Roll cage- Weld in Vs Bolt in

[Henry Fiddleton]

Hi Chaps,

Not sure if this should be in the UK Motorsort section or not.

Looking at getting a race car soon, and obviously a weld in cage (to the front struts) is proper job but a lot of the converted road stuff use bolt in.

Does the weld in cage make the car signigicantly stiff and better on the corners etc?

For example, a 1.8 Fiesta road converted with bolt in, Vs a 1.4 with a factory weld in- same price ish. Once is better on the straights, the other on the corners.

Also hoping I wont need to use the actual roll cage..ever!

Thanks,
HF

[Henry Fiddleton]

FWDRacer said:

I've tested the structural integrity of a good weld in cage. I'm glad it wasn't bolt in only. The torsional stiffness is much improved - but the biggest improvement is being able to walk away...

Good to hear you walked away. I have seen plenty of crashes with bolt in and they appear to safe, right? I mean the MSA dont require weld in. Agreed they would be safer, but a safety wise I imagine a bolt in being enough.

Its a shame proper race cars with weld in cages cost a fair bit more than I can afford!

[Henry Fiddleton]

Thanks for the advice chaps- looking at buying a preparred race car so wont be doing the work myself.

Will do my best to pick up a welded in cage.

Regarding the door bars- I think its MSA requirments to have a two bar cage, the one bar type look weak at best!