[ledfoot2]

I talked to them and they have a 10 point DOM cage that would be NASA legal for 499 plus 160 for shipping. It is not complete. IT does not have petty bars for the door or some smaller bracing that I would add, but everything is notched and ready to go.

Any thoughts?

[00 Trans Ram]

Well, this will probably be taboo to say on this board. But, here's what I did.

SCCA and NASA rules stipulate that, for almost any class our cars will run in (GT, AS, AI, IT under 3000lbs) you can use a cage made from 1.75x.120, 1.75x.095, 1.625x.120, or 1.5x.120 tubing. CMC says you must use 1.75x.120.

I will never run CMC, so I built mine to the other specs. But, like you, I didn't have the money to send mine to a cage builder and have a cage custom made. So, I went to Jegs and ordered a 10-pt cage for $225. It's a drage race cage, so it's 1.625x.134.

Being a drag race cage, it's designed a tad different than what we need. The main difference is no diagonal brace in included. But, it's easy to buy a couple of extra tubes of straight pipe from a race shop in Houston next time you're up there (or there may be a place locally).

When you install the cage yourself (well, I had a friend help me - he welded, I fetched beer and held everything), you can make a lot of it custom fit what you need.

Basically, I spent $225 on the cage, an extra $50 on tubing, $50 on replacing his welding supplies, and $25 on beer. For $350, I have a 100% SCCA/NASA legal roll cage.

When doing the research, I found that just the cage from a place that sells SCCA-legal (1.75x.120) cages is about $600 and more. And, I was quoted over $1000 by both places that I asked to do it professionally.

The downside is that my cage is a tad more instrusive than a custom cage. I've got about 1" of clearance between my helmet and the top halo bar on the side. Also, the cage is no where near "tucked" into the sides of the interior of tha car. But, even though the main hoop is 4" away from the sides of the car, our cars are big enough to where it doesn't really matter (it's not like we're driving Miatas).

I guess my advice is - if you can afford it, get a pro to do it (you WON'T be sorry - some of the cages on this board belong in a museum). But, if money is tight, do it yourself.

[GlennCMC70]

Well, this will probably be taboo to say on this board. But, here's what I did.

SCCA and NASA rules stipulate that, for almost any class our cars will run in (GT, AS, AI, IT under 3000lbs) you can use a cage made from 1.75x.120, 1.75x.095, 1.625x.120, or 1.5x.120 tubing. CMC says you must use 1.75x.120.

I will never run CMC, so I built mine to the other specs. But, like you, I didn't have the money to send mine to a cage builder and have a cage custom made. So, I went to Jegs and ordered a 10-pt cage for $225. It's a drage race cage, so it's 1.625x.134.

Being a drag race cage, it's designed a tad different than what we need. The main difference is no diagonal brace in included. But, it's easy to buy a couple of extra tubes of straight pipe from a race shop in Houston next time you're up there (or there may be a place locally).

When you install the cage yourself (well, I had a friend help me - he welded, I fetched beer and held everything), you can make a lot of it custom fit what you need.

Basically, I spent $225 on the cage, an extra $50 on tubing, $50 on replacing his welding supplies, and $25 on beer. For $350, I have a 100% SCCA/NASA legal roll cage.

When doing the research, I found that just the cage from a place that sells SCCA-legal (1.75x.120) cages is about $600 and more. And, I was quoted over $1000 by both places that I asked to do it professionally.

The downside is that my cage is a tad more instrusive than a custom cage. I've got about 1" of clearance between my helmet and the top halo bar on the side. Also, the cage is no where near "tucked" into the sides of the interior of tha car. But, even though the main hoop is 4" away from the sides of the car, our cars are big enough to where it doesn't really matter (it's not like we're driving Miatas).

I guess my advice is - if you can afford it, get a pro to do it (you WON'T be sorry - some of the cages on this board belong in a museum). But, if money is tight, do it yourself.

i hate to be the one to tell you, but your cage isnt likely SCCA or NASA legal. for that price on a 10pt cage my bet is you got ERW tube and not the required DOM (seamless) tube. this fact alone makes your cage not legal, regardless of the OD or wall thickness. DOM tube is around $5 per foot. that only gets you 45ft for $225. it takes at least 70ft to make a SCCA/NASA legal cage.

[StanIROCZ]

Don't forget that steel prices have changed a lot in recent years so he could have got DOM for that price depending how long ago that was. Also, I'm not sure that that a tech inspector could see the difference between an ERW and a DOM tube after it is painted. Even when it isn't painted it is very hard to tell. On some older ERW tubes that I have see you can visually see a seem on the outside and a weld protrude in the ID. All the ERW that I have bought at the local metal shop has the weld scuffed off and besides there being a dark line on the tube you couldn't tell where it was welded (at least with the eye). And DOM is an ERW tube before it is Drawn Over a Mandrell. You can see a dark line where a DOM tube was welded.

If you look at published info on strengh of ERW vs DOM it shows that the DOM is stronger. Contrary to that I've tested ERW and DOM driveshafts and there wasn't any real difference in strength. ERW might have even performed slightly better, I can't remember. But it was close none-the-less.

I could bore you with more detail but I think sanctioning bodies give ERW a bad wrap - at least for the modern steel that I have worked with. So if you do have an ERW tube, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you really do have a visual seam that tech inspectors can see.

This post has been edited by StanIROCZ: May 2 2008, 04:52 PM