Discussion
I used to have a full cage in a twin cam escort that was also fully seam welded. Whilst this made the car much stiffer, being my only car at the time, normal road use for a yong family was very badly restricted (even had a baby seat strapped in the back which was a bu**er to get in and out). And yes it does limit the re-sale market for the car. If I remember correctly it also increased my insurance premiums on the car. However I have heard of some insurance companies even refusing insurance if a roll cage (or bars) are fitted.
Hearing Flasher's comments and others, I too am at last considering a roll over bar for my Griffith. Also agree about giving as much clearance between your head and any bars. Would like to see what the Roll-Centre one looks like from a few angles before I make my mind up. Has anyone got any pics of these in a Griff from a few angles?
I am not so sure about the comments re side protection though. Whilst any improvement should be a good thing I do wonder if side protection in a low sports car would actually be effective when most other vehicles look like they would just ride over the side of a Tiv. Would welcome any experienced views to help me make my mind up though.
Mike
Hearing Flasher's comments and others, I too am at last considering a roll over bar for my Griffith. Also agree about giving as much clearance between your head and any bars. Would like to see what the Roll-Centre one looks like from a few angles before I make my mind up. Has anyone got any pics of these in a Griff from a few angles?
I am not so sure about the comments re side protection though. Whilst any improvement should be a good thing I do wonder if side protection in a low sports car would actually be effective when most other vehicles look like they would just ride over the side of a Tiv. Would welcome any experienced views to help me make my mind up though.
Mike
Gillyw, please make sure it's fixed to a solid piece of chassis that is DESIGNED to take the loadings.
During my days of scrutineering I saw some horrendous roll bar designs & fixings, more so at the cheaper end of the market granted, but fixing your new Safety Devices cage thro' a rusted floor and bolting your new rally seat through a thin glassfibre floor are a sample.
Sgirl, what is this about additional tests to tow a trailer?
During my days of scrutineering I saw some horrendous roll bar designs & fixings, more so at the cheaper end of the market granted, but fixing your new Safety Devices cage thro' a rusted floor and bolting your new rally seat through a thin glassfibre floor are a sample.
Sgirl, what is this about additional tests to tow a trailer?
Personally, I'm far more concerned about someone shunting into the side of me. Remember the thread on the recent Smash in Maidenhead centre? IIRC the TVR went into the side of a VW that had jumped the lights - what if it was the VW going into the TVR?
I suspect that would be pretty horrific as the only part of the chassis at that point (on a Griff/Chim at least) is much too low for any side protection, especially if it's a 4x4 coming at you.
Let's face it a TVR has a very low centre of gravity. I'm not saying you can't roll them (as the evidence shows) but it must be very rare compared to other possibilities.
DT
I suspect that would be pretty horrific as the only part of the chassis at that point (on a Griff/Chim at least) is much too low for any side protection, especially if it's a 4x4 coming at you.
Let's face it a TVR has a very low centre of gravity. I'm not saying you can't roll them (as the evidence shows) but it must be very rare compared to other possibilities.
DT
Tony Hall said:....what is this about additional tests to tow a trailer?
Think the details are in here somewhere
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&h=&t=27683
donatien said: Personally, I'm far more concerned about someone shunting into the side of me.
Yes that is also a concern of mine but as you sit low down in a TVR and the sides are also comparatively low I am not so sure that side impact bars would offer much practical protection. Even if side bars could be mounted high enough within the doors I believe that they would need to interact with similar fixed rigid supports in the door shuts.
Having worked in bonded structures development I did consider bonding in a honeycomb structure within the doors. The idea being that this additional structure would spread the load from side impacts more effectively than a simple metal frame could. But as I say I did not take this idea any further as I believe that the height of the doors on a TVR would mean that protection would only be afforded to side impacts from similar low-slung cars.
Mike
PS Steve thanks for the link to the photos.
Tony Hall said: Gillyw, please make sure it's fixed to a solid piece of chassis that is DESIGNED to take the loadings.
It is. The main hoop goes through the bodywork and mounts on one of the main triangulation bars that supports the rear suspension. Martin Short was insistent on that. The braces go onto the chassis at the back.
Tony Hall said: bolting your new rally seat through a thin glassfibre floor are a sample.
Excellent point, the standard TVR seat mounting (four bolts through the thin fiberglass floor) is relatively weak and I've seen seats pulled out of the floor after a shunt. If you're after a stronger location, Tower View supply brace bars that fit under the chassis (attached to the outriggers) and reinforce the floor at the point the seat bolts pass through. As well as being much safer in an accident, they also stop the seat flexing so you get a better feel of what the car is doing under hard cornering. Very popular with the sprinters.
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
GreenV8S said:
Excellent point, the standard TVR seat mounting (four bolts through the thin fiberglass floor)
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
Ah thats why i;ve ordered the seat mounts as well....
The wifey must be really spooked cos she said unaided that i could take HER DISCOVERY to work tommorrow as the weather might be bad and she is worried !!!!!
Might be possibly as i did admit to 140 on a (private honest) A road last time i took the chim out
I called Mark at Tower View (who does all the work on my car)and who I trust to do a good job. Let's face it though, you can only do so much to protect yourself and I do think there's a danger of getting overly paranoid about what might happen. In some ways I feel perhaps not safer in my TVR, but certainly more aware of conditions than I am in our 4WD Estate. I think a lot of Euroboxes insulate you from reality (I'm always amazed when driving in heavy rain down a motorway only to have the Vauxhall Vectra boys rushing past at 100mph)! To echo several earlier comments - you buy a car like a TVR simply because it's that much more, well, visceral, than a normal A to B vehicle so, yes, be wise when you drive but don't let fear stop you enjoying the experience. Ah well, musings over - better go and do some work.
G & Hopefully a soon to be reinforced 'Burble'
G & Hopefully a soon to be reinforced 'Burble'
(How I wish I was exagerrating). And not an insignificant amount of experience either
Graham said:
shpub said: As someone who has shunted his Wedge into hard things on several occassion
Nah you've not tried anything yet matey, get yerself a proper 280 and come racing then you can really throw it at the barriers
cheers
G
(speaking from experience)
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