Roll Cage... School me on these.

[NYCMille]

Hey guys - sorry if this is not the right forum for this, but I have a question. I am considering putting a 4 point cage in the Charger to "1" have a better mounting point for my harness and "2" just to make the car safer as a whole.

Any advise on this?

Gracias as always - Mike

[Blown70]

Well for the driving I heard you do,  I would certainly put one in.  At minimum a hoop.  Meaning what goes behind your head.

You could always go with what is in my 70  heheehehhe

[firefighter3931]

I would do at least a 6pt bar to triangulate the whole chassis.  There are some pics of mine on this thread :


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,1940.0.html


Ron

[Mike DC]

 
There's a lot to like about Firefighter3931's rollcage.  It looks very well done, and it's about as comfy as you can get if you're trying to meet NHRA rules.

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IMHO I would only get one custom-done.  There are a lot of rollbars/cages in catalogs, but they never seem to fit half as well as the custom-done cages I see. 

Custom-done cages cost money but I really think it's worth it.  You ride around in the interior of the car all day and you climb in & out of that cage every time you wanna use the car.  I wouldn't spend tens of thousands of dollars on a streetable Charger overall and then put an uncomfortable & clumsy rollcage inside just to save a few hundred bucks one time.


Use 1.75" DOM tubing rather than the 1 5/8" stuff.  Pound-for-pound, larger diameter tubing is stiffer. 

Chromemoly tubing is another whole debate.  I personally think DOM is a better idea on less-elaborate cages like what you're talking about doing.  (Chr-mo has weight benefits, but overall I just think it seems more suited to Funny Cars with 250 feet of triangulated tubing spread throughout the chassis.  DOM is just dumb, heavy, strong, and not brittle at all.)

Get the door bars close to the inner wall of the doors, get the main hoop tight against the roof/sides of the car, and get the backseat-area bracing bars mounted up high and out-of-the-way.

 

[RallyeMike]

Great advice from Miked.

If you are building a car (not 100% race) you probably want to retain comfort and access. Custom-fabricated is the best way to go as long as you find the right fabricator.

There are plenty of suble things to plan for: Watch for window crank and arm rest clearances. Can you access interior panel screws and remove/replace trim? Dome light interference with the top of the hoop. Also Make sure your cross bar is situated so that you can mount the belts to the manf. recommendations.

I knew a guy who who went through all the trouble and expense to send his back down bars through the speaker shelf and then could not get the back seat in it anyway due to the hoop installation. Planning, planning, planning.

[CFMopar]

My back seat was tough to get in. Took a little force to wedge it past the hoop   

[Blown70]

Well unless your 3feet tall you will not get in the back of mine....