Andrew asks:
> Out of all the posts I have seen on the list, I have yet to see a discussion
> on roll bars.
Oh, you list newcomers :-)
There hasn't been any discussion for quite awhile, that's true. If
you check the archives, though, you'll find lots of discussion. One
of the list members was making nice 'bars a while back.
One discussion has been bolted-to-body vs bolted-to-frame. The majority
or bars, including the factory bars, bolt to the body. I'll admit here,
my bar bolts to the body, with large plates on the underside (I'd never
just trust the surface area of the nut on the underside!) IMHO, that bar
is a whole lot more secure than the seats that are also bolted to the
body. But I also don't race!
I also can't put a soft top on. Clearance is definitely a tradeoff on a
hi-screen car! If the bar fits 'inboard' enough to clear the top frame,
it also blocks the seats from going back all the way - unless it's short,
in which case it does little good. *sigh* the frustrations of living with
a Roadster :-)
Does the bar work? Well, if you dig in the archives you'll find a couple
stories about roll-overs that the driver survived. One story I
particularly remember talked about launching from the road, going vertical
and slamming into a telephone pole. The bar hit first, the body kinda
'folded' in half and the driver is still here to talk about it.
Just make sure you have a solid bar and not some vanity 'light bar'
wannabe.
-- John
John F Sandhoff sandhoff@csus.edu Sacramento, CA
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