Roll cages now illegle in Vic.

[4wheelinls1]

With their normal lack of discussions with the puplic Vic roads have in their ultimate wisdom made it impossible to fit a roll cage to a vehicle as of January this year. I fail to understand why consultation and a set of guidelines is so difficult so 4x4 and part time racers cannot protect themselves from the dangers of rollover and accident. There are many people with budgets that do not extend to full time race cars but who do the right thing by racing at sprints and organised events on tracks no the road. CCDA regulations that require registration of vehicles to compete will now be at exact odds withthe law for any new roll cages built after January are now illegle.

Joel

[ledgend80]

not quite a roll cage but what about vechiles fitted with a rops are they 2 illegal.

[DamTriton]

Any links to relevant press releases or legislation.?????????

We get enough scaremongering here for people to be sceptical of any unsubstantiated claims.

[dogbreath_48]

There's often confusion between mods that are illegal and mods that are illegal without engineers certificate.
I really hope that's the case here too.
(I always assumed 'cages had to be approved by an engineer for road use...?)

[flexytj]

what about jeeps that come factory fitted with a cage .

[oldmate]

I call BS. Nothing on the vicroads site about it... Besides, any modification that improves occupant safety is rarely frowned upon. Roll cages do a better job of that given their intended purpose than a bull bar, and bull bars are still legal.

[big lux]

what about jeeps that come factory fitted with a cage .

Jeeps were made "illegle" on Jan 1st too.

Fred Nile said that owning one isn't natural.

With Bob brown running the show i heard there will be tax cuts for jeep owners, biggest for yellow soft top jeeps no dirt allowed.

[-Scott-]

what about jeeps that come factory fitted with a cage .

Jeeps were made "illegle" on Jan 1st too.

Fred Nile said that owning one isn't natural.

With Bob brown running the show i heard there will be tax cuts for jeep owners, biggest for yellow soft top jeeps no dirt allowed.

Some mob in the US looked at whole-of-life "environmental" costs of vehicles, and concluded that a Wrangler was kinder to the environment than a Prius. It's all in the way you do the sums.

Then another mob did a cross-country economy test and found that a Merc diesel SUV (of some kind) used less fuel than a Lexus Hybrid. On that trip.

And Top Gear raced a Prius around a track, being chased by an M3. The M3 used less fuel.

I tell ya! Those Toyota electrickery vehicles should be banned! They're not good for the environment!

[v8lux]

Yes apparently its true. I spoke with vass engineer 2 weeks ago he said that as of 20th of may they are completely illegal can not engineer them anymore only vehicles that have been engineered prior to this date will be accepted he also went on to say that he feels he wont have a job in five years time at the rate all of the new changes that are comming in.
everyone get building now.
soon you wont be able to put a sticker on ya rig

[beinthemud]

A freind of mine was travilig back from the city in a 4runner (has a rear cage) when a comodore skidded and hit a poll (old wooden type) it fell and landed right on the b piller
the firies and police who turned up commented that the only reason his head was still attached was the cage,
the poll hit the cage and moved up clipping his head, granted hes ugly and not very smart probably wouldnt miss it.
vic roads dum
cage engineered priceless

[MudRhino]

Part of this is accurate, but part of it is not. Here is something anyone interested in this topic might want to read, it explains what's actually happening and a way around it.

It should also be noted that this affects not only Victorians, but all states.

http://forum.mudrhino.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=14050" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[simkell]

I am building mine around these rules and you can have a roll cage fitted to a vehicle, provided you follow the head clearance guidelines. In order to fit mine I had to lower the seat mounting bases and fit the lowest profile seats I could get to ensure that I had the required head space for legal fitment of a 6 point cage. Now i'm in a 80 series and it was hard to get the clearance, anyone with car that is shorter in head room will struggle to fit a 6 point cage.

[bru21]

It doesn't suprise me really. 1/2 the cages I have seen I would not have in my car and would rate as dangerous.
Some I can fit my whold hand between the pillars and the tube, or the roof and the tube .
Some have been done by so called pros, and the teams helmets rub on the cage while driving .
Its really not that hard to do correctly, the one I built for my bro has tiny bumps in the roof skin - its so close to the roof. Its all about cutting holes where the legs go, dropping the cage down, welding it and lifting it up till its tight, marking the legs, cutting them, then installing plates over the holes.

cheers bru

[4wheelinls1]

Further to this, B pillar protection is less an issue. A pillar protection is the problem, roll cages will be possible however you need to find someone who is prepared to accept the liability for the possible outcomes. Insurance of race car modification is near on impossible to get of cost prohibative. Some large scale manufacturers of ROPS ( Brown Davis for example) can get away with it as the emphasis is on proof that the ROPS is designed in such a way that it won't interfere with or lessen the vehicle crush design/occupant protection. I have the relevant information at work but the document is somewhat generic and does not take into consideratin the age of the vehicle being fitted with a cage or it's design, such as full chassis vehicles like the ones we compete in that have no crumple zones as such.

Joel

[frantic]

Now why cant our competitive motoring and govt. law-makers wake up and have a look overseas. Go to any pommy landrover site and have a look at what is made and legal for defenders. An external /part internal roll cage. This allows enough room in the 4x4 for the driver/ passengers and still gives protection. The excuse over here is a "what if" about tree branches They dont have trees in the U.K?
Another solution I have heard is to make a very "heavy duty" roof rack that bolts to the chassis not the roof

[v8lux]

What to do ?
The ccda require rego and an internal cage for you to race in timed events however vicroads /rta will not allow a cage no longer .
I spoke with a ccda official on this matter and he was not sure on the deails as yet. I asked if an exo cage could be made acceptable to the ccda requirements the short answer was no beacause they dont have any standards or design rules in place for an exo cage, however he did mention that in the past a brittish competitor had came over with his vehicle to race and that it had an exo cage built to a brit /euro offroad race standard and that the ccda recognised this and allowed him to race. exo cages are also illegal according to the rta however ladder racks are not this if we could all work together with the ccda could be a solution eliminating the risk of vehicle occupants injury due to internal roll cage.Otherwise do we just put a cage in and hope that we dont get a defect notice and have to pull it out to keep rego only to have to put it back in to race!!

[MudRhino]

This question was answered in the link I posted up before - being role cages were allowed by the vic roads last year, all you need to do is say it was put in the car in 2010 to their specs, they can not then ask you to change it.

[turps]

This question was answered in the link I posted up before - being role cages were allowed by the vic roads last year, all you need to do is say it was put in the car in 2010 to their specs, they can not then ask you to change it.

That would be fine. If it wasnt for the fact that my wagon getting a ute chop that is currently un-reg. Still has to goto the engineer, then has to go for RWC. Then rego.

[Ben]

Got to say, a cage has always been one of my plans. I've seen the result of a softtop Jeep rolling without a cage and with a cage. I know which one I'd rather be in.

[tlc75v8]

This question was answered in the link I posted up before - being role cages were allowed by the vic roads last year, all you need to do is say it was put in the car in 2010 to their specs, they can not then ask you to change it.

That would be fine. If it wasnt for the fact that my wagon getting a ute chop that is currently un-reg. Still has to goto the engineer, then has to go for RWC. Then rego.

Just to let you know, i had a rwc done on my car last week then into vic roads for rego, with no problems. And its polished aluminium so kinda stands out.