Bill L Seifert

I don't have a knee bar either. They are still not required SCCA or any other org that I know of. I wish my bars to the rear went all the way to the rear of the car, but that was not being done when I had that cage put in.

Bill

Dave in Chicago

Hmmm... bars back to gas-tank?

RedlineMan

What's the point?

When you are figuring where to tie in, your main goal in terms of handling is to counter suspension forces. For safety it is maintaining intrusion protection without compromising safety or ingress/egress. Adding useless weight is another factor.

From a safety point of view, I see the rear structure of the car as a crush zone. I am not interested in decreasing the ability of that portion of the chassis to absorb energy. Why then would I want to stiffen it? Intrusion is not likely to reach the driver's compartment on either end of a 944, but far less so in the rear. An earlier 911 (<89) or 914 is a different story, what with their empty and flimsy front structures.

In the rear of a 944, the suspension forces are entered into the chassis just in front of where the fuel filler assembly is. Since there are no chassis forces being generated further on, I see no reason whatever to brace anything behind that, from a handling point of view. I see any tubing extending past the fuel filler as utterly redundant.

From the point of view of strengthening the cockpit - which is your main goal, after all - a rear main hoop brace that is nearer to the accepted 30 degree angle departing from the main hoop gives it far more vertical support than a tube layed down at an extreme angle to reach the rear of the car. This does little to brace the main hoop. Using a point on top of the frame rail right where the rear seat pan and rear floor meet is the perfect spot for safety and handling.

Shorter lengths of tubing are far stronger to!

RickBetterley

My track car came with the e-brake disconnected. I hated it, especially when manuevering in and out of the trailer. Car is very low and as I was getting used to driving on and off the ramps, I wanted to get out and check the clearance; not so easy with no e-brake.
We reconnected it and I like it better.

Geoffrey

I don't have a parking brake and don't miss it at all. It never seems to be a problem.

As for knee bars, I always dread instructing in a car that has one. I think they cause more bodily damage than they prevent unless they are up high and behind the dash so they really won't be a "knee bar" in the traditional sense.

RedlineMan

Oh...

Cars without e-brakes are a PITA. I don't like to leave cars running without an e-brake. Loading/unloading can be a pain. Anytime you need to hop out, you have to shut it down. I don't want to go scrambling around for wood blocks all the time. Just one more thing to do. E-brakes rule.

Knee bars are about the last tube I'd worry about. Unless you stand a chance of getting t-boned hard enough to crush the cowl, you don't need one.

Bill L Seifert

Actually John, I didn"t have a point. I guess I just thought that bars that go way back look cool. I'm glad they are not necessary.

Bill

RedlineMan

Geeez...

I didn't mean that to sound snotty, Bill. It sorta did.

I meant what's the point of the tubes back there?

Lemming

I finished painting the interior today and reinstalled the parking brake. I'll talk to my cage builder to discuss the position of the bars and see if it's reasonable to leave the brake. As for knee bars, I think I'm going to opt out and not put one in, I think I'll also pass on the rear bars since the orginal hoop is set up as John suggested above.

kurt M

Can you move the E brake handle? Would take some fab work but I bet you could pull the cable out of the rocker and use a 911 type handle elsewhere to actuate the E brake. Then you can build that area of the cage without that issue to deal with.