[Timbo85]

Hey all

ive asked this befor a long time ago but cant remeber the answer that well. i went away for easter 4x4ing at levuka and the zuk preformed great, my brother thinks i should get a roll cage. i on the other dont think i need one in a hard top/ tin top what ever you want to call em what do you guys think

cheers
Tim

[want33s]

It is your life and as long as you never carry passengers, the choice to cage or not is totally yours.
The minute you carry a passenger this all changes.
You only get one head and they usually don't work as well after being squashed.

[SierraDan]

Depends on what you wheel anyway.

[Fast50]

ive rolled a few times (side only) tin high top without cage and yes cage for shore now. at least u can drive home most times but theres allways that once
u wish u had it.

[ChrisRinai]

my tin top has a single roll bar/hoop behind the front seats, not sure how much it'll do in the event of a roll over but i still feel it'll help.

[Fatzook]

ChrisRinai wrote:

my tin top has a single roll bar/hoop behind the front seats, not sure how much it'll do in the event of a roll over but i still feel it'll help.

It would do heaps!

[alien]

as sierradan said - depends on what you drive and how you drive it... it could be argued all that extra weight up high from having a cage could contribute to a roll =) lol

[SierraDan]

Fatzook wrote:

ChrisRinai wrote:

my tin top has a single roll bar/hoop behind the front seats, not sure how much it'll do in the event of a roll over but i still feel it'll help.

It would do heaps!

Nice to know. I thought i put a little too much faith in it...

[Fatzook]

SierraDan wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

ChrisRinai wrote:

my tin top has a single roll bar/hoop behind the front seats, not sure how much it'll do in the event of a roll over but i still feel it'll help.

It would do heaps!

Nice to know. I thought i put a little too much faith in it...

To much faith is what people put into the standard B-pillar.

Many years ago, I saw a moddified coily do a savage backflip on baby red at glasshouse mountains (QLD) and it landed on the roof. It was flat from the radiator to the b-pillar. The only thing that stopped it from crushing further was a simple alloy rollbar inside. It was nothing flash, but subtantially better than nothing at all.

[SierraDan]

Fatzook wrote:

SierraDan wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

ChrisRinai wrote:

my tin top has a single roll bar/hoop behind the front seats, not sure how much it'll do in the event of a roll over but i still feel it'll help.

It would do heaps!

Nice to know. I thought i put a little too much faith in it...

To much faith is what people put into the standard B-pillar.

Many years ago, I saw a moddified coily do a savage backflip on baby red at glasshouse mountains (QLD) and it landed on the roof. It was flat from the radiator to the b-pillar. The only thing that stopped it from crushing further was a simple alloy rollbar inside. It was nothing flash, but subtantially better than nothing at all.

That sounds like mine.
I always thought it was just a little body mounted alloy thing, but it was better than nothing. Although, i only put faith in that on a decent flop to the side it'd hold up good enough. Still not keen on having rear passengers without that fully caged in steel, padded and even the rear passengers in a harness.

Not keen on killing mates.

[abclarke]

Even in my tintop, id love a cage for that little extra peice of mind.

I dont see the thin pissy roof to hold up very well with the added weight of the rest of the car on top of it

[ZookFan]

x2 the roof is not that heavily built

[ChrisRinai]

i'll see if i can take a pic of mine ( it's painted black/dark grey so may not see it well ) tonight if anyones interested. mines not alloy, looks like it's made from a decent thickness steel pipe.

[abclarke]

Unless i got ripped off and have a lightweight poofy roof i dont see any other ones being much better

But honestly Timbo, if you have the cash to either buy one or the resources/skills to make one id be doing it for sure. Even just for the fact of protecting the car let alone your spine!

[Gwagensteve]

[quote="abclarke] Even just for the fact of protecting the car let alone your spine![/quote]

I'm not a hater of well designed and constructed cages at all, but assuming you are referring to an internal cage, how does a cage protect either?

Steve

[Joshyboy26]

exos are sweet cos they protect everything
but are so hard to make them to look good as well IMO

[SierraDan]

Not really.. with a decent bender and notcher you can do anything.

[adamp493]

can he use the roll bar that comes on the soft tops?

[abclarke]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm not a hater of well designed and constructed cages at all, but assuming you are referring to an internal cage, how does a cage protect either?

Steve

No no i meant external. As in flipping the car would not result in the same outcome as being inside a coke can when someone treads on it

[jimbo_jones]

adamp493 wrote:

can he use the roll bar that comes on the soft tops?

If your referring to the b pillar then defiantly not

[SierraDan]

No. The rollbar.

[Fatzook]

SierraDan wrote:

No. The rollbar.

That was an option only. Very few people got them.

[GRPABT1]

I think whatever protection you use depends mainly on how you drive things. Competition where speed is involved it's a given, but most rolls I've seen including the one I've had weren't that savage, just gentle lie downs. This is only because the driving was slow and steady at the time though and the terrain not rediculous. If you have a habit for pushing the envelope on scary terrain where injury may result even in a flop then a cage becomes a given again.

Now again the type of cage you fit will depend on the driving style you have, the interest in vehicle safety or just occupants and once again the terrain. Steve's Hedgepig is a perfect example of a well though out cage designed to his needs, he isn't driving comps flat out and most of the time it's technical slow driving on muddy terrain, no massive rocks to poke through a window or sheer cliffs (as far as I know). Hence Steve has fitted a light weight, cage designed to protect in a the case of a flop but still be nice and narrow to suit his area's terrain. This would not do for tuff truck though obviously.

Having the benifit of owning a ute my cage is incorporated into my tray and the tray itself wider than the panels which helped significantly in my flop, the edge of the tray and side of the bullbar took most of the force and one small dent in the flare was the only damage. I like this as it is somewhere between a full exo and an internal half cage which suits my terrain, I have no need to be super narrow on the tracks I wheel but I do have the potential for panel damage and occupant damage on rocks. So my setup does a pretty good job at protecting at the slow techincal style of driving but I would be adding a front hoop at least for competition.

So think about your wants and needs, then weigh up the pro's and cons. Are you worried about replacing panels in the event of a roll as long as occupants are safe? Or do you wish to keep your panels protected as well? Do you think if a roll occurred would it be at speed or in terrain that may test the limits of a simple body mounted roll bar?

[Timbo85]

i just do your avrage 4x4ing no comps, more concerned about passagner saftey then penal damage a few dints and scraches are fine with me add carater to Betty. the only rolls i can think i would do would be slowish for example a hill climb and slipping into a deep rut or hole and tipping that way.

[SierraDan]

4point internal will be fine then in my opinion. I lay mine over a fair bit, i havent needed the roll bar yet but its nice to know its there.

[Timbo85]

so the roll bar from a soft top should do the trick then?

[SierraDan]

Thats what i depend on. For the most part you'll never use it. Your guards will cop damage before you get brave enough to find out what angle will let you use it.

[Fatzook]

Timbo85 wrote:

so the roll bar from a soft top should do the trick then?

If it fits. Its gonna be hard to get it in there!

[Timbo85]

say i was going to make one what kind of steel would be best and how

[2stroker]

This is what goes in my sons cars.....because I love them

Matty's cars






Jacob's car





Although the LJ cage looks like it takes up all the room it actually is made so that his toolbox, esky, swag and camping gear all neatly pockets in around it.