F250 Powerstroke roll over protection... - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

I'd like to brainstorm with some of you about the possibilities of adding some roll over protection. These truck are heavy, and there's no way the roof is going to support the weight in a roll over situation. Mine weighs about 7300 lbs.

I'd also like a head ache rack for added safety. A roll bar in the cab is out of the question...roll bars + naked heads = BAD!!!

So, there are obviously the fake roll bars that mount in the beds of trucks. What makes these worthless? Material? Mounting? Both?

I think if you take the basic shape of one of these fake roll bars and modify the design, it could be made pretty functional, not take up much bed space, and look good.

Here's what I'm thinking. Basic truck roll bar, thin bars going across back window to act like a head ache rack, D rings or something similar in a few places for anchor points, and a bright rear facing light. The whole thing would be made out of proper tubing.

Of course thing would be worthless without proper mounting points. Would it not be good enough to mount it to the bed floor if it's reinforced underneath?

Any idea how much something like this would cost to have made? What would be nice is it'd be easy for the fabricator since he will have tons of room. Also, I would like it to be bolt in so I could remove it if I had to.

I know the front of the cab would still crush, but it's got to be better than nothing.

Let's hear some ideas and opinions...
Steve

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/77356043.jpg)

Steve91T View Member Profile	Feb 15 2012, 07:19 PM Post #1
Experienced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 2,038 Joined: 3-March 10 From: Huntersville, NC Member No.: 9,105	I'd like to brainstorm with some of you about the possibilities of adding some roll over protection. These truck are heavy, and there's no way the roof is going to support the weight in a roll over situation. Mine weighs about 7300 lbs. I'd also like a head ache rack for added safety. A roll bar in the cab is out of the question...roll bars + naked heads = BAD!!! So, there are obviously the fake roll bars that mount in the beds of trucks. What makes these worthless? Material? Mounting? Both? I think if you take the basic shape of one of these fake roll bars and modify the design, it could be made pretty functional, not take up much bed space, and look good. Here's what I'm thinking. Basic truck roll bar, thin bars going across back window to act like a head ache rack, D rings or something similar in a few places for anchor points, and a bright rear facing light. The whole thing would be made out of proper tubing. Of course thing would be worthless without proper mounting points. Would it not be good enough to mount it to the bed floor if it's reinforced underneath? Any idea how much something like this would cost to have made? What would be nice is it'd be easy for the fabricator since he will have tons of room. Also, I would like it to be bolt in so I could remove it if I had to. I know the front of the cab would still crush, but it's got to be better than nothing. Let's hear some ideas and opinions... Steve (IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/77356043.jpg)

trackbird View Member Profile	Feb 15 2012, 07:32 PM Post #2
FRRAX Owner/Admin Group: Admin Posts: 15,432 Joined: 13-February 04 From: Ohio Member No.: 196	I'd consider a traditional stake pocket mount for the bar and headache rack. However, I'd securely run a bar down to the floor and run a box tube across the floor (where it can basically pick up the frame by default). Think of making a picture frame out of steel (a big square, and then round the upper corners and make it pretty). Run your headache rack bars across it and run some vertical bars from the floor (above the frame) to the top of the hoop to support the whole structure and your headache rack bars. Add some "wings" that drop into the stake pockets (bolt it through the bottom of the bed) and add some support (like back stays) to the best compromise of bed space and safety to help keep it from folding in a roll over. That's just a rough idea off the top of my head and is subject to some fine tuning.