80 series Rollbar / cage? Is there a beast

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I'm not proclaiming to be an expert. If I was building a cage I would use these specs.

NHRA rules:

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UROC rules:

4.12. Roll bars/Cages
4.12.1. Definition: UROC considers the cage as the safety bars surrounding the occupants. Designed to protect the
occupants in the event of a rollover.
4.12.2. A six (6) point mounting cage that protects all seats in a vehicle is required.
4.12.3. Basic roll cage must be constructed of material meeting or exceeding the following minimums:
4.12.3.1. Round magnetic steel (1026 DOM recommended) tubing 1.50” OD with 0.120” minimum wall.
4.12.3.2. Chromoly alloy steel A 519 grade 4130 1.50” OD with .090 minimum wall.
4.12.3.2.1. Must be quenched.
4.12.3.2.2. Normalized is not approved.
4.12.3.3. Roll cages made of other material or in other wall thickness/diameters must be done through a UROC
approved builder and have a certification and serial number on file with UROC. Roll cages already built of
other material or specifications than those above must be inspected and approved by UROC and there may
be a fee for this inspection. Contact UROC for information.
4.12.4. Any other materials are not permitted (aluminum, composite, etc.)
4.12.5. All bends must be smooth with no excessive crimping or any evidence of wall fracturing.
4.12.6. Roll cage construction must be fully welded.
4.12.7. Gussets must be welded at any welded joint on the four corners of the “halo” around the occupants in both a
horizontal and vertical position. Gussets must be constructed of a minimum of 0.125 (1/8) inch plate steel or one (1)
inch O.D x 0.120” wall straight tubing. Corner gussets can be replaced by diagonal bracing of the halo using a
minimum of1.50” OD .090 minimum wall tubing.
4.12.8. At least one spreader bar located above each seat within twelve (12) inches of the center of the seat.
4.12.9. At least one diagonal bar in a plane behind the seat(s) to triangulate the cage laterally.
4.12.10. A horizontal spreader bar behind the seat(s) of the vehicle, located at a height suitable for anchoring or routing
shoulder belts.
4.12.11. A horizontal spreader bar in the dashboard location (between the front two uprights).
4.12.12. If the front hoop (windshield area) is over thirty six (36) inches wide, a vertical support between the dash bar and the
front hoop must be installed near the center of the span.
4.12.13. If doors are not used, a bar running from the middle hoop at approximately shoulder height to the front hoop at approximately shin height must be present. This can be a bolt in piece.
4.12.14. Magnetic, flattened expanded sheet metal, 1/8” sheet metal or 1/8” aluminum must cover 100% of the cage
perimeter immediately over any and all seats in the vehicle and be welded or bolted to at least the four tubes
surrounding the seat(s). Holes may be drilled, but must not exceed 2” in diameter.
4.12.15. It is strongly suggested that there is a minimum clearance from the helmet of the tallest occupant to the lowest point
on the roof of 5 inches
4.12.16. The driver, when properly strapped in, should not be able to lean out the side of the cage.
4.12.17. Connecting points of the roll cage must tie in to the frame of the vehicle at six points.
4.12.17.1. Four of these points must be surrounding the occupants.
4.12.17.2. The front most position of the six points must be no farther toward the rear of the vehicle than
fifteen (15) inches behind the throttle and brake pedals.
4.12.18. Any variance of the above rules must be approved by and UROC official inspector.
4.12.19. A “periscope bar” (a bar sticking straight up from the roll cage) is not allowed.

:cheers:
Dave
 
Thanks for the additional pic Wrench!
 
I dont think a cruiser on the trail will be doing anything close to 7.5 in the 1/4 mile and if it does your off a cliff and your "F"ed
I saw why wrench has a cage . He had a slow roll over and the a piller crushed down enough so the top of my head was sticking out the sun roof on the ride off the trail.
It will do fine for what its made for and thats trail rollovers .
 
Koffer said:
I dont think a cruiser on the trail will be doing anything close to 7.5 in the 1/4 mile and if it does your off a cliff and your "F"ed
I saw why wrench has a cage . He had a slow roll over and the a piller crushed down enough so the top of my head was sticking out the sun roof on the ride off the trail.
It will do fine for what its made for and thats trail rollovers .

I think that the forces involved are quite similar between a 2200# car rolling on a track at 120 and a 5-6000 pound vehicle rolling at highway speeds. I understand that the concern is to protect in the case of a rollover, but, I don't think it has been properly engineered to protect in a daily use real world application. The reverse bend is a hazard in a front end collision if it breaks. Always err on the side of safety.

BTW the written rules in my previous post are from the UROC rule book that governs rock crawling competitions (slow speed, 2500 lb vehicle weight kind of stuff). Thier standards are much higher than the NHRA ones in my opinion.

:cheers:
Dave
 
MoGas said:
I think that the forces involved are quite similar between a 2200# car rolling on a track at 120 and a 5-6000 pound vehicle rolling at highway speeds. I understand that the concern is to protect in the case of a rollover, but, I don't think it has been properly engineered to protect in a daily use real world application. The reverse bend is a hazard in a front end collision if it breaks. Always err on the side of safety.

BTW the written rules in my previous post are from the UROC rule book that governs rock crawling competitions (slow speed, 2500 lb vehicle weight kind of stuff). Thier standards are much higher than the NHRA ones in my opinion.

:cheers:
Dave

I'm straight on with Dave on this. I'm from the school of OVER KILL, rather then that's "Good Enough". When was the last time you wanted a slow controlled tip and could control that? Even on the trail a "once over" can quickly turn into a three or more roll and with 6k lbs plus that is NOT the cage design I would ever go with. Those "z" bends are down right scary, not to mention the top windshield bar is way to far back to keep the tubes from side to side failure. I would lower that top bar across the windshield or add one, and put a lower dash tube, maybe even a v tube on the glass. Internal cages are not DD friendly. And if done wrong can do more harm then good. Remember strength in triangles...

Take it to the outside boys...EXO for a DD.

-Matt
 
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Koffer said:
It will do fine for what its made for and thats trail rollovers .


Just To Share:

Over the weekend I found my self in a Honda Dealer. Behind the counter was an old 1960 style motorcycle helmet, the kind you might buy at a garage sale for your kid to play dress up with. Anyhow scribed on the helmet was this saying...

"If you have a ten dollar head, You can buy this ten dollar helmet."

Nuff said.
 
My nissan back in oz - saved the body work over the 20+ years it's been on there. I've seen a few (very few) similarly setup 80's in oz.

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george.
 
How are those internal roll cages anchored - to the body floor or through the floor to the chassis? If they're tied to the chassis then how does the body-chassis movement effect the roll cage? I'm only referring to an 80, not a speed racer or UROCK wheeler!
 
I'm liking the external cage as well. Keep the body a little straight for most wheelin. Besides, if you actually roll, the truck is going to be trashed with either an external or internal.
 
Good thoughts and info
I built Chris' cage. We hemmed and hawed over internal/external. Different designs of each, wether to cut into dash or not, which would eliminate compound angles. I even sketched up 4-5 different roofless/half-cab designs for the rollover fix. When the time came to choose, Chris decided on this design. I built it as strong as I could, and got the bars as close to the pillars as possible. there are two spreader bars in front and behind sunroof, which is fully functional. There is a vertical leg at the B-pillars. All seats can be fully positioned, and there is a full rear hoop. The cage is bolted thru the floor with plates at all six points. The front legs do eliminate the "dead pedal" for the left foot of driver. All pipes are padded with racing approved foam protection where they may be bumped. This was what the customer wanted. Shy of real world testing, we can only assume that it will help or hinder in another rollover, and as much as I want to know, I hope it never happens.
The bends were made with an exhaust bender, which does not stretch the outside of the pipe, but rather shinks the inside, causing the visible die marks. There is controversy over which leaves a stronger bent pipe. In 9 years of bending bumpers cages sliders etc., and using them hard, including rolls, I have never had a pipe split, (KNOCK).
I personally wanted to do an exocage...........
 
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