Thinking About a Rollbar, Need Advice

[JLear]

I have been thinking about adding a rollbar to my car and have browsed the RPM 6 point with fixed harness and removeable door bars several times. Recently I stumbled upon the Maximum Motorsports site and their 6 point with fixed harness and removeable door bars and it is approximately 1/2 the price of the RPM. Both say they're NMRA/NHRA legal, the RPM I'm looking at is the mild steel and I assume the MM is as well.

So, why the drastic difference in price? Is the RPM superior quality or overpriced? Not sure if I'm missing something obvious so I thought I'd post here and get some feedback from guys that may have some knowledge about both.

I'm not looking to go cheap unless they're equal in quality, then I would most likely go with the cheaper bar. Whatever I get must not require any welding and must be legal to go 10.0.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[swflastang05]

Sub'd, this will be one of my next mods too. I've been looking at the Wolfe Race Craft bars in chromoly, for about the same price as MM. I haven't decided which one I want to go with yet, was also considering a full cage legal to 8.50, although it's highly unlikely my car will ever go anywhere near that fast, I do anticipate high 9's next time I go to the track and I don't think a 6 point bar is legal for that ET, although I could run 10.0's if they give me a hard time, that would be a good problem to have lol.

 

[Department Of Boost]

MM FTW

 

[blownGTvert]

I'm very happy with the fit and finished look of my MM bar.

 

[drive_55_not]

The RPM bar IIRC ,,their 5-pt come's shipped on a pallet already welded up so you just install it n' go. As you noted it's another 350 for a 6pt.

One big thing to consider, the MM bar bolts onto the frame under the rear seats, and the main hoop tilts rearward ,, the RPM bar bolts to the floor pan behind the front seats so the maiin hoop is going to be right above your noggin' .

That's a big reason I went with the MM bar, more head clearance for DD'ing without a helmet.

I got my MM bar w/removeable door bars back during the holiday sales for $840 shipped. It's very easy to install [did it all by myself], however you do need to weld the rear hoop support bars to make it NHRA legal. Since it's mild steel it takes 5 minutes with a MIG welder.

As for needing a bar? The 1/4 mile track did'nt say ch!t to me about running mid-10's without a bar last year.

It was the 1/8 miler's that yelled at me for running faster than 7-flat without a bar. The guys at Piedmont really blew a gasket when I ripped off a 6'65 in -DA weather last November after he told me slow it down earlier... That was my last pass and I wasn't going to slam on the brakes ...

I went back down there after I installed the bar in January and they told me I needed SFI roll bar padding, not the cheap pool noodle stuff,, Which they just happened to sell .. LOL



.

 

[Department Of Boost]

they told me I needed SFI roll bar padding, not the cheap pool noodle stuff,, Which they just happened to sell .. LOL



.

LOL

 

[JLear]

The RPM bar IIRC ,,their 5-pt come's shipped on a pallet already welded up so you just install it n' go. As you noted it's another 350 for a 6pt.

One big thing to consider, the MM bar bolts onto the frame under the rear seats, and the main hoop tilts rearward ,, the RPM bar bolts to the floor pan behind the front seats so the maiin hoop is going to be right above your noggin' .

That's a big reason I went with the MM bar, more head clearance for DD'ing without a helmet.

I got my MM bar w/removeable door bars back during the holiday sales for $840 shipped. It's very easy to install [did it all by myself], however you do need to weld the rear hoop support bars to make it NHRA legal. Since it's mild steel it takes 5 minutes with a MIG welder.

As for needing a bar? The 1/4 mile track did'nt say ch!t to me about running mid-10's without a bar last year.

It was the 1/8 miler's that yelled at me for running faster than 7-flat without a bar. The guys at Piedmont really blew a gasket when I ripped off a 6'65 in -DA weather last November after he told me slow it down earlier... That was my last pass and I wasn't going to slam on the brakes ...

I went back down there after I installed the bar in January and they told me I needed SFI roll bar padding, not the cheap pool noodle stuff,, Which they just happened to sell .. LOL



.

Great info right there, thank you very much! The local track I go to has not said anything and probably won't, they're very lenient. I'm afraid that if I go to another track is when I might have issues.

I plan on having it painted so can it be welded first or does it have to be in the car to make sure everything lines up properly?

 

[drive_55_not]

Great info right there, thank you very much! The local track I go to has not said anything and probably won't, they're very lenient. I'm afraid that if I go to another track is when I might have issues.

I plan on having it painted so can it be welded first or does it have to be in the car to make sure everything lines up properly?

You bolt the main hoop in, then use the plastic pipe to setup where you need to cut the holes in the side panels for the support braces.

After you cut the holes you bolt the braces on, drill the holes for the mounting plates and after you measure twice to ensure the holes will line up, you weld it up at that point.

My braces did move a tad bit after welding so I needed to auger out the backing plate holes to get the bolts to line up.

The only complaint I have about the MM bar is they supply you with zinc grade 5 hardware. I used grade 8 bolts from tractor supply, Tractor Supply sells their grade 8 hardware by the pound so it was like $6 for stronger bolts.

I painted mine after welding it. Roughed up the bars with 400 grit sandpaper, then used a couple cans of Rustoleum self etching primer, let thet dry and top coated with Rustoleum dark green,

,

 

[REDS197]

http://www.wolferacecraft.com/detail.aspx?ID=288

I installed this in my 13. Fit was very good.

 

[fast Ed]

Another vote for the MM bar, nice fit in to my 07, but I have not seen the other brands in person to compare.


cheers
Ed

 

[nawagner]

MM for one reason, mounting location. The MM comes with heavy duty mounting supports that bolt into the factory location gussets that are part of the unibody frame. Not the floorpan which is thin compared to the unibody. May not make as much difference in a hardtop but it is a much stronger mounting location. If you end up on your top do you want the roll bar supported by the back floor, or unibocy of the car?

 

[DTL]

I've had very good experiences with my MM bar. The mounting brackets they include for the main hoop are very nice pieces. My only complaint, is that they don't include a template for rear bars in the 13-14 cars. You're kind of on your own to cut the holes in the interior panels to make them fit. It's not the end of the world, but it took some time to get right. Overall, it's an extremely stout piece that fits right with no rattles.

 

[JLear]

I see pros and cons in both, I like that the rpm comes with no required welding and already has the harness seat belt mounts. The mm appears to have a lower profile bar disconnect at the floor and is cheaper, but requires welding.

 

[Department Of Boost]

I see pros and cons in both, I like that the rpm comes with no required welding and already has the harness seat belt mounts. The mm appears to have a lower profile bar disconnect at the floor and is cheaper, but requires welding.

I did a lot of looking around on the belt mounts. I was just going to weld mounts on MM bar. Ends up wrapping the belts around the bar is stronger.

 

[claudermilk]

If I didn't need the bolt-in/bolt-out capability of the Watson bar I just installed, I'd likely have gone with the MM bar like most people do.

 

[drive_55_not]

I see pros and cons in both, I like that the rpm comes with no required welding and already has the harness seat belt mounts. The mm appears to have a lower profile bar disconnect at the floor and is cheaper, but requires welding.

OK, now that you mention the door bars,, the MM door bar is not a true swing out nor easily removable as delivered. You have to remove the floor mount bolt, and "pull" the bar off the hoop mount.

Unless you're a little guy [which I ain't] It's a PiTA [and back] to crawl over the door bar to get in/out of the car with it installed.

It uses a 1/2" bolt on the floor end and a 3/8" on the hoop. I drilled out the floor mount threads and use a 1/2" quick release pin, and use a 3/8" quick release for the hoop end, much easier to remove the bar to enter/exit the car.

You'll need to drill the floor mount out before you complete the install or you'll need to pull the seat/carpet again to drill the hole out due to the angle.

I just leave the passenger side bolted in ...


.

 

[Department Of Boost]

OK, now that you mention the door bars,, the MM door bar is not a true swing out nor easily removable as delivered. You have to remove the floor mount bolt, and "pull" the bar off the hoop mount.

Unless you're a little guy [which I ain't] It's a PiTA [and back] to crawl over the door bar to get in/out of the car with it installed.

It uses a 1/2" bolt on the floor end and a 3/8" on the hoop. I drilled out the floor mount threads and use a 1/2" quick release pin, and use a 3/8" quick release for the hoop end, much easier to remove the bar to enter/exit the car.

You'll need to drill the floor mount out before you complete the install or you'll need to pull the seat/carpet again to drill the hole out due to the angle.

I just leave the passenger side bolted in ...


.

Are "swing outs" NHRA legal?

 

[drive_55_not]

Are "swing outs" NHRA legal?

Yep,, Pg, 60 of the NHRA rulebook,, Swing outs are permitted on 8.50 and slower full body cars.

http://www.nhra.com/Userfiles/File/...e Book Amendments Inital Release 10-30-14.pdf



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[REDS197]

The swing out and no cutting of the rear panels are why I went with the Wolfe racing bar.

 

[rayS197]

Contact Steve @ Wild Rides in Jersey. I was looking into the Wolfecraft setup when I ran across Wild Rides. Steve quoted me a great price on a chromoly setup which I plan to go with. Welding required but that's the easy part finding someone to weld. There are pictures on their Facebook Page of different setups.

https://wildridesracecars.com/

www.facebook.com/WildRidesRaceCars