-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Navarrette, Vance" <vance.navarrette@intel.com>
> Irv:
>
> I am ignorant on the topic of roll bars, preferring to drive "au
> naturale" (conjures up a pretty disgusting visual, eh?).
> Why would a weak roll bar make the car more dangerous?
Vance,
I am not an engineer and I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, so my
opinion is worth exactly what anyone has paid for it.
I formed this opinion from driving my street TR6 for many years with a street
bar installed (it's coming out this weekend), and then racing a TR4 with a real
roll structure. The street bar is bolted to the rear deck, and it has a small
backing plate under the sheet metal for each bolt. In my opinion, there is no
structural strength there to support the roll bar from ripping right out when
you might need it the most. Under the right circumstances, the bar might not
rip out during a roll over and provide extra protection, but to me, the side
loads imparted on the bar as the car was going over would rip it right out.
Once it rips out of the floor, it becomes a very large and very hard
projectile, and it starts out right behind your head. To me, that's like
sitting in a chair and then having someone walk up behind you and whack your
head with a bat. THAT is what makes me feel that the street bar can actually be
more dangerous than no bar.
OTOH, a proper roll structure such as that in my TR4, which I have fortunately
never put to the test, is anchored into the frame of the car in many places (7
places on my TR4), is triangulated for strength, and is made from far stronger
pipe than the street bars that I have seen.
Irv Korey
74 TR6 CF322767U
Highland Park, IL
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