sleder

I currently have an autopower roll bar setup in my car. I need a cage. Can I add to it, or do I need to remove and have it built? Is bolt in approved or weld in required for NASA? Any suggestions for who can do this for me?
Thanks

roketman

I have used the saftey devices cage.The saftey devices cage is the only cage I know of that is crash tested . call stable energies they are the u.s. distrubutors

Geoffrey

If you want a custom welded in cage that fits tight to your body, meaning properly designed for your car, welded to the 'A' and 'B' pillar, I would suggest you contact Jim Newton at Auto Associates (860-693-0278) in CT. They have the proper tooling including templates for your car as well as a number of satisfied customers. They TIG weld the cage together which looks better and has better integrity than a MIG welded cage due to the process used (not that a MIG welded cage can't be good). This approach will give you the most interior room, fit the car the best, and be the strongest.

Alternatively, you can purchase a kit from places like Stable Energies in NJ, however, the cages don't fit as nicely, and you end up with it costing about the same as one from Auto Associates. If you wan't some pictures of the cage they did in my car, let me know.

You can also certainly weld a bolt in cage together, but remember that it was made to clear interior pieces like the headliner and side panels. It might not be much stronger than leaving it bolted together. Welding to a bolt in rollbar has similar constraints.

993inNC

Speaking of fit......how does that A.power hoop fit? I am looking to just put a hoop, not an entire cage in my 993. Does it install like the DAS bar (to the seatbelt points)? Or is it their standard "bolt it to the floor" kind of install? And how tight to the headliner and so forth is it?

Nader Fotouhi

Scott,

The NASA Rules that I have saved are from 2002 and they allow either bolt-in or welded cage. I think that is still true. The rule book is on-line.

You can add to your roll bar as long as the cage meets the rules for the tubing size, but it may be cheaper to just buy one.

I only know about Safety Devices cage which is what I have. The SD bolt-in cage is nice and fits well, but it has to be slightly modified to meet NASA's cage requirments. Stable Energies will probably do that for you, if you go there. SD cage is allowed in PCA.

Good Luck

sleder

Thanks Nader. I forgot about Bob and Laurette... I am printing the CCR now.

TT Surgeon

A good roll cage really need to be welded to the frame at several key points. Bolt in bars/cages are great for DE, not racing IMO.

fatbillybob

Contact: http://www.redlinerennsport.com/

He is extremely helpful on rennlist and know how to make a safe cage. I can't tell you how helpful John has been to me. You are in the next state...definatley worth the drive.

sleder

I will contact John, I didn't think about him. Next state, NY is a BIG one, 4 hours away for me.
Thanks

RedlineMan

Here is my surmize on Custom -vs- Bolt-in;

A bolt-in cage is usually designed to be utilized with the full interior in place. As such, they are necessarily less than space efficient. Any cage that could not be incorporated into the chassis at various points along its path, for reasons of interior preservation, would suffer the same fate to some degree.

Beyond taking up a lot of room, I have a hunch that this also makes them "less safe." My hunch is that the same attributes that create damaging forces in bio-mechanics - namely Kinetic Energy (KE=.5MV^2) - will have the same effect on steel. KE is a function of, and increases with, time elapsed. The distance that the chassis will deform before impacting a bolt-in cage would seem to increase the force at which this impact took place, increasing the load on the cage. A cage that was well integrated into the existing chassis (vs being bolted inside it) would take up immediately, and therefore not be prone to this increasing Kinetic Energy. Just a theory that has been on my mind.

Of course, I have no bias one way or the other...