It would be useful for the article to show specific examples, but I don't want to post incorrect images

• 
  side nerf bar?
• 
  side nerf bar?
• 
  side nerf bar?
• 
  front nerf bar? (it would not work as a bumper)
• 
  back nerf bar? (it would not work as a bumper)

https://www.hotrod.com/features/nerf-bars-slip-tubes-part-i-may-1955-982-528-28-1 shows that nerf bars started out functionally (let's not think trough the implications of embossing a pedestrian to protect a plastic cover), while modern nerf bars sold look like mostly cosmetic parts (where the part can't offer much effective protection as the damage would still effect the part and mounting point). MichaelFrey (talk) 18:11, 5 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]