Alot of pics I see on here, with a few exceptions, have the rear bars going to the top of the gas tank area and not to the back where the rear frame rails are. I thought it was just sheet metal above the gas tank? Is it reinforced somewhere under there, or is it just easier to weld the bars there? On mine I had to cut out the L shaped bracket on the passenger side and bang out a hole on the driverside. Just curious why many others dont do that as well.

Another thing, is it pointless to use the trans tunnel bars in an 8pt kit with stock suspension setup? I remember hearing that its only functional if you have a 4 link or something. Can someone correct me on this, or can I just use the bars for shock mount bars or somehting?

Heres a pic of where I had to beat down a little to get the bars to clear. The bars I used were straight, Im using the curved bars up front for the swing outs.

 

I hear it is better to get the bars as close to the uper shock mounts as possible.

 

Mine mount to the top plate at the rear. The 6x6 plates are welded to the sheetmetal and the tubes are welded to the plates. They're positioned roughly over what you could call frame rails. Mine are in an X pattern. Nothing pretty. I'm not trying to win a car show. It's only a race car.

 

Your circled areas are a little too far outward. The passenger side can't be on the flimsy plate.

 

no i meant the circled areas are where I had to beat down (on the driver side) and the plate on the passenger side that I had to cut off for the bars to go down to the frame rails. Thats not where I actuall put the bars. Ive been slack here lately and I havent gotten any pics of the finished product, so Ill try and get some tomorrow to help exlpain better

 

The optimum set-up would be to 1) attach the rear bars directly over the springs 2) attach the "tunnel" bars to the point directly above where the LCAs attach to the rear subframe. IMO, running bars to the rear frame rails does not accomplish a whole lot, even in a unibody car.

 

i might have a few shots of mine on my cardomain site in sig. you weld them more towards the middle, place the plates on the back and you'll see how they fit almost perfectly in between those "rails" that run front to back on the gas tank hump.

 

well when you guys are thinkin about roll cage installs, what are your intentions? Safety or chassis stiffness, or both? Im leaning more towards safety in mine, Im not gonna be putting anything more than drag radials on this thing, so chassis flex should be minimal. I guess to me it just made more sense to put the rear bars to the rear frame rails, because again I thought that that area that most ppl put them on above the gas tank was just a thin sheet metal layer and nothing else.

 

the best safety is in chassis strength. The stronger the car, the less likely it is to fold up on you.
- As Time2Fly stated, the best area for strength and safety is above the spring pockets. Behind that would help some in the event of being rear-ended, but otherwise, the springs are trying to push up, thus twisting on the car. By mounting the bars there you increase the car's ability to hold things in place, thus holding form under hard use and/or the event of an accident. For optimum I would reccomend running two bars straight to the back "frame rails" and running an x-brace tied in near the springs/shocks(like Stephen's).

with the rag top I don't even have the option of running into the back, as it would eliminate the space in which my top folds down into. I have two pipes welded half-sunk into the shelf are above the tank. They run from the factory "frame rails" in the back to my sfc's(actually more of a frame in my car, 2x2 box welded full length through the floor boards). I bent them to match the shelf, cut the shelf to sink them in, welded them full length, then tied my cage pipes onto them.

 

I have mine welded to the rear rails also.

 

I welded mine to the gas tank shelf.. By going to the rear "frame" on these cars does nothing IMO. The suspension points are all ahead of those rear sheet metal rails.

Here's two albums full of pictures of my cage install..
10 point S&W roll cage install in cars photos on webshots
Finishing up the S&W 10 point roll cage in cars photos on webshots


I feel even with out a 4 link car the trans tunnel bars does alot... Remember the only "frame" in our cars is the sheet metal floors.. By bracing the tunnel to the main hoop you cut down on twist and flex in the center of the car.

On mine... Where I put the tunnel bars ended up tieing into my jegster torque arm.. The last (rear) bolts on each side of the saddle mount goes through my 6x6x1/8" floor plate at tunnel bars...

 

Heres a pic of mine it was done in '94 if I did it over the rear bars would go to the shock mount area.

 

not mine but this is where i plan on mounting mine...