I'm planing next off season to put a roll cage in my car. It's being used in Time attack no pass this year and with the cage hopfully time attack passing next year.

I have done some looking around and can't really find anything local.

I found a Rhoads SCCA cage on Summit and I think reading the rules it's will work with a few additions. Anyone ever use one of these in DOM?

Apparently I can't post a link yet....

I would have a certified welder friend do the welding.

Any input would be great.

Direct questions on Time Attack to Campbell Carlyle at tad@caccautosport.org

Mike

Jeremy wrote on Feb 19^th, 2018 at 4:30pm:


The cost of a pre-bent cage is always attractive since the straight DOM tube to complete a custom cage would be similar in cost but you already have a cage that "should" fit.... The difference is normally the fit and of course that would be car specific.  Sometimes you can use the main hoop and improve the fit of door bars and rear supports but the devil will be in the details that are car specific.  Knowing the car would be helpful but I bet that no one local has experience with the Rhodes cages. 

Some quick observations
In road racing 1.5 or 1.75 DOM is common.  Not a problem but 1.625 0.120 is heavier and more than is required.  Weight is the only downside here.  Normally a pre-bent cage does not go through the dash.  This limits ingress and egress as you swing your legs in and is critical if you have to get out fast.  The door bars shown in your link are straight.  This can be a real pain when dealing with wide seats and allowing enough elbow room to work the wheel.  The floor plates are flat and a better design is an L shape.  I like having an X in the rear down tubes and a little more triangulation.  All of these could be fixed by a local builder who would modify the tubes sent in the kit or re-bend new ones.  You would have to add two tubes from the front down tubes towards the fire wall to be CACC compliant.

Some features can not be determined from the image per the rules:
- All bends must be smooth with no evidence of crimping or wall fracturing.
- Two side protection bars must be attached between the front and rear hoops on both sides of
the vehicle. These bars should be attached to the front hoop no higher than 30.48 cm (12") off
the floor and on the rear hoop and no higher than 60.96 cm (24") off the floor
- On unit body vehicles, all plates shall be at least 129 square cm (20 square") in area. The
minimum thickness of these plates shall be 0.20 cm (.080") in the case of weld on plates and
.1875 for bolt on types.

I suspect a phone call to Rhodes would sort out those issues. 

Note: The CACC rules recommend that all cages be tabbed into the body structure every 24".  If done this will exclude you from many stock type classes so choose carefully.  This is especially true if the plans might include other sanctioning bodies. 

Hope that helps... 

Dave