General Lee Roll-Bars:

[Captain D]

Hi guys,

I was just curious to find out a lil' more about the General Lee roll-bars. I read that most of them were not "true" roll-bars, only covered exhaust tubing. Has anyone on here ever made a "home-made" roll-bar? If so, do you happen to have any pics by chance? Also, how did you get it into place (ect. weld it in)?

I'm really interested in the early versions. What did they use to cover the tubing with? It looks just like a brown duct-tape.
Thanks for the replies,
Aaron

[joflaig]

For more info you might start here:

http://www.cglfc.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=16567&highlight=roll+bars

The roll bars in my GL are the real deal. They are also not correct to the show. On the show the cross bar started above the passenger's side. At least now a days for racing it has to start above the driver's head. My roll cage (4-pt) also has a harness bar which of course was not in the show either.

[Mike DC]

 
Yeah, the TV-accurate rollbars are not racretrack legal at all.  Not only are the materials different but just the placement of the tubing completely rules it out. 


For the vast, vast majority of the footage in the old series the GLs just had the 2-point rollbar.  A main hoop with a diagonal brace high on the passenger side.  The full cages only came out when the car was actually doing the jump-shot that you saw from a distance.  There were exceptions (especially early in the series) but this was the general rule.   


The 2005 movie had full rollcages even in the "Hero" cars.  But they were still racetrack-illegal because they had no bars inside the perimeter at all.  (Not even the traditional diagonal across the main hoop this time.)  From outside the car it looked more realistic than the 2-point bars on TV, but it was still basically more about looks & comfort than being a fully safe/legal cage. 

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The fan built GL replicas have used both real rollbar tubing and exhaust-pipe stuff.  You name it, somebody has probably done it.  Same with tubing placement.  Some are racetrack-legal.  Many are just 2-point bars that look like the TV show. 


Whatever you do, DO NOT get lazy about padding the rollbars!  Spend the money and get some real rollbar padding.  Hitting your head/body on unpadded rollbars is dangerous when you're wearing decent a helmet & gear, let alone when you're in street clothes.

 

[Captain D]

Thank you for the responses guys!

If I remember, wasn't there a member on here who made roll-bars? He made the complete roll-bar (extending into the back seat), as well as making a roll-bar that simply arched over the top of the ceiling to extend down between the front and back seat sides. He pretty much made them out of exhaust tubing. I believe he said that he makes them to raise money to restore his Charger. He often gave discounts on them around this time of year. My computer died and I lost a lot of saved info, such as this.

If anyone knows of him, or has any positive/negative experiences from previous purchases, I'd love to hear about it. Thank you again for the responses, there is always a wealth of info here about the GL...I love it!
Kind regards,
Aaron
p.s - Has anyone ever bought the roll-bar kit from: www.buildagenerallee.com? If so, any pics, opinions, ect. on this particular supplier as well as the installation experiences? Too bad they don't the brown color padding; they only offer the black.

[6d9 charger]

try www.smithbrothersrestorations.com
ask to speak to james he helped me with all kinds of stuff , i know they sell them.  real nice guys

[miamivice]

try www.smithbrothersrestorations.com
ask to speak to james he helped me with all kinds of stuff , i know they sell them.  real nice guys

agree, buy from james smith.  was with him yesterday, great guy, great service, great products

[JimShine]

My opinion on this: There is absolutely nothing complicated about these things. Just go take some measurements, make a quick blueprint and let the exhaust shop do the rest. It will be cheaper and you can have the pride of doing it yourself.

The brown padding is just typical black padding. You can either paint/dye it brown (which will turn to crap quick), or cover it with brown duct tape (will last forever).

Most people have the mounting foot drilled and mount them with 4 bolts on each side. This way you can remove the bar.

[Captain D]

Thank you guys for the responses!

One of the possibilities that I thought may work is to use PVC hard plastic pipes used for water/sewage in homes. I was looking at some in my house the other day. I especially liked the way the "elbows" looked; they weren't too abrupt/sharp, very nice "arch" to them. After visiting some local fabric stores, I bet I could find some pretty good brown padding material.

A friend of mine suggested neither welding nor drilling holes into my floor in order to keep the roll-bar up. He said that perhaps using a strong adhesive used in plumbing would be better to hold the PVC plastic pipes up. But, I dunno I'm still learning about all of these options. My main concern is that if I hit the brakes or gas, the roll-bar may sway w/out a true support...only a strong bonding adhesive to the floor holding it up.

Thanks again for the many responses!
Aaron

[moparguy01]

i guess i dont see the point of installing a fake one. if your gonna do it and plan on keeping it a general lee just do it right. I'd hate to see what a exhaust tubing rollbar would do if you rolled, cause it wont be pretty.

[Mike DC]

 
I'd really stay away from PVC personally.  Exhaust tubing might not do a lot to hold up the car, but at least it won't shatter into sharp-edged chunks when it breaks.  Bending metal is a lot better than cracking plastic. 

And with the placement of the rollbars, you don't necessarily have to put the car onto the roof just to shatter one of them.  A side-impact would do it.  Maybe even a passenger's head/body being whipped into the tube during a front or rear hit. 

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As for holding up the bars in place, the TV-series cars had some of the rollbars bolted to the shoulder-belt mounting holes (at the upper corners) as well as the floor down low.  They just welded some brackets (several inches long) onto the rollbar hoop.  They were attached right at the corner bends of the tubing, and they extended backwards toward the bolt-holes in the roof structure.   


   

[JimShine]

If we are going to get into funky methods they mounted them, then another shoulder belt mount trick is the Georgia method of welding a mounting plate to the end of a single vertical tube. Then you can have full interior access and the basic 'look' of a rollbar from the sides.

[6d9 charger]

Heres another suggestion ,,  2" emt ( electrical tubing not  pipe )  thin wall is  easy to bend , again this is only for looks and nothing else ...

[Captain D]

Thank you for the replies & suggestions!

I think I've got some good info to work with. Thanks again!

Kind regards,
Aaron