Are Roll Cage Requirements Keeping Street Racers Away???
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 457
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From: Oak Park, CA
Originally posted by Big1Daddy
Hey I'm old school too Kevin, a '74 'real' Ram Air IV sleeper Firebird, I managed to keep on the road in spite of my indescresions (is my son reading this???) But we had Lyons in Saugus, the real 1/4 mile in Irwindale. But with less population less personal knowledge. and much less brains, I ran on the street occasionally. Blew those Mustang boys who though small block light meant Pontiac good-night (NOT). But with hind sight, I should have kept it at the strip and would have had more fun with meeting other guys.
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Hey I'm old school too Kevin, a '74 'real' Ram Air IV sleeper Firebird, I managed to keep on the road in spite of my indescresions (is my son reading this???) But we had Lyons in Saugus, the real 1/4 mile in Irwindale. But with less population less personal knowledge. and much less brains, I ran on the street occasionally. Blew those Mustang boys who though small block light meant Pontiac good-night (NOT). But with hind sight, I should have kept it at the strip and would have had more fun with meeting other guys.
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HahA Ha YES you son IS reading this....
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
From: Oak Park, CA USA
Further Thought
Hey guys, thanks for your input.
Yes, I do agree if you have a roll bar on the street, you can have the driver use safety restraints. That is a very good point Coldie/****. But how many of the roll cage equiped cars have passenger restraints, particularly for REAR passengers. In fact with the drop bars and overhead hoop the rear passengers are dead meat.
I certainly don't mind modifying the car/truck for safety, regardless of the aestetics. But just like with slicks, if I can't take the roll bars off, they are unsafe on the street. And I now really believe roll bars and cages are unsafe on the street. So why can' they modify the rules to allow something like a 10-12 second class for welded framed mounting bases with bolt together cages? I think with some ingenuity you can maintain the structural intent while allowing for partial removal for driver safety on the street.
So I'm going to write a nice letter to lobby the NHRA on this topic to get their 'official' views. (Plus since they are headquartered in Glendora, they are only a couple rock quarries away from Irwindale) So I can count on **** and the So Cal gang to back me up (right???
With the release of F&F2, the beginning of summer and this latest LA Times article, the time is ripe. Maybe I can get the LA Times writer involved???
If anyone has some comments they wish to share, or if you want to join my mailing list on this, let me know at:
Douglashew@aol.com
Otherwise thanks for you input, and if sucessful, I want $1.25 from each of you for financing my crusade
Student and Senior discounts apply
Seriously, if I make any progress (or not) I'll keep you posted.
Hey guys, thanks for your input.
Yes, I do agree if you have a roll bar on the street, you can have the driver use safety restraints. That is a very good point Coldie/****. But how many of the roll cage equiped cars have passenger restraints, particularly for REAR passengers. In fact with the drop bars and overhead hoop the rear passengers are dead meat.
I certainly don't mind modifying the car/truck for safety, regardless of the aestetics. But just like with slicks, if I can't take the roll bars off, they are unsafe on the street. And I now really believe roll bars and cages are unsafe on the street. So why can' they modify the rules to allow something like a 10-12 second class for welded framed mounting bases with bolt together cages? I think with some ingenuity you can maintain the structural intent while allowing for partial removal for driver safety on the street.
So I'm going to write a nice letter to lobby the NHRA on this topic to get their 'official' views. (Plus since they are headquartered in Glendora, they are only a couple rock quarries away from Irwindale) So I can count on **** and the So Cal gang to back me up (right???
With the release of F&F2, the beginning of summer and this latest LA Times article, the time is ripe. Maybe I can get the LA Times writer involved???
If anyone has some comments they wish to share, or if you want to join my mailing list on this, let me know at:
Douglashew@aol.com
Otherwise thanks for you input, and if sucessful, I want $1.25 from each of you for financing my crusade
Student and Senior discounts applySeriously, if I make any progress (or not) I'll keep you posted.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,462
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, Texas
Got this is my email box today from a guy in town. I'm not sure our trucks would fare much better.
Going down the road from doing a home-visit for my
work. Took a right hand turn at 25 mph. "Oh look
there's some gravel". Start to slide. "**** there's
a bunch of gravel!" Continue to slide toward a curb.
"****, where's the ABS??" "Oh **** curb!!" Oh ****,
we're on the roof covered in glass!!!"
That's right. Rolled the miata today. No **** going
25 mph, slid out a bit, corrected, hit more gravel,
smacked a curb with the right front wheel, car bounced
up and hit a tree that laid it on the roof.
I'm fine, passenger went to the hospital, but was
released immediately. Got no ride. Got no money.
Got full-coverage though. Hope they don't try to ****
me.
I'm shocked that the car would do that. By the time
we hit the curb I could not have been going faster
than 10 or 15 miles an hour.
Thank God for the rollbar. Thom Gottschalk. You need
a roll bar!! The front windshield almost laid flat at
that slow of a speed, imagine if I was doing 70.
Anyone who has an open-top car, get a rollbar. I am
so glad I did. I'm emailing Hard-Dog today and
thanking them. Bethesma garage makes excellent
products.
Anybody got a good car for sale at a decent price?
work. Took a right hand turn at 25 mph. "Oh look
there's some gravel". Start to slide. "**** there's
a bunch of gravel!" Continue to slide toward a curb.
"****, where's the ABS??" "Oh **** curb!!" Oh ****,
we're on the roof covered in glass!!!"
That's right. Rolled the miata today. No **** going
25 mph, slid out a bit, corrected, hit more gravel,
smacked a curb with the right front wheel, car bounced
up and hit a tree that laid it on the roof.
I'm fine, passenger went to the hospital, but was
released immediately. Got no ride. Got no money.
Got full-coverage though. Hope they don't try to ****
me.
I'm shocked that the car would do that. By the time
we hit the curb I could not have been going faster
than 10 or 15 miles an hour.
Thank God for the rollbar. Thom Gottschalk. You need
a roll bar!! The front windshield almost laid flat at
that slow of a speed, imagine if I was doing 70.
Anyone who has an open-top car, get a rollbar. I am
so glad I did. I'm emailing Hard-Dog today and
thanking them. Bethesma garage makes excellent
products.
Anybody got a good car for sale at a decent price?
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 12,632
Likes: 1
From: Stinkin Joisey
I agree about the "impact" of a roll bar in a street driven vehicle. You might(should be) strapped in the seats but your head probaby will not have any protection.
This is the problem I face now. My Lightning is running in the "cage required" bracket now. I can't see putting a cage in my street vehicle. Going to the track limits me to one or two runs before I get pulled. So all the fun has been taken out of going to the track. And sandbaggin really takes the fun out of it.
I think the requirments for a cage should start at 10.99
Good Luck in your crusade Big1Daddy. Sure, I'll send you the $1.25 if you consider me for adoption
This is the problem I face now. My Lightning is running in the "cage required" bracket now. I can't see putting a cage in my street vehicle. Going to the track limits me to one or two runs before I get pulled. So all the fun has been taken out of going to the track. And sandbaggin really takes the fun out of it.
I think the requirments for a cage should start at 10.99
Good Luck in your crusade Big1Daddy. Sure, I'll send you the $1.25 if you consider me for adoption
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 5,939
Likes: 0
From: Warner Robins, Ga, CSA
Big1: I hate to be a 'nay-sayer', but nobody is going to remove part(much less, all) of their installed, bolt-in cages for street driving. Think about it. It ain't gonna happen.
Now, the NHRA 'may'(but I highly doubt it) create a new class like you have described but that new class won't ensure proper street use. Hell, it's hard enough to get kids(and grown-ups too) to put on their seat belts
My roll-caged Z281LE had no rear seat and had just the OEM passenger seat belt. I always hooked up my 5-point harness--tight!
Btw, I taught our son to always buckle up. He bought into it so much that when he started driving, he wouldn't even start the car until everyone in it had buckled up. A former g/f of his credited him with saving her life(or certainly, serious injuries) as she ended up rolling her sub-compact after over-correcting when she dropped the rt. front wheel off the road.
Dan
Now, the NHRA 'may'(but I highly doubt it) create a new class like you have described but that new class won't ensure proper street use. Hell, it's hard enough to get kids(and grown-ups too) to put on their seat belts
My roll-caged Z281LE had no rear seat and had just the OEM passenger seat belt. I always hooked up my 5-point harness--tight!
Btw, I taught our son to always buckle up. He bought into it so much that when he started driving, he wouldn't even start the car until everyone in it had buckled up. A former g/f of his credited him with saving her life(or certainly, serious injuries) as she ended up rolling her sub-compact after over-correcting when she dropped the rt. front wheel off the road.
Dan
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,451
Likes: 0
From: Portland, Oregon. USA
How about this food for thought. Say you have a caged car with full hanesses for racing. The harnesses are not legal to run on the street. They are not federally approved for highway use. Nice. Why is it that in SCCA road racing the showroom stock classes can have bolt-in roll cages and in NHRA they have to be welded? Top speed can be higher in road racing even in the showroom stock classes. Many more opportunitities for a rollover as well. Being a former Paramedic/Firefighter I have seen many very bad highway accidents. A rollcage without the use of a harness is just plain stupid.