A few weeks back I saw a VERY bad accident, so bad I couldn't recognize what either vehicle was, which is something I'm pretty good at with numerous trips to junk yards. I saw some very grewsome incidents in this accident, an 18 year old girl was run over numerous times on the interstate, in the first 5 minutes I was there I saw her hit by 3-4 cars and a semi, all I could see was guts everywhere. I've been really paranoid driving lately, I've been having flashbacks and nightmares. I plan on building a cage for my car for an added sense of security, especially considering I do a ton of interstate driving. I was wondering if you could post any pics, or info on building cages. I've got a 4 door civic and a budget so a bolt in cage is out of the question. I've seen the pics of Frito's rollover and was very impressed by what his rollcage did. I also plan on building a cage for my girlfriends probe. Yeah, maybe this accident has me paranoid, but with the way I drive, I feel I need it, and for once in my life I want to do it for safety reasons instead of benefits of a stiffer chasis. So if you have any web sites, books, or pictures of cages for civics, please share. Its gonna be an 8 point cage for safety purposes. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
robster

 

I only have pics of my 6 point bolt in, but you'll be building it the same way, just welding it to a box you'll weld to the car instead of bolting it in. Pics are at: http://www.bseries.net/dave/

You will have to get the tubing bent for the main hoop as one piece, do NOT weld pieces to main the main hoop itself.

 

Hey man, just a few things. If you put a roll cage in your car and have no racing seats or four point harnesses to hold you in one spot then you might as well just not buy one. I've seen an accident at a race track one weekend where the driver didn't have a helmet and hit his cage with his noodle. It wasn't that pretty. Roll cages are very dangerous unless you take the right percausions. But if your still so tied up in buying a cage then I suggest you check out http://www.upgrgademotoring.com and check out there cages. They have all different kinds of cages. But if you want my opinoin on what would be the safest thing to do is invest in some carbon/kevlar racing seats (non adjustable), 4 pt. harnesses and just stay off the interstate. There really isn't a roll cage out there designed to go into daily drivin cars that can withstand a semi hit at 80 miles and hour. Your best bet on that one is just to start praying. Hope I helped.

 

I remember seeing pics posted either here or back in the h-a.net days of a CRX that had been t-boned by a dump truck - driver had scrapes and cuts from glass, but that was it. The state trooper told him to his face that they would have been breaking out the spatula had it not been for the cage

That said - is it possible to build or use a cage for highway safety as well as track safety. This was recently covered in the competition forum, but the consensus there was that cages had no place in a street car, due to the chances of your head impacting the bar in an accident...

What do y'all think?

 

I never said it could not be done, i just said be careful how its done.

 

If I were building a cage for this guys purposes I would build a 4 point, add door bars (more than one) and run them to the firewall. Will remove some foot room and make the car harder to get into and would be a full cage per se, but safer if you aren't going to use a helmet all the time. He's talking about an 8 point cage which is dangerous in a street car without a metal seat (**** carbon/kevlar, overpriced crap, neither are that confortable and I'd rather have the metal seat in an accident), a seat brace, 5 or 6 point cage (NOT 4 point) and lots and lots and lots of padding.

 

Here's the cage in my GT4 86 Civic 4 Door SCCA Road Racer. The car is a little untidy inside.

 

I have a 6 point (sans door bars) in my E30 M3, which doubles as a daily driver, along with being a toy car. I have like 4 inches or so before my head reaches any bar. Still, I wouldn't dare drive the car, even to the grocery store, without putting my harness on. All 5 belts, not just 4.

A cage is not something for everyone. I have one in my E30 because it sees auto-x and ocassional track duty. You don't find them in everyday cars because they can hurt you as much as they can help you.

Warren

 

a number of people have mentioned that it is illegal to drive a car using a harness without the stock belt. i assume this might be true, but i plan to put in a 4pt autopower rollbar, sparco bucket, and always wear a 5pt harness. in august i was hit in the front left of my car (woman ran a red light), she was going about 20mph and i was going 10mph. it wasn't a severe impact, certainly not a highway wreck, but the stock belt did not stop me from hitting my head on the a-pillar. i felt my body literally lift out of the seat and do a header into the pillar. the rollbar won't give me the ultimate protection of a cage, but it might be a bit safer for a daily driver when you aren't wearing a helmet.

 

This isn't directed at you specifically, but you reminded me and I figured I'd mention it here. Most people do NOT wear their OEM belt correctly. It always amazes me how poorly people position themselves in a seatbelt. You need to put your foot on the firewall and wedge your butt as far into the back of the seat as you can. Then you need to pull the lap belt directly under that little bony bump you feel in the front of your pelvis (I want to say it's the anterior, superior illiac crest, but I'm rusty). Anything above this and you're risking your soft abdomen. Then you need to pull your shoulder belt as tight as you can get it to tighten the lap belt. Then make sure you have a good driving posture, not leaning back. No belt, not even a 6pt harness, is capable of *retracting* slack if you leave slack in your belt. People are good about tightening harnesses, but for some reason they slap a loose belt over their stomach and call it good for the OEM belt. Seatbelts are only as smart as the person using them.

And don't get me started on people who put the shoulder belt under their armpit

 

robster - give a call up here to titan and talk to marc, he has built every cage for our cars and does very impressive work and can probably help you with some ideas to build a cage for your car

james

 

conehead, you forget i'm a biology freak too! yes, i realize you weren't specifically talking to me, but i use the same driving position as i do during autox: seat at leg length from pedals and seat back at full upright (no recline) such that my wrist rest on top of the wheel when my shoulders are pulled firmly back against the seat. i put the seat belt so it rests against my pelvis (not my beer swilling, sushi eating belly) and across my chest. i still hit my head on the a-pillar in an under 35mph impact. of course, integras are small cars and the 3pt belt can only do so much at any given angle of impact.

 

Yea, that scares me too. I don't have much room in ANY direction (maybe toward the pass. side of the car) before my head hits something. I'm most worried about the top of the windshield near the sun visor. That's the closest thing for me.

 

smsp,
kind of off topic, but it's cool to see another GT-4 racer on the board. did you, by any chance, go to the runoffs this year? my dad was actually driving "my" car this past trip--it was the gray/blue tubeframe mazda GLC. he finished third this year...
--tony

 

With the move from NC and the business the car and I didn't see the track last year it was the first time that I haven't done anything (even autox) in 14 years