Coop

Hey guys,

Any RL's that have a custom roll cage installed? I was thinking about one, but still need my passenger seat to recline 85%...

Any ideas?

Mark in Baltimore

I have one. A cage builder can configure the horizontal cross bar to accommodate some reclining, but I'm not sure you'll get 85%. A full cage and street worthiness will represent a serious compromise in some regard.

1) Is this a full track car?

2) Are you looking to buy a used custom cage?

Coop

It's a street car with the odd DE days... Maybe a roll bar with rear extentions?

Mark in Baltimore

A DAS roll bar will set you free. http://www.dassport.com/

They're about $800 max in the used market, $600 if you have a screaming deal divining rod.

darrendeguire

Mark is right on re the DAS roll bars. They are great. That's all you should need for a DE. Not sure what you mean by rear extensions? I had a DAS in my 993 convertible I used to take to DE's and if I remember right the rear section bolts right into the rear seat belt bolts. I used to take both seats out and put the roll bar in and then put the seats back in. Takes a couple hours. Pretty easy to do. Heck I club raced with one until PCA mandated full cages.

Mark in Baltimore

I'm pretty sure he means a four point roll bar. Main hoop plus two rear arms supporting the hoop.

No way I would put a full cage, custom weld or bolt-in, for a "street car with the odd DE days". Your money, of course, so do what makes you happy, but you will kill the value of your car because it will be neither fish nor fowl when it comes time to sell it. It will be beyond hardcore for the buyer looking for a clean street car and too soft and not well-developed enough for someone looking for a pure track car that is streetable.

Coop

Thanks Mark, you are 100% correct! Man, this place is GREAT!

Nollie

It would probably be cost prohibitive to ship, but mine is for sale for $700 (moving to a weld in cage)

certz

For reference - I just shipped a DAS rollbar from Chicago to the left coast via Greyhound for about $100.

EDIT - never mind, I just saw that Coop is in Toronto - I should look more closely next time before I post. Shipping to Canada is very expensive.

Mark in Baltimore

FedEx Ground is not too bad to ship a DAS roll bar. Way back in 2003, I paid $32 to have a DAS bar shipped to me from Colorado via FedEx Ground. Prices have gone up, I'm sure, but this is the first route I would check. Also, do a search to see how others have handled shipping.

Nollie

Probably not going to get the recline Coop needs though (but if anyone else is interested send me a pm ). Would safety devices have more / different options for bolt in?

V

Great post Mark.

I have been debating this a little lately as well. It seems like a full cage is not recommended for any car seeing more than a little street driving. I mean driving to and from events is one thing but for a double duty car it would be overkill. Mostly because it's not a good idea to drive without a helmet with a full roll cage and you don't want a helmet when getting groceries.. But on the other hand, it depends how close the cage is to the head. One option could be a custom IRC, like the ones RUF does. On these cages the IRC is about as far away from your head as the standard A and B pillars are. It's not much closer and even if you would hit the regular A pillar, I'm not sure it's much more comfortable to hit than the IRC... So that could be an option. I don't know how the reasoning is behind the bar that connects the A and B pillar along the door, maybe that is not ideal to have on the street as it makes it harder to get in and out of the car. An IRC is also less "racer" as you can barely see it but the bad news is it's expensive.

Assume that you go for the roll bar setup only, what would the advantage be with a welded roll bar (custom welded roll bar where the roll bar is welded to the B-pillars and also to the chassis in the back? Would it provide additional chassis stiffness? Probably. Is it reversible? Not really. And here maybe Marks comment applies: It will be "too much" for street driving as it's not reversible and it will not fit the bill for a pure track car as in that case a full cage is preferred.... Or what do you think?

Maybe it's either a bolt in roll bar (like DAS) or a custom welded IRC ($$$$)?