Nothing like a stout roll cage made with really thick wall tubing to help raise the center of gravity on some jacked up 4x4 truck. No wonder they call them roll cages!

Keep the rubber side down at all times, even when you are off the ground.

 

This has got to be one of the stupidest statements I've ever heard here. By your reasoning we should pull seatbelts to save ourselves some weight and just 'not hit stuff'. That's a hundred pounds of steel could save your life and keep your spine from being crushed. Assuming people are driving around trying to roll over all the time because they have roll cages is as ridiculous as assuming that people with air bags are constantly getting into front end collisions 'just because they can'. Accidents happen. The idea is to be prepared incase they do.

 

Bdox, and Ivan you are actually both somewhat correct. Having a cage will save your life, but sticking .250 wall 2" pipe in anything is seriously overkill, and adds way too much weight very high up in the truck. I looked up some of the NHRA rules and they require 1-5/8" .118 wall pipe on full bodied cars running faster then 9 seconds, and only require .085 wall if you run chromoly. Nascar cup cars run .110 wall chromoly, and .140 wall mild steel tubing so if these guys figure that is strong enough to hold in an accident at 200mph there is not reason to run 1/4" thick steel that more than doubles the weight of your roll cage. But if it makes you comfortable then go for it, I wasnt' even going to say it for that reason.

 

It's just possible that a guy who jacks up his truck by putting a floor jack under his tire, does not have a lot of brain power or judgement. And when he has a nasty know-it-all attitude the value of his opinions sinks even lower.

 

If you think arguing with a wannabe mental giant who thinks that roll cages are the cause of rollovers and shouldn't be used in offroad vehicles is being a know it all, yeah sure, I'll be glad to wear that title. If you consider this being nasty so be it but don't take it personally. I'm usually quick to post in response to anyone posting ridiculous information which could potentionally cost the life of another member here (i.e. rollcages cause rollovers. Just keep your wheels down).

Of, and if you want to share with us an effective method of cycling suspension to place and test shock mounts while a vehicle is stationary in a driveway I'm all ears too.

 

dude, wheres the fun in that i mean come on... who wants to just driuve around on there tires all the time, that wears them down!

i agree with ivan that the purpose of a cage is to protect and if that happens to mean the chances of a rollover are slightly higher, then so be it.... i'd feel safe enough to take a roll.

but on the same hand, i do agree Bdox that you can't have a vehicle so high with a cage and expect not to roll. also its not only that the weight of the cage adds to the weight above COG but it's also like the saying goes "bigger they are, harder they fall" the taller the truck the harder it'll hit the ground and could very easily cause damage to passengers/driver as well as the vehicle

but seriously, why would you not want to roll? it's fun esp in the middle of sand box hill over at WITC it makes you really dizzy, lol

-cutts-

 

Thats got me fired up, now its on

 

I wish Bdox would have a talk with all those idiots on the pro monster truck circuit. I keep telling those morons "You've got 66" tires. Keep the rubber down, even when you are off the ground. Those silly roll cages are what is causing you to flip!" But will they listen to my feeble mind? Nooooooo! Perhaps they would listen to an experienced wheeler like Bdox though, and pull those nasty roll cages.

 

When i grow up, i am going to build a keyboard that i can just push a button and moronic posters who babble nothing but bad information DIE. If you dont have good quality info, or a funnay comment that pertains to something somone said, STFU!. As for tig being tedious, but worth it, here is some food for thought. My buddy, from socal that races unlimted class 1's in the score desert series charges an extra 5-7K per chassis if it is completely tig welded. These turn key cars run 150K, for reference.

 

stryder,

> If I have time tomorrow, I post the strengths of welded pipe vs. DOM

I would be really interested in this and appreciate it if you can find it.

 

I hate to say this, but Petersons had a decent article lately, on the differnt pipes and tubes and the strengths

 

[QUOTE=ivanribic]If you think arguing with a wannabe mental giant who thinks that roll cages are the cause of rollovers and shouldn't be used in offroad vehicles is being a know it all, yeah sure, I'll be glad to wear that title. If you consider this being nasty so be it but don't take it personally. I'm usually quick to post in response to anyone posting ridiculous information which could potentionally cost the life of another member here (i.e. rollcages cause rollovers. Just keep your wheels down).


Earlier in this thread someone mentioned 1/4" wall tubing. I got to thinking about a truck as tall a ivan's with a cage weighing about a thousand pounds. The ARE extremes that make no sense.

Out on the Rubicon near where I live guys often demonstrate that there has to be a balance between ground clearance and center of gravity. Evidently hanging from your seatbelts with all that blood rushing to your head helps to clarify the point.

I have nothing against roll cages in any kind of vehicle but Ford trucks are not as fragile as a formula car and they don't need a cage like a nascar racer. If you like to get crazy off road I'm all for it and I agree some reinforcement is in order. But as anyone who is concerned with performance knows any weight you add beyond what's necessary is a detriment. For a Ford truck some structure to keep your roof from collapsing makes sense. But it's a fact that using your head can prevent the roof from collapsing too.

For Ivan to suggest that my comments, made for safety reasons, that center of gravity should be considered, implied that I might say we shouldn't use seatbelts is stupid beyond imagination. Poor kid needs to learn to think before posting.

 

[QUOTE=Bdox. Poor kid needs to learn to think before posting.[/QUOTE] ohhhhh, coming from someone who thinks that a roll cage is a dumb idea, just to keep the tires down?

 

DUDE, you're asking for serious problems here if you keep ******* knowlagable folks like this.

I'd trust Ivan's, and others alike, opinion with my life he knows what hes saying, unlike others.

ALSO, go ask a local suspension shop how they'd figure out which shock to use. YOU'LL BE SUPRISED.

 

i keep thinking bo-tox for some reason

hondas work better for rti ramps