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American Iron Roll cage


Shaun Kekacs

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Hi All,

 

Question? Building AI camaro, the rule book states 1.75, .120 wall mild steel, DOM role cage tubing. My question is what grade/tensile strenght steel is everyone using? I am going to place order for steel this week and do not want to get this wrong. And any other tips anyone has out there I would greatly appreaciate. thanks

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Hi All,

 

Question? Building AI camaro, the rule book states 1.75, .120 wall mild steel, DOM role cage tubing. My question is what grade/tensile strenght steel is everyone using? I am going to place order for steel this week and do not want to get this wrong. And any other tips anyone has out there I would greatly appreaciate. thanks

 

Just go buy DOM 1018 Mild Steel. That will get you there.

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Thankyou Mosty for reply. I was thinking 1018 because thats what Summit sales and that is was my local steel rep. suggested. Just wanted to be sure. I order steel weekly at work for container repairs and truck repairs but have always just asked for mild steel. thanks again!

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Nenad,

 

A good place to start looking for cage builders in Chicagoland would be the NASA Central Tech Shop list. http://www.nasamidwest.com/rungroups/race/?page=TechShops

 

Also know that you must ensure that whomever builds your cage reads and follows the rules in the CCR and AI rules. Biggest issue we run into with cages being built is builders not following NASA rules and building to other sanctioning bodies rules. Key here is NASA cages rules meet or exceed all other amateur road racing cage rules.

 

Shaun, You'll want to make sure any cage kit you buy from Summit meets NASA CCR and AI rules.

 

Good luck guys!

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Hi All,

 

Question? Building AI camaro, the rule book states 1.75, .120 wall mild steel, DOM role cage tubing. My question is what grade/tensile strenght steel is everyone using? I am going to place order for steel this week and do not want to get this wrong. And any other tips anyone has out there I would greatly appreaciate. thanks

 

FYI .120" wall is not required. If you build light enough .095" can be used and save nearly 50 lbs.

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  • 3 weeks later...
FYI .120" wall is not required. If you build light enough .095" can be used and save nearly 50 lbs.

1.75" OD x 0.120" wall DOM MS = 2.089 lbs/ft

1.75" OD x 0.095" wall DOM MS = 1.679 lbs/ft

 

Difference = 0.41 lbs/ft

 

50 lbs / 0.41 lbs/ft = 121.95 feet

 

You would need to have 122 feet of cage tubing to save 50 lbs at that rate. Who uses that much on a cage for a production car chassis? That would be one hell of a jungle gym. Typical cages are 1/2 to 2/3 of that, so the weight savings is more realistic at 25-35 lbs.

 

Note that the diameter and wall thickness only apply to the CCR-required cage tubes (around 65 feet on a Mustang). Non-required/optional cage tubes can be smaller diameter and/or thinner walled as you see fit.

 

Mark

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I have ~115 feet of tube in my car...

My overbuilt cage is in the 100 neighborhood, but the vast majority of cages that I have seen (typically built to CCR minimums, which usually work just fine, but I wanted a few more bars in mine) have much less tubing. And pretty much nobody builds the weird crap that I do.

 

Mark

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haha I feel ya. Serious jungle gym action going on in my car. I began just under the 90 foot range with your basic cage plus two sets of rear down bars. One to be legal per CCR's, the second set tied into the rear coilover mounts and both sets of downbars were tied together. Lot's of additional bracing went in with the installation of the 3 link rear after the first year. I finally went through the firewall to the shock towers last year.

 

Some non-required bars I have are the dash bar, rocker panel bars, and an extra diagonal brace over my head went in once I cut my roof structure out (which weighs 52 lbs!!).

 

I'm sure I ended up with close to the same weight in tubing that a "normal" cage from .120" wall would be, but I feel I have a much stiffer chassis to show for it. I don't think a "normal" cage/chassis can cut it any more these days in AI. Are they safe? Sure. But I believe that you have to build lighter and stiffer than the next guy to stay up front. Plus, the ol' wet noodle of a chassis that is Camaro needs all the help it can get!!

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