Best roll cage for a Dart?

-
C

Capt. Zorro

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
93
Reaction score
1
Location
up in the hills
What's the consensus on the best cage for a Dart? I did a search and found a bunch of different manufactures are making them. Cost, ease of assembly, safety, not necessarily in that order.
TIA
 
whew ever you buy it from make shore the thickness of the pipe is right i know there was a bad batch of pipe going around. alot of cars were built that would't pass certification.becuse of pipe thickness. just trying to help i hate to see someone spend good money for junk.
 
godfatherofchry said:
whew ever you buy it from make shore the thickness of the pipe is right i know there was a bad batch of pipe going around. alot of cars were built that would't pass certification.becuse of pipe thickness. just trying to help i hate to see someone spend good money for junk.
Click to expand...
Good to know.
Thanks for sharing this info.
A lot of people are unaware of this.
 
Capt. Zorro said:
What's the consensus on the best cage for a Dart? I did a search and found a bunch of different manufactures are making them. Cost, ease of assembly, safety, not necessarily in that order.
TIA
Click to expand...

If you or someone you know is a good welder and can work with a tubing bender you could obviously make your own for the cost of the material.

S+W Race Cars makes a correct cage for an A-body, so does Chris Alston Chassisworks. I would get it from either one, both are trusted names. Just depends where you're at, S+W is PA, Alston is CA. I bought one from S+W for an old project. It comes by freight as a pre-bent main hoop and straght tubing, obviously needs to be asembled by a competent person or shop and checked against whatever sanctioning body specs you're woking with.

I was quoted $600 to install it in a B-body by a chassis shop here in NY but that was a long time ago. Prices are likely double now.
 
Find a good chassis shop,and have them bend the cage exactely as you want it,i've seen those kits they sell and you always end up needing to modify something...thats what i did for my 6-point bar, cost me $1200.00 to have it made and installed with a driverside swingout excellent work too and its good down to 10.0's...
 
Thanks for the info on the thin pipe. What is the recommended size and thickness for a 12 point. 1 3/4 x .120 wall? I can do my own installation, just didn't want to spend money for a tubing bender and take the extra time if I could get a good fitting cage at a reasonable price.
 
Get a NHRA rule book and build it to there specs. The most cost afective way is to find a friend with a bender and welder and make it your self. If you get the metal at a scrap yard it is only around .60 cents a pound.

Or you could get a jegster roll cage from Jegs. It is about 300 bucks for a 12 point cage that they clame mets or exceeds NHRA and IHRA standards. Cut it to langth and weld it in.

Or you could pay a shop to do it but be prepared to pay a lot more than 300 bucks.
 
Capt. Zorro said:
What is the recommended size and thickness for a 12 point.
Click to expand...

In the General Regulations section of my 2001 NHRA rule book it states "all materials must be 1 3/4" O.D. x .118" mild steel or .083" 4130 chrome moly tubing." The cross bar behind the seats that ties the hoop together can be "1 1/4" O.D. x .118" mild steel or .065" chrome moly tubing." This was under the roll bar section (4:10) but looks like it would be the same specs for a cage.

CM tubing must be TIG welded, no porosity, free of slag, no grinding allowed. Steel can be MIG welded.

Specs may have changed since then. You would need to verify this info. Go to the NHRA website and order a rule book.
 
RMCHRGR you are correct on the welding and specs for the cage.. my rule book is up to date.. keep in mind that most suppliers of these cages are selling the nearest thickness over the spec(.118) that being--.134 so as long as you know what you are buying the thickness should not be a problem.. i bought mine from art Morrison for my 63 Dart..was a good pre-bent setup thats only needed to be notched after it was cut to length..

001.jpg


002.jpg


004.jpg


006.jpg
 
A friend of a friend was going to put a 12 point into my dart for $600.00 labour plus materials.The deal fell through as he is dealing with some harsh health issues.One of the cheaper chassis shops wanted $1200.00 for a installed 10 point, it seems when I looked awhile ago it was 100.00 a point for a cage.I will probably just buy a Chris Alston Chassisworks 12 point and have my buddy (who's a certified welder) help me with the install.
 
68 HEMI GTS said:
your best off having one custom bent to your car by a good chassis shop.
Click to expand...

Why? What's wrong with a pre-bent kit from a reputable vendor?

I would think it would be cheaper and easier than starting from scratch. The measuring/fab work is done for you, basically just has to be welded in.
 
I agree that if you have a certified welder around put him to work. Our welder is CERTIFIABLE, but we take care of him, 'cause he takes care of us!! I would like to learn to use a Tig welder someday, but I have no dillusions of being a welder.
 
sst3193 said:
I agree that if you have a certified welder around put him to work. Our welder is CERTIFIABLE, but we take care of him, 'cause he takes care of us!! I would like to learn to use a Tig welder someday, but I have no dillusions of being a welder.
Click to expand...

I have two of them around there brothers there dad started as a black smith in the old country and became a awesume welder/fabicator here.

Both are extremly talented one specialise in aluminium welding/fabricating and the other works on big rig repairing weldable parts or fabricating/modifiying new parts8)

"your best off having one custom bent to your car by a good chassis shop"

I have had two chassis shops tell me to just buy a CAC kit and they will install it, cheaper and still good quality:dontknow:
 
iv never seen one you buy out of a book fit the car. look at the picture above thats not my idea of fighting nice but it does serve its purpose.
 
Well guess I'll just buy a bender and give it a try myself. I have put in a couple kits over the years but never sprung for a bender. Have the Mig, Tig, chop saw and notcher already. The tubing is going for $22.00 a 20' stick here in town. Anyone have an idea of how much it takes?
I've built a rotisserie, got the subframe connectors, rear springs relocated and one of the mini tubs done on it so far.
Here's a pic of the progress.

dscn0970.JPG
 
rmchrgr said:
Why? What's wrong with a pre-bent kit from a reputable vendor?

I would think it would be cheaper and easier than starting from scratch. The measuring/fab work is done for you, basically just has to be welded in.
Click to expand...


like godfatherofchry stated, all the best looking cages are bent for your specific car. when i had mine done i still wanted to use my factory seats including being able to get the back seat in and out. and the guy who did it was able to make that happen. also if i was gonna go the full gammet, id but the front bars through the dash to give you more room to get in and out.
 
A prebent kit from a reputable manufacture such as S&W and Morrison are a safe bet since the tubing is pretty much guarrenteed to pass inspection with the NHRA but unless your going to run faster 10.0 you wont be inspected. Its the honor system and since its your life your looking to protect its in your best interest to do it right. I agree that custom cages always fit better and you can make it your way. I have done both and have had good results with both obviously the custom one is nicer but the kits are quick and easy for the novice. It sounds like you have most of the tools available and I have a JD Squared manual bender and have found it to be a great tool and I have used it in all kinds of different situations. I try to encourage any of my friends thinking about tackling a new cage to buy a bender and give it a shot. The first cage is more expensive but it will pay for itself in time for sure. One of the other things to remember is that the cheap welded tube is just that and it has a large variance in thickness. Seamless tubing is twice the cost last time I checked but you can put .120 wall tubing in it and the thinnest it will be is .118 per the engineering spec. I built a 12 point cage in a friends 8 second Vega and it passed inspection. If you ad 50-60 feet of cage to your car the extra thickness is just extra weight. I hope this helps.
 
i bought the 8 point kit from summit , cant remember the brand , it was around $170 ?
The tubes were fairly close - i had to do some minor cutting / grinding and then welded it in myself . If you can weld ok they are easy to install.

Track tech inspection will vary widely !

I agree with a previous post- if you are going low 10's or quicker they usually will look over the car more thoroughly .

I had a "tech inspection" at one track take about 10 seconds at the most (KCIR)

8)

Never had any track fuss over the cage -- as long as theres one in there .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top