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Roll bar padding
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6/29/20, 3:21 PM |
#1
Roll bar padding
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 |
Most of you probably didn’t tune into the Jackson Nationals WoO show on Sat to watch the Wisconsin WingLESS series. There was a crash as they completed lap 1 of the feature and one of the drivers (Shawn Swim) took a hard ride, got a precautionary trip to the hospital. He was ultimately ok, but I saw pics on Facebook of his helmet, which was white... had orange streaks on it from smacking his orange roll cage during the crash. My observation was, geez, this guy was lucky.... and why didn’t he have roll bar padding?! I then recalled that it seems like quite a few traditional sprint car drivers used to have roll bar padding... but not so much anymore. Why is that? With full containment seats and HANS, the cars are definitely safer than they used to be. It seems like it sure wouldn’t hurt to have roll bar padding in case you get in a violent flip that stretches belts, etc. Am I crazy??
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6/29/20, 6:58 PM |
#2
Re: Roll bar padding
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 64 |
You bet. all cars with roll cages should have proper roll cage padding. Everybody, including the sanctioning bodies think since you have full containment seats, you don't need padding. True you will probably never get out of your seat enough to hit the roll cage but what happens is the roll cage bends down to meet you in a bad crash. Nothing can be worse than a head hitting a un protected roll cage tube than maybe an arm getting mixed up in the cage during a flip. Sometimes I think nobody cares anymore.
Mike Devin
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Last edited by DRC II; 6/29/20 at 6:59 PM. Reason: name |
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6/29/20, 8:26 PM |
#3
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Race Count This Year: 6 Race Count Last Year: 14 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 21,633 |
I feel the Containment seats and hans have probably improved the survivability a ton. However I still see wrecks were belts slip/stretch and even seats losen. Cheap as heck prevention measure to put pool noodles and electric tape and zip ties on.
Just do it.
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Charles Nungester
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6/29/20, 10:29 PM |
#4
Re: Roll bar padding
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 135 |
I agree with Mike. Charles, foam padding like pool noodles, pipe insulation or even the bright colored foam tubes sold as roll bar padding to the unsuspecting is useless for driver protection.
If you are going to add roll bar padding, the only way to go is the SFI spec 45.1 approved stuff. BCSI offers it in a pre-contoured "U" shape to fit different size roll cage tubing and has a peel and stick adhesive already attached for simple and quick installation. Comes in colors and a few thickness/durometer options that all still meet the spec. It's pretty readily available in the Indy area or online. |
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6/29/20, 11:44 PM |
#5
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Race Count This Year: 6 Race Count Last Year: 14 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 21,633 |
Quote:
Well it's not useless, However if like you pointed out, Stuff has become safer and available since my 25yrs ago even working on a Sprint. GO FOR IT! And thanks for the info.
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Charles Nungester
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6/30/20, 10:35 AM |
#6
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 717 |
Friend of mine raced a sprint, I bought him some good roll bar padding, not that pipe wrap stuff either. Got to watch what you get, some of that apdding will burn & melt on the driver
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6/30/20, 7:35 PM |
#7
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 6,389 |
What I bought a few years ago, rock welled harder than the moly! Glad I never hit it, that I remember!
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"Being old, isn't half as much fun, as getting there"! Ole Robert I!
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6/30/20, 8:20 PM |
#8
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 592 |
This is what the car looks like. Also not exactly trying to start a chassis war, but i'm not a chassis person. So I just have a question on something. How come the chassis seems to break right beside a weld? Not the weld breaking, but the cage breaking beside the weld at another piece of the frame.
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Corky
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Last edited by hoscalecody; 6/30/20 at 8:23 PM. |
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6/30/20, 8:31 PM |
#9
Re: Roll bar padding
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 124 |
if you think safety equipment is expensive make a trip to the hospital for a while.they make taller cages,better helmets,better suits etc etc so you can use them and be safer.we do this as a hobby so protect yourself .im not gonna retell the grundy speedway crash again but a guy was racing a dwarf car with a nylon go cart suit,crash and burned.cg
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6/30/20, 11:41 PM |
#10
Re: Roll bar padding
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,393 |
Quote:
I'm not an expert but when in welding class many years ago that is what they taught me and I never had tubing failure on any chassis I built or repaired.
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Find a purpose in life ..... Be a bad example
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Roll bar padding
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