A while back a local buddy of mine who is also a high horsepower viper owner and an engineer, expressed concern that he felt his roll hoops on his car were inadequate for roll over protection, at the same time he did not want to spend an arm and a leg on a roll bar and he didn't like the idea of doing mods that he was unable to reverse if he so desired and the only roll protection options out there were ones that required drilling and bolting and replacing the waterfall and the option, left some seems, that he felt were unsightly.
A conversation ensued in which we brainstormed about what could be done that met his and most likely similarly minded viper owners, protection, yet aesthetics, with the ability to return to stock.
Well what we came up with was THE material used in roll cages , much stronger than steel by weight, I forget the figures but it is something like 2-3 times stronger than steel for the same size and wall thickness, CHROMOLY .
Next came the aesthetics, and simple install removal. Well we ordered a special Die and with some trial and error and few bends here and there and this is what we came up with, powder coated or painted (depending on color)
CHROMOLY ROLL HOOPS FOR SRT10 VIPER CONVERTIBLES
These are not thin walled stainless steel hoops but fabricated by a friend of mine who build trophy trucks and sand rails etc. for a living. Nice thick walled tubing made to fit into the receiver on the rear wall of the SRT10 converts in minutes.
How much for a set of the black roll bars , they look much stronger than stock.
Spray,
They are in fact strong, being a perfect arch, and made of a material that is 2 to 3 times stronger than the competitors roll bar, and much much stronger than the cheap low grade aluminum that Dodge covered in rubber for the stock roll hoops.
We are bringing these to market for $349 for the black ones painted in Trim Black, powder coated special colors are going to be $399 and special pearl colors like Copperhead and snakeskin green will be a little bit more.
How are these better than the SRT rollbar from Autoform?
Kelly,
I wouldn't say these are better per se, they are different and tailored to a different market.
these are for the Viper SRT owner that wants more protection without cutting up his car
there are for the SRT owner that wants to spend $350 vs $2000
These are for the SRT owner that wants to only add a few pounds vs a couple of hundred for what could be similar if not better protection.
These are for the SRT owner that understand material strength and structure vs idealism.
These are made using the strongest structural shape known to man for compressive strength and they are made of material that is almost 3 times stronger than the competitors material.
these install in minutes and do not alter the resale value of the car, vs taking 1-2 days to install and some major cutting, drilling etc.
Got any pics uninstalled?
Is the tubing seemed or seemless?
The tubing is seem less, I can take some pics uninstalled later today or tomorrow for you, I believe the wall thickness is . 092 but I have to confirm with my fabricator, they are 1 3/4 inch tubes, Chromoly tubing is rated at between 2-3 times stronger than mild steel, NHRA requires .083 wall thickness Chromoly vs .120 wall thickness of mild steel.
The advantage of using Chromoly is that you can either have a just as strong roll bar that weighs less than a mild steel one or have a stronger unit that weighs the same.
IIRC...the stock roll hoops are attached to a point on the car, that wouldn't support a "roll over" type incident anyway...no matter what the material of the rollbar.
Doesn't the Autoform rollbar attach at completely different points for this reason?
If so, will these chrome moly roll hoops do any good....since they're connecting to the same weak points as the stock poser hoops?
IIRC...the stock roll hoops are attached to a point on the car, that wouldn't support a "roll over" type incident anyway...no matter what the material of the rollbar.
Doesn't the Autoform rollbar attach at completely different points for this reason?
If so, will these chrome moly roll hoops do any good....since they're connecting to the same weak points as the stock poser hoops?
Well Kelly,
You are completely wrong.
The Autoform roll bar attaches by bolts to the same piece of frame that the roll hoops attach to. These roll hoops attach on three sides of the structure, the Autoform piece attaches to just one side, the top, then the bent piece of the Autoform roll bar extends further and attached to the chassis lower down by the drivers hip, it is this part that reduces the seat travel. So each of these hoops is attached much more securely.
Here is a pic of the factory Roll hoop and its hardware
Here are some pics of the hardware installed on the rear bulkhead steel crossmember
Picture of the Autoform roll bar attached
If you feel you need the extra protection of a roll bar, the Autoform roll bar is the way to go, these Chromoly roll hoops are not being made to replace a full roll bar if needed. they are being made and supplied for the person that wants the roll bar look and the extra safety that can be afforded by a Chromoly hoop vs an aluminum bent tube
I'll be getting some sample patches from my powder coaters, if we can't powder to match we can surely paint to match or be damn close, I think there are 4 or more variations of Viper blue out there and the paint code PBE isn't an exact match, but it is damn close
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