SLROC Forum

Hi

Just a quick question, I am making a roll cage for my 88, I have bought a roll bar hoop from Whitbread offroad which is very nice but to save money I decided to use some nice thick galvanized scaffold tube I have for the diagonals and the braces. The scaffold is thicker steel than the roll bar hoop and very slightly larger diameter. Since I have no record off what grade of steel the scaffold is or any traceability on it, would this be a problem for using it for competitions like trials etc?

Thanks

Hi there  landy roll cages  usually are made of either CDS or blueband steam pipe . There is many specs and sizes of Cds which is what rally cars cages are commonly made of but it is very costly Blueband however isnt as wide varied  usually 1 1/2 nominal bore which gives u 48.3 mm od  it is alot cheaper (about a quarter of the price of cds ) .
 
 It wont matter to much what you use if you are putting it in for a playday vehicle but if the cage is needed for an event  (has to be tagged and in the rules u need one) the cage will have to be to spec

My veiw on this is why are you putting the cage there (to prevent injury to the occupants of the vehicle in the avent of an oopsy ) so if it isnt built properly and isnt going to do the job why bother building it !

 Scaffold pole will not weld to the qaulity you need because of it being galvanised and is very (VERY) heavy 

 Blueband steam pipe is available in 6.5 mt lenghts for around £35  if you just need small off cuts give me a shout as there is some left from me building my dads cage last year

 From my experience once you have a roll cage you feel a bit more at home off road and try things you wouldnt without it being there so its worth doing properly .Keep this in mind when buying building and fitting.Buy a copy of the msa blue book for indepth regs  if u are planning on competeing the vehicle it will have to meet the specifications
 
  Callum
 

I think that there were new regs out this year stating that you cant mix materials used on roll cages. ie if its a CDS cage then you cant weld in blue band. Scaffold pipe is blue band. Malcolm Whitbread offers either material in his cages, blue band being the cheaper option. As Callum said, depends what you are using it for. People made scaffold pipe cages for years and still do. The main advantage of CDS is weight saving.

Hi, thanks for the replies

All these tube types does my head in

Just to clarify…

I would like to in the future be able to compete in Cross Country Vehicle Trials and I read that competing in that I must have an ALRC standard roll cage. The roll bar hoop I have from Whitbread offroad has a wall thickness of about 3.4mm and has a welded seam down its inside length. I have no idea what kind of tube this is called but is all but identical to the scaffold tube I have, including the welded line inside, the scaffold is slightly larger diameter and thicker walled, so it would seem to be suitable to use for braces??

Do I need to provide documentation of the grades of metal used in the frame to get it approved or do they just go by the thickness they can see through the 5mm drillings in the side?

I do see that with CDS I could go as low as 2.5mm wall thickness but tbh I’d be quite happy with thicker wall section and err on the side of caution.
I can weld very well and will remove any traces of zinc from the tube prior to welding so I’m not too bothered about that. My intension is to make new outriggers out 6mm plate front and back so I can put side protectors next to the sills and will be doing all mounts for the cage better than the minimum requirements.

I am also considering building a purely offroad machine for competitions from a series 2 I have acquired but that will be a heap of work and the Series 3 is the priority for now.

The budget is very tight just now and I simply can’t go out and spend £500 on a full cage so have to do a lot for myself on this

Any advice would be appreciated

Hi Scott, I am on the same road as yourself,preparing my 90 for CCVT,s, I already have a full cage, coincidently also made by Whitbread. If you get yourself a copy of the 2011 ALRC handbook or go online, you will find all the CORRECT info you need,suffice to say that some info I had been given previously turned out to be s:::e  ahem incorrect    !!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Scott, I am on the same road as yourself,preparing my 90 for CCVT,s, I already have a full cage, coincidently also made by Whitbread. If you get yourself a copy of the 2011 ALRC handbook or go online, you will find all the CORRECT info you need,suffice to say that some info I had been given previously turned out to be s:::e  ahem incorrect    !!!!!!!!!!!

Cool thanks, I'll see about getting a copy of the handbook, I do want to do it right first time due to the effort and money required

ALRC rules for roll-cages (printed 2011): http://www.alrc.co.uk/new%20regulations/rbindex.htm

MSA rules for roll-cages (correct for 2012): http://msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/bluebooks/12/150_186_Common_Regulations_for_Competitors_(Safety)_(K).pdf

fantastic thanks very much:)