Hey guys

Are their any good bolt in roll cages, or for the price should i just look into building one myself?

We have used one for several years in our race car and just recently welded in the floor and wheel well legs along with the passenger side bolt thru slip on sections.

We ended up adding a bar across the back to attach seat belts as the cage has only one attachment loop (for the driver) and door impact bars.

So far we haven't had a chance to test the impact and protection capabilities.

Short answer, Yes some bolt in cages are good. What are you going to be doing with the car and why do you need a cage? I would suggest you look to the rules of whatever sanctioning body you intend to run with before investing in a cage. What works for NHRA may not work for SCCA, NASA, VARA, HSR, etc., etc., etc.

Good luck with your choices.

So far we haven't had a chance to test the impact and protection capabilities.

I don't car who you are, that's funny!

We have a bolt-in roll bar, not a cage. We bought ours from MSA and it was made by Autopower. Was a piece-o-cake to install.

Clubs like SCCA and VARA are serious about safety. Check with them and with the club you will be running with first. Bolt-in's are probably not allowed. The welds and construction need to be perfect, and I do mean perfect.

If you are SCCA legal, you will be 99.99% guaranteed to be approved by ANY club you ever want to run with.

Legalities aside, I don't want to be in a car with unsafe safety equipment. That could be worse than no safety equipment.

Kirk Racing and Autopower are the two most popular for bolt-in roll cages. But, its really important to verify that both companies have updated their roll cage tubing material to meet the changes in the SCCA GCER from a couple years ago.

I had to send a BMW E30 ITS driver home last month when he showed up with a brand new Autopower "SCCA Approved" roll cage that met the old rules. It was not legal for use in his +2,700 lb. race car.

For most S30s the tubing must be DOM 1.5" OD and .095" wall thickness.

Also, IMHO, a welded in roll cage is safer and does less damage to the chassis if welded in properly. Drilling twenty four 3/8" holes completely through the chassis increases the risk of rust and chassis cracking more then six welded in .083" thick reinforcement plates.