Thread: The value of roll over protection.

I have seen first hand the survival of 2 people after a 130 end for ended and finished up on its wheels, engine still running, and then they woke up covered in glass and rocks gravel etc. This vehicle was fitted with an external cage, which doubled as a roofrack and cabguard, it was manufactured by a rally car cage maker in Hobart, and he will now be making me one for my 110. The vehicle (130 CC) was pretty well destroyed tearing off the rear axle and shocks ripped the upper A frame bolts clean out of the chassis crossmember, and bending the front axle housing etc but the only injuries sustained were from trying to crawl through the window openings and getting cut by the glass. They were VERY lucky.

On the seatbelt note, my eldest daughter is alive today after a freak accident when a Pajero hit us at the drivers B pillar as we were rounding a sharp bend in our diesel gemini ( most frugal vehicle I have ever owned) and opened the vehicle up like a tin opener, all the way to the boot and tore the trailer we were towing off the back of the vehicle and threw it into a paddock. My daughter had FOR THIS TRIP ONLY been allowed to take off her seat belt and lie down on the seat with her feet against the door, as we had been driving for about 3 hours at 10pm and she had a stomach upset. She sustained 3 crushed toes but where her head would've been resting had she been sitting up with a pillow against the C pillar was gone.

Still seatbelts are worn AT ALL TIMES in our vehicles.

JC

Originally Posted by flagg

A couple of times I've investigated ROPS and have been told its too much trouble.. but that just isn't the right answer. I don't have a Cargo Barrier now as I need the full length of the 110 for my paddles when I go kayaking.. but one of my first jobs when I get my new TIG is to make one up that I can open or something so I can have the best of both worlds.

I'm going to make up some form of proper ROPS, and get it properly approved etc eventually..

I'm not sure what the laws are in Aus but in NZ if you fit an internal cage you need a cert but if its out side there is no complacence as it does not impact on the passenger space.
Mite be worth having a look into it.
(NAS spec 110).
As to the look, mate, safety first.

TD

Originally Posted by uninformed

check out "safety devices" in the UK for ideas on different 110 ROP's

Yeah I wouldn't mind one of these:

Land Rover Defender 110 Station Wagon 6 Point Bolt-in Roll Cage | Safety Devices

Problem is getting it rego'd in NSW (or ACT). I spoke to a rally cage builder about it and showed him a picture of the safety devices cage, he woudn't have a bar of it saying it wasn't supported well enough

There was a chap in Australia who was selling the safety devices cages on Ebay a little while ago... I emailed him asking if anyone had rego'd one in NSW but never got a reply.

About six or seven years ago a Landcruiser full of drunks, including the driver, hit a channel bank and rolled one km from my place. All were wearing seatbelts except for one. He was thrown out and killed.

Dave.

Originally Posted by newhue

Pat, ley us now what puma options you come up with. The internal frames I have seen take a fair bit of space, external frames kind of look off road racerish.

I'm looking at small dia steam pipe or chrome molly as it'll fit in the cab,I'm not getting to carried away with it as it only has to work once. Pat

the problem with internal cages and Defenders are #1 the space/room to fit it in, and #2 the body construction and therefore the pick up/load points.....This has been a long term problem for race guys, and that is why you see VERY few truck cabs competing in Oz as they will NOT allow external cages. So for an internal to be done, major engineering and rebuilding/redesign of the floor sections etc have to be done. I understand why an internal is preferred over external (as a large solid object could crush the roof in, inbetween the external bars) but consider this....is an external ROPS in the likes of the SD type etc going to be better than the stock vehicle itself? Also it seems that in the UK and Europe that the external type have been fine for comps and im sure they give their trucks some grief.... I find it funny how cage builders etc will make comments on the SD stuff but yet they have had nothing to do with LR and their particular type of body construction...ie cast alloy, sheet alloy and sheet steel....all only bolted together....look at a nissan or Toy 4x4 ute, even though they are seperate chassis, the body is still like a monocoque as in a solid 1 peice frame all welded, which provides so much more structure to fit a cage to....so the idea is (for those types) that in theroy, the body could seperate from the chassis with the internal cage fitted to it and the whole thing is one saftey cell......that is never going to happen with a LR and these short sited people need to address that problem. IMO SD do a good job with what they have got, and fixing the cage to structual points on the chassis is a dame sit better than holding your hand on top of your head in a roll over/accident

for those looking for some ideas, look at SD, but in the "RACE" or "MOTORSPORT" section, not the expidetion section. These seem to be a bit better designed for actual roll over...yes they are a weld in design as apposed to bolt in, but that is the point...every place you have a bolted joint, stucturaly it is considered a "hinge" joint to some degree....

The mob I am working for atm build a tray that is a certified ROPS, also been fitting internal ROPS to hiluxs and prados. The design of these is they bolt to the floor at the base of the B pillar and have at least one anchor point through the B pillar at about window height, some have another mount near the roof. These are all certified
cheers
blaze