Bolt In Roll Cage- Anyone Fitted One Themselves into a Mk4?

Hi all,

Apologies if there is info on this elsewehere but I've been searching for a long time and haven't found the info I need just yet- if somebody knows of a decent thread covering this please point me in the right direction

I have a rear cage to bolt in to my supra, I'm just finishing off my seat frame so this afternoon I started weighing up the job.

The roll over hoop seems pretty simple- back corners of the floor besides the B pillar, with a sandwich plate underneath (i'll prob have these welded in for peace of mind).

However, the rear struts which bolt onto the inner rear arch tubs is confusing me a little- the instructions I have are in Japanese which doesn't help. The cage comes with plates which I assume you either sandwich underneath or locate on the top, but for a start they are flat, and I can't see a way of getting behind this panel for fasteners as it seems double skinned? I could be totally wrong on that! It was going dark.

If anyone on here has fitted their own and has a thread, has pics of the feet of theirs installed, or can help in any way I'd appreciate it. I'm normally not too bad with the old spanners but I'm lacking in confidence on this one and want to ask the questions first before I make a pigs ear out of it!

Thanks in advance,

Dan.

Fitted a bolt in cage to my last 3 supes, just offer the part up mark up and drill away, the rear quarters are double skinned, go straight through, the flat plates go under the arch (on the outside)put some silicon or underseal stuff around the plates to stop water coming through that will be sprayed up off the rear wheels, job done.

Fitted a bolt in cage to my last 3 supes, just offer the part up mark up and drill away, the rear quarters are double skinned, go straight through, the flat plates go under the arch (on the outside)put some silicon or underseal stuff around the plates to stop water coming through that will be sprayed up off the rear wheels, job done.

its really as simple as that? superb! cheers mate really appreciate the reply

so the flat plates inside the rear arch go in flat? and did you weld any of the plates to the underside or have they been fine just bolted in? cheers fella

Thats it yes, the plates actually bend to the shape of the car as there tightened, no welding required, 1 thing i did do last time i fitted the cage was use some beefier bolts and washers as the bolts that are normally supplied are rubbish.

When I bolted mine in I found the rear inner arch bent to the shape of the plates!

As Simon says worth upgrading the bolts.

Make sure you get it all lined up correctly and decide if you are cutting the carpet so the main hoop touches the metal work. Have seen these just placed on the carpet and bolted through. Not sure that is to be recommended!

The process I used was to cut the carpet and put the main hoop in, but not drill any holes at this stage.

We assembled the cage in the car completely before drilling any holes and adjusted until everything was in the right place. Then we drilled the holes!

good luck.

What's the point of the roll cage if you're bolting it to metal that bends as you tighten it up, won't it just shear the metal like tinfoil in a crash and cause more harm to the occupants than it prevents? Yes the rollcage will be tough but it'll be flying around loose in the car like blender

What's the point of the roll cage if you're bolting it to metal that bends as you tighten it up, won't it just shear the metal like tinfoil in a crash and cause more harm to the occupants than it prevents? Yes the rollcage will be tough but it'll be flying around loose in the car like blender

Possibly saved his life,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNSXaqtL0SA

Thats it yes, the plates actually bend to the shape of the car as there tightened, no welding required, 1 thing i did do last time i fitted the cage was use some beefier bolts and washers as the bolts that are normally supplied are rubbish.

brilliant, cheers for the tips mate

When I bolted mine in I found the rear inner arch bent to the shape of the plates!

 

As Simon says worth upgrading the bolts.

 

Make sure you get it all lined up correctly and decide if you are cutting the carpet so the main hoop touches the metal work. Have seen these just placed on the carpet and bolted through. Not sure that is to be recommended!

 

The process I used was to cut the carpet and put the main hoop in, but not drill any holes at this stage.

 

We assembled the cage in the car completely before drilling any holes and adjusted until everything was in the right place. Then we drilled the holes!

 

good luck.

Good tips cheers mate nice one- on top of the carpet???? wow- this one wouldn't even fit with the carpet (i tried when i first bought it to make sure it was the right one) its that snug fit with the roof.

Thanks for the luck mate, I'm going to need it

What's the point of the roll cage if you're bolting it to metal that bends as you tighten it up, won't it just shear the metal like tinfoil in a crash and cause more harm to the occupants than it prevents? Yes the rollcage will be tough but it'll be flying around loose in the car like blender

I don't think so mate.

Anyhow back to my cage- do either of you have any pics of the feet bolted in place so i can have a look just for peace of mind? mine is slaved into the shell now and i'm getting closer to having to make an "incision."

Also, have either of you run stock belts with the cage in? It appears that mine encroaches on the movement of the upper belt mount- I could space it out a couple of inches to clear but I'm not keen. I'd love to retain my stock belt for use on the road you see.

I can take some pics in the next few days.

I can take some pics in the next few days.

Thanks mate, I'd appreciate that.

Do you use the stock seatbelt still?

no mate, harnesses.

I don't think so mate.

Thank you for the science, I now see where I was wrong.

IMO, the only mounting position that is possibly weak is the front dash bar floor area, in saying that this area was completely intact after my bro`s roll, the other mounting points are all double skinned and what helps these parts of the cage is the triangulation bars,so unless the car rolls say 5/6 times then hits a guardrail into a tree and bursts into flames i doubt there`d be any survivors anyway, albeit blended up for added measure, obviously a welded in proper cage would be better but some bolt ins arent bad.all imho.

no mate, harnesses.

Okey dokey cheers- that might be the only way.

Thank you for the science, I now see where I was wrong.

No offence but I don't want this thread to turn into specifics about the pro's / con's of a cage etc etc i;m well beyond that to the point i've researched, selected, have the kit and i'm now on the home straight of asking about the specifics of how to fit one. Apologies if that seemed selfish.

Totally agree with bignum's reply but i'll also add- just because a material can change shape it doesn't necessairy mean it is weak- next time you have a window seat on a passenger jet, watch the wing tip for example. OK so if you roll the car- and somehow get the impact force at such an angle that it acts on the rear stays, then yes, it *could* punch through the skin- unlikely- but if it does, nothing will become loose inside the car as the outer crushes into the cage- if anything closing up its gap where it *could* escape. Because of this, that's how you won't end up with loose parts flying around you cabin, or "blender" as you put it. Also the roll over hoop on my one (main rigidity point) is that tight fit that I had to kick it into place, so its a very snug fit, and bolts directly to the floor right next to the sill boxes- rigid area.

Managed to take a few pics this morning,

I have to admit I see mine more as a structural brace for rigidity than an out and out roll cage due to the weak mounting points

bignum- many thanks for the pics, really really appreciate that

fair point monsween- did you notice a difference once fitted, rigidity wise?

Thank you for the science, I now see where I was wrong.

Amazing.

for reference just spotted this other one recent:

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?298992-Got-my-half-cage-fitted-)&highlight=cage

Let's be honest, a bolt-in cage isn't going to do anything good if you have a proper crash. Insurance companies hate it too.

But it does make your car look like a race car. Unless you know what you're looking at

I didn't want this thread to go down this route, but it appears it has anyway.

I believe that it will be safer than not having one. My supra is a sprint car. The regs for the class I run in restrict me to bolt ins.

Hi Dan,

No pics to help I'm afraid as the car is long gone now:-(

As far as seatbelts go, we had to remove mine as the cage was fouling the top mount, but I had harnesses anyway.

Be careful of peoples "opinions". There are lots of opinionated people on here. You have a specific reason for putting a bolt in cage in your car, end of debate!

No probs mate and cheers for the advice.

That's cool, it looks like i'll prob go full time harnesses- a first for me, so far in this and my last 2 sprint cars I've always managed to keep the stock belt for getting to and from the track.

Ha ha cheers pal, I must admit I had to double check my posts incase I sounded like an a55hole.

bulk of this job now done- well need to underseal the outside and trim all the interior to suit, but I've just done its final bolt in.

the way I did it (maybe not the best but it seemed to work) just incase it helps anyone in the future, my cage is a 4pt cusco safety 21 CDS:

1- remove rear seat base, kick plates, rear side panels (ones with rear speakers behind), front seatbels, front seats, peel carpet back to gain access to the rear corners of the floor pan, jack rear of car up and remove wheels

2- remove all packaging from cage except bubblewrap on the actual tubes, cut off from around feet (protects finish during install)

3- position main rollover hoop roughly into place using bignum's pics as a reference

4- loosely bolt rear drop arms (I used a plain nut rather than the nylocs supplied to make it easier) to main rollover hoop

5- position rear arm feet roughly into place again using bignums pics as a guide

6- test fit seats if required, ensure clearance etc and even-ness, take a deep breath, drill one hole in each of the hoop feet, panic a little and have a fag (if a smoker) to assist calming down, mug of caffeine, then slave a nut and bolt into place do not tighten (finger tight is enough)

7- drill one hole in each of the rear feet and slave bolt

8- double check clearance / fit etc and drill remaining 2 holes each side on the hoop feet and the remaining one you can get to on each of the rear feet

9- mark up lengthways and widthways hole position for last hole on each of the rear feet- you cannot drill with the cage in situ as the tube is in the way

10- swing rear arms out of the way and drill last remaining hole in each feet

11- using longer M8 stainless bolts (about 35mm iirc) start work on one side of the rollover hoop. remove slave bolt and position underside plate in correct place, then bolt down with long bolts. I found this stage helped as it compressed everything into shape. Then remove one bolt at a time and replace with supplied bolts, washers nuts and spring washers, bolt head outside the car.

12- repeat above for all feet- note, if doing this alone like I did, on the rears, drop the first bolt in with the head on the inside of the car as you won't be able to reach around (unless you have very long arms!) then put them in the correct orientation when changing for the supplied bolts, using a piece of gaffa tape to hold the head in place whilst you put the nut on.

13- tighten up rollover bar to rear arm bolts

14- the cage is now what I call "dry fitted" so it can all come apart again- so, remove everything

15- de-burr holes with a tool or large drill, vac up any swarf / dirt etc

16- give underplates a coat of hammerite

17- paint underside of car where plates will sit ensuring protection on the edges of the holes

18- put a bead of silicone on the inside of the car around each hole

19- position cage back into place and use the supplied bolts, fit nuts and bolts loosely- note I did swap the spring washers and plain nuts for stainless nylocs at this point

20- starting with the hoop feet tighten up bolts and wipe away any excess silicon on the outside, replace plain nut on hoop to rear arm joint to supplied nyloc and tighten

this is where I am at at the moment- but to finish the job I plan to:

21- underseal plates under the car

22- cut carpet and re-fit

23- cut sidepanels, fit edging strip (hides a multitude of sins!) to cutouts and re-fit

24- fit roll cage padding

24- refit kick panels, seat base, seats, rear wheels etc etc.

Just want to say a big thanks to the guys in here with the advice / encouragement. Especially bignum with the pics. I know there's more than one way to skin a cat, but you never know this might help someone in the future so thought I'd write it up. Apologies for lack of pics I still can't find my garage camera

just a couple of pics. thanks again to the lads who helped, really appreciate it.

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1532124_10151960703414735_1544919607_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1532124_10151960703409735_984355408_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1532124_10151960703424735_124800910_n.jpg

kudos. oh and apologies for the lack of colour co-ordination, not good at that.