Top Tips for Your Next Roll Cage

A roll cage is one of the defining characteristics of a race car. This collection of tubes and gussets is not just distinctive; it provides the measure of safety that drivers need to do their job and keeps the car stiff and strong during a season of racing.

There are two ways to get a competition-legal cage into a race car: weld together a pre-bent kit, or have a custom-built cage tailored to a specific car. There are also a couple of choices regarding how everything is assembled, as both MIG and TIG welding are prevalent among cage builders.

Generally speaking, TIG welding looks better and offers more consistent and cleaner welds.

Weld-in kits come with all of the required tubing and all of the bends will have already been performed. The tubing is generally left a little long on some portions, while other sections are already fish-mouthed so they can be welded up quickly and cleanly.

A custom-fit cage which is what we do here at Shores NZ can cost quite a bit more than the other type and although the price may seem like a disadvantage, it’s probably the only compromise you’ll make if you go this route.

A good custom-fit cage can maximize both the safety and rigidity of the car because it’s bent and cut as large as possible to fit within the confines of the passenger compartment. The farther the cage is from the occupants, the less likely it is that someone will come in contact with it during a collision. On the performance side of things, a properly built cage can dramatically improve a car’s performance.

Here are our top tips for a Strong and Safe Roll Cage

1. Legality - First things first, you’ve got to consult your rulebook and with MSNZ

2. Correct Materials - A quality cage starts with the correct steel tubing with the diameter and wall thickness required by your sanctioning body’s rule set.

3. Weld Quality - A roll cage is just an expensive assemblage of tubes unless it has good welds to connect everything. Roll cages can be welded together with MIG (metal inert gas) or TIG (tungsten inert gas) welders. TIG welding will create a very strong joint with proper penetration and very little spatter, resulting in a clean and professional-looking joint.

4. Tight Fit - A good custom roll cage will have tubing that is positioned extremely close to the body of the car. This gives the interior more room and it can also help the torsional rigidity of the tub.

5. Suspension Pickup Points - Just because you’re designing a cage for safety doesn’t mean you have to ignore the performance benefits. Tie the cage into as many suspension pickup points as the rules allow.

6. Max Headroom - The cage should be designed to have the maximum amount of headroom. This can make the cage more comfortable and allows easier ingress into the car. It also makes the car safer in the event of a collision; hitting the roll cage with your head can be serious and possibly fatal, even if you’re wearing a good helmet and using the properly approved padding.

7. Paint - A properly built and installed cage should be painted along with the rest of the car, ideally with the windows out and the shell completely stripped. This is essentially the only way to give a cage that slick, professional look. While paint won’t make the cage any safer or stronger, it will reflect well on the car as a whole and add to its resale value.

Building a roll cage is not as simple as welding a few tubes together. It takes a lot of experience and knowledge to create a safe and functional roll structure. The team at Shores NZ are experts in Custom-Fit roll cages. When you are ready for your next cage build, definitely give them a call.