cage weld plates for future install

[kevinatfms]

anyone have any good pics of the floor plates for a welded in cage? i am in the process of grabbing materials for a cage install on my personal vehicle and would just like other peoples opinions of floor plate mounting.

im hoping to replace the floor plates that come with the basic cage kit(6"x6") with something a bit more substantial.

cage will be welded by a chassis shop with plenty of experience just not with the s197.

 

[Mike K]

Check out the maximum motorsports cage plates. They are the beefiest I've seen.

 

[kevinatfms]

looking for more pictures over buying a new set of premade plates. the shop im headed to can make just about anything, im just seeing whats been used.

 

[DILYSI Dave]

FWIW, the landing pads (especially those other than the main hoop) are some of the last pieces I fab when doing a cage, not first. I think pre-installing the plates would be either not advantageous, and potentially would require more work when it comes time to do the cage.

 

[kevinatfms]

its not a full cage, i should have been more clear. its just a 6 point bar.

 

[Philostang]

Kevin,

There's a link here somewhere on the better cage designs for the S197. The ones I prefer are the MM-style ones that mount to the top of the rear bulkhead - NOT to the floor behind the driver/pass. seat.

I believe Poe has some nice shots of his, though I think he'll tell you he took a few queues from Rehagen, whose cage is very nice.

Last, if you can get SGDave to post some shots of his cage, it's very-nice and a bit different in the rear strut landing pads than what Poe and Rehagen do.

Best,
-j

 

[Chim-Chim]

IF you go with pads on the floor, go big on the plate and also weld in sections at a 90 degree angle to the floor plate that allow you to tie the plate into the vertical section of the door sill and rear bulkhead. Something like the Autopower 4"x4" pads are a joke, as seen a few years back from the flipped S197, where they punched right through the floorpan.

As has been said, use the bulkhead if possible. If buying a commercial rollbar, the MM bar is a no-brainer. If a custom job, why not design it for a bulkhead mount?

 

[Whiskey11]

IF you go with pads on the floor, go big on the plate and also weld in sections at a 90 degree angle to the floor plate that allow you to tie the plate into the vertical section of the door sill and rear bulkhead. Something like the Autopower 4"x4" pads are a joke, as seen a few years back from the flipped S197, where they punched right through the floorpan.

As has been said, use the bulkhead if possible. If buying a commercial rollbar, the MM bar is a no-brainer. If a custom job, why not design it for a bulkhead mount?

This picture?

The driver was lucky to walk away with his life on that one!

 

[ArizonaGT]

Ah man I was waiting for that to be posted

 

[Chim-Chim]

This picture?

Heh, heh. Yep, that's the one. Bulkhead mount is the only way to go IMHO, and with a bolt-in version available, it is an easy decision.

 

[FR500GT]

This picture?

The driver was lucky to walk away with his life on that one!

Ahh..the famous "bars through the bottom" picture. I can't remember, was this the autopower 6 point?

 

[Wes06]

holy shit on a sandwich, that looks like an absolute failure in design..

 

[Whiskey11]

Ahh..the famous "bars through the bottom" picture. I can't remember, was this the autopower 6 point?

It was an autopower bar IIRC. The only way this would have worked was by running some form of reinforcement from a set of SFCs to the outer frame rail under the mounting pad and even then it isn't as strong as using the bulkhead. There was a lengthy discussion about this bar over on Corner Carvers in the cage discussion thread and most weren't impressed with the quality regardless of the pad mounting points.

 

[claudermilk]

holy shit on a sandwich, that looks like an absolute failure in design..

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Marc s]

The main hoop should be welded to the top of the bulkhead. That's how the FR500S and FR500C's are done.

The last picture is of the cage I built for my car. I copied Ford's design. No plates are needed.

To be road race legal, it has to be DOM.

 

[4.6fan]

That is a serious cage

 

[SoundGuyDave]

A small criticism, though... There are no longitudinal backstays to the main hoop, and as a result, I don't think it would pass tech for competition duty with NASA or SCCA.

The problem with not having longitudinal backstays is that the car can fold if hit at any angle other than directly from the rear. In an offset crash, the load-path doesn't put either bar in an X-brace in compression, but puts it in shear, and with that kind of length, it will bend. With the longitudinal backstays, particularly with a diagonal or X added, no matter what angle you come at it, you're hitting into a triangle.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the rear pads for the backstays, but they're beefy plates attached directly to the frame rails, and wrap around the front part of the shock mounts as well, tying that directly into the cage. Design is a divergent backstay, with diagonal, plus a shock-tower strut bar.

Also, if you haven't done it yet, run a bar from your A-pillar down tube to a pad on the firewall as far outboard of the clutch pedal as you can get it. I've seen a few S197 wrecks where that section of the footwell crumpled and pushed the pedal box back about a foot into the driver's compartment. Not what I would want to have happen while I was "two feet in..."

Not saying your cage isn't a good one, please don't take it that way, but there is (IMO) some room for improvement, and it's all in the name of safety...

 

[jayman33]

Is there any out-the-door pre-fabricated brands that anyone recommends?

 

[Marc s]

Those are good points Dave. even though my car passes SCCA tech, adding those bars is a good idea and it will give me something to do while I am waiting for my engine parts to arrive.

 

[Chim-Chim]

Is there any out-the-door pre-fabricated brands that anyone recommends?

Maximum Motorsports.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=121_126_414