how many run full cage in a street legal car?

[nostatic]

I'll likely need to move from roll bar to full cage in my SC, but it is still street legal and would like to keep it that way (I don't have a tow vehicle and trailer). Anyone running a full cage in a car that sees occasional street use?

I ask in part because I'm pondering changing my second vehicle (now that the bike is gone), and am trying to figure out whether to get something more "entertaining" than the 2.5RS Subie wagon, or a tow vehicle, or ...

[Jack Olsen]

I do it.

[obrut]

me too.

the only alterations i made in light of the cage are my seats are lowered as much as possible (to maximise my distance to the upper bars - and roof) and i have removed the standard belts and only run harnesses (to minimise my ability to travel towards the bars in an impact).

oh, and lots of padding on the door bars and the bar across the top of the windscreen.

[Vipergrün]

Subscribed. Also, is it worthwhile to "add" cage components to an existing roll bar (if that's even possible), or just go with a whole new cage? My concern would be the wife factor on date nights, but Todd aint got to worry about that

[dd74]

My concern would be the added weight and how you'd need to do something to mitigate that weight. Like f/g doors, hood, etc...

[IROC]

Originally posted by obrut
and i have removed the standard belts and only run harnesses (to minimise my ability to travel towards the bars in an impact).

My understanding is that this is illegal in this country (using harnesses on the street). YMMV, I suppose.

I contemplated this years ago. It seems the primary concern is attempting to ensure that in the event of an accident on the street, no important body parts can contact the cage. The first thing that comes to mind is one's head, but I have a roll bar in the car now and obviously a cage isn't fundamentally different than a bar when it comes to the possibility of head contact. I also have my seats (Evo 2s) mounted really low (I'm 6'3") and that seems to mitigate the head contact issue. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Mike

[charleskieffner]

have been upside down a FEW times and believe me "IT AINT FUN"! we have been toying with the idea of adding one to my cab. after watching the bmw endo-rama video on here, it only makes sense. its real cheap insurance your going to walk away from an accident. no one can foresee how your car or any car is going to impact another or the ground. to error on the side of safety and the relative cheap cost to fab, we pretty much have put this on the "to do" list down the road.

2007 mandates hans device for us, with a cage -fuel cell- and hans device in our future, there really isnt a hell of alot more you can do from the safety aspect side of things.

[ozz]

I do it.

I use a Saftey Devices cage with removable door bars. I thought that I would leave the door bars off (for convenience) and put them on only at the track. As it turns out, they are not so intrusive/inconvenient as I thought they would be and so I leave them in place full time.

I also retained the stock seat belts for use on the street.

BTW - that cage adds roughly 150lbs

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by IROC
My understanding is that this is illegal in this country (using harnesses on the street). YMMV, I suppose.

I contemplated this years ago. It seems the primary concern is attempting to ensure that in the event of an accident on the street, no important body parts can contact the cage. The first thing that comes to mind is one's head, but I have a roll bar in the car now and obviously a cage isn't fundamentally different than a bar when it comes to the possibility of head contact. I also have my seats (Evo 2s) mounted really low (I'm 6'3") and that seems to mitigate the head contact issue. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Mike

I have heard that about the harnesses as well. Something about manufacturers not bothering to seek out some kind of DOT rating in addition to SEMA, FIA, SCCA, and whatever. Does antone here know for sure? I'm putting harnesses in before next spring, so I'm curious. Several acquaintances have been pulled over here in Washington, with harnesses on, and they tell me nothing has ever been said about them.

Mike, I run a roll bar as well. I think a cage, by virtue of the upper side bars and the front above-the-windshield bar do in fact offer more places to thump your noggin. The headrest pretty much negates that possibility on the roll bar hoop behind the seats. I've been flying through the tumbleweeds of eastern Washington in a Baja Bug with a full cage. Thank God the bars were heavily padded; I couldn't keep my helmeted head from bouncing off the upper side bars. A friend's 911 race car was just as cramped, but on smooth asphalt, at least I wasn't banging my head. Any kind of side or frontal impact, though, and I'm sure it would be close. If I ever add a front cage I don't think I would want to be in it without harnesses.

[NY65912]

I have a full OR Racing cage in a street legal car as well. Although the car is driven on the street very occasionally, it is mainly a DE car.

Nevertheless.......I like having it, just in case. The 6 pt harnesses are a PITA on the street.....but I've got no other choice.

I do get a lot of looks though

The boy racer types look at me and usually do not try anything.

[NoLift911]

I was debating this as well when looking at cages for my street/track car. In the end for DE's I saw the value of a full cage vs an on street collision not a good trade off. I do maybe 3 DE's a year so if you do more than that it may make sense...I just went with a solid roll bar in the back - I can add on a full cage down the road if I choose as it is a Heigo.

Things like knee bars and overhead visor bars concern me in a collision on the street without a helmet and full harnesses...

So it all depends on the use of the car more street or more track...in addition to the amount of street driving you do - to and from the track vs daily driver vs weekend cruiser...

-Jeff

[IROC]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
I have heard that about the harnesses as well. Something about manufacturers not bothering to seek out some kind of DOT rating in addition to SEMA, FIA, SCCA, and whatever. Does antone here know for sure?

My logic as to why they don't allow them is that there really is no standard for installation. In other words, the DOT (or DMV or whoever) really has no control over the quality of the installation of the harnesses, so there is no guarantee that they are any better than factory restraints (that obviously must pass alot of testing, etc).

And you're right, Jeff - I forgot all about the additional bars running fore and aft... That is one of the reasons I have a bar and not a cage - I drive my car on the street alot and couldn't really go that far with it (full cage).

Mike

[}{arlequin]

i have a full cage in my daily driver. as others have mentioned, using harnesses becomes a real pita. much more so than getting in and out. unless you're looking to impress women w/ your car, i found that not a single one complained about it. they understand what it is and why it's there and just deal w/ it.

a custom cage will fit much nicer and not take up as much interior space. because it IS so flush, there may not be room on the b-pillar for stock belts to remain mounted there. then you'll be either stuck w/ just the harnesses (see above) or will find a way to re-mount the stock belts to the cage...

an off the shelf cage has enough room for the stock belts to remain where they are.

[David]

While it's illegal to run non-DOT harnesses on the street, I can't imagine a cop writing a ticket for it. Same thing with non-DOT brake lines. I think most would appreciate us taking the seat belt laws to the next level.

[Dantilla]

My ITS class 944 has a full cage. It was custom bent, so it fits really tight against the car, so it is far less intrusive than the bolt-in kits.

I don't drive on the street as much as I used to, now that I've gone to an obnoxious sounding exhaust (Still passes emmission testing with no cat!), but before the car was repainted to look like a race car, I drove it on the street regularly.

Some say it's too dangerous without a helmet. While its true that the cage I put in to protect me could possibly kill me, I think driving a car with a cage, racing seats and harnesses is going to be much safer overall than riding a bike.

I yanked the stock belts out. Both the 944 and the 911 have only five-point harnesses. I've heard that the DOT requires a simple orange button to push to resease seat belts. What makes harnesses illegal is that rescue personnel will look for an orange button, and may not know to give the big buckle a quarter twist to release the belts. I've never been bothered by law enforcement about the harnesses in either car.

[charleskieffner]

have been upside down in jeeps w/only roll bar padding, class 5 car, class 8 truck, 1600 car,68" Bronco,F-250, IH scout. i'll take a cage anyday in any accident, not wearing a helmet. street/dirt/assfault.

like hearing 911 side bars are not that obtrusive-was concerned.



NO STATIC..............trust me "WITH OLD AGE COMES A CAGE"




go mix it up on Huskys and XR's in the dez...................with 8 trucks and 1 cars ! asphalt racing is a breath of sunshine in comparison. and the BEST THING about asphalt.......................YOU CAN SEE IN FRONT OF YOU for that hard off camber, right hand sweeper with cliff on opposite side!!!! someone mentioned errantly that "falling in the dirt" doesnt hurt so much. WE BEG TO DIFFER! completely erroneous statement. ask danny hamel(kawasaki's last baja rider- deceased)

BAJA and EUROPEAN RALLY car cage design is really cool stuff, we will for sure be looking at that for my frontal tubes and side tubes.


example..........an unnamed infamous friend of ours hits a HORSE with class 8 truck(not uncommon- kiddies) and they both lived!!!!! horse was stopped by center down tubes and frontal side tubes!!!! was worth the extra bucks and time. not uncommon to have same occur out on open range roads which are everywhere around us. driving at night thru the REZ or in BAJA you RUN A VERY HIGH RISK OF ENCOUNTERING LIVESTOCK AND OTHER FURRY CREATURES( ie.mr.yote- the trickster)


the BMW video scared HELL out of us!!!!! LOOKING AT "THE BUCKET OF BLOOD" CLASS 8 TRUCK..............will make you a believer!

[coloradoporsche]

I do it.

While my car seems to be morphing pretty rapidly towards a track-only car, I'm going to keep it street legal as long as I can. "Legal" being used liberally here..I mean it has license plates

[charleskieffner]

street legal means only passing emissions and a plate here in arizona. kinda like my ATK 605!!!!! no turn signals, 1-itty bitty fold down mirror, horn, bicycle flashing rear beacon, small rear fender tail/stop light, and 2 MONGO BAJA DESIGNS 8" HEADLIGHTS! as per SCORE RULES.

writer was correct that here, any cop would appreciate the fact YOU DO have harnesses, roll bar/cage/fire system. the last thing they want to do is have a dead body fatality...................then there day is screwed and the mountain of paper work begins.

[TRE Cup]

well Todd, you know my 6 has a full interior cage . I have padding where needed (for my noggin) and i understand and accept the extra risk involved with what that means w/o a helmet on the street. As with the cage we built for myself, Jack, and others, we can make the side bars removable for street use.

hope you heal quick!

[TRE Cup]

BTW- if we do it all in chrome moly, we'll end up with about 50-60 lbs total including main hoop, for additional weight over no bar. Also i have another main hoop bar to replace the one you currently have so it allows you some more space- you are just too tall for the one in your car now