Help with roll cage.
 

I'm looking into racing in the NHRDA super street class next year and have some questions about the roll cage. I'm looking to go anywhere between 9.1 to 9.9 in the 1/4 mile and still drive my truck on the street. I want to put a cage in it and have talked to 3 different chassis shops around me and none of them know the rules as far as whats allowed. My engine bay is full and I cant run the bars out the firewall but all three shops said I didn't need too, is that true? I still have the factory firewall and floor in the truck and wanted to know if I could get away with mounting the cage to the floor using a plate on both sides of the floor and using bolts to secure it? The bottom plate would be mounted to the frame some way. The reason I want to do it this way is because I need to take the cab off the truck to get the engine out. As far as the rear bars I was hopping to do something like the picture I made up. The bars mounting to the rear hoop in the bed would be removable. I would have them come out the rear sliding window. I was going to use camburg billet clamps on the removable bars. Any help here would be great. I'm also looking for a good shop to do the cage. I don't mind traveling a little to have a good job done and it will need to be certified down to 9.0 seconds.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Wow that is an agressive goal. 9.3 in a 2800 pound chassis takes 800HP,,

9.1 in a traction challanged, nearly 4000 pounds, through mufflers in street trim....., you better be looking at a motor capable of well over 1000, maybe closer to 1200

What are you building?

ANd Vin is the man. Your first chassis cert under 10.00 is the 8.50, You WILL have the cage built from the correct NHRA spec material, to fit the driver, with the body, helmet, and shoulder clearances called out in the rule book, or you won't get the certification. Your post says "NHRDA:" and I would assume your meaning NHRA but it doesn't matter. If you run on a NHRA track, you follow their tech. Lots of tracks are going IHRA and the rules are 'slightly' different, but the cages, chassis certs, and cagte rules are pretty much interchangable (with NHRA always being more striengent).

As suggested, join NHRA, get a rule book, and get ready to get 'intimate' with SFI (that's a nice way of saying they are going to **** in your *** till it bleeds silver dollars)

You want a list of tech items it takes for a sub 9 second pass... Vehicle or driver? Two very expensive lists.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Well spoken, sir. I've gone 9.85 at 3950, but am hesitant to make the jump and run consistently below 10 flat for those very reasons. I'm pretty happy sticking around 10.10 - 10.20 and having a bit more freedom.

Bcd -

I see you are in the Chicago area. You might check in with the boys at Fast Times motorworks (Chuck Samuel, Joe D'Agostino). They have been competing in NHRA/NMCA "street legal" style drag racing for some time and are on top of their game. They might be able to give you some pointers or help out in some way. (Chuck got famous by running a mid 9 second El Camino).

K

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Thanks for all the help guys. I will be getting in contact with some more shops to see who does the best work at a reasonable price. So far I have talked to 3 shops and one said $4000 and the other said $2000. The other guy would not give me a price.
NHRDA stands for National Hot Rod Diesel Association
The truck in my sig is the truck I will be racing.

NHRDA Super-Street
» Heads-Up class with a 4/10ths Pro Tree, Laddered by ET, Auto Start on
» 2wd Minimum weight: 5000 lbs (w/ Driver) �1%, slick tires permitted
» 4wd Minimum weight: 6000 lbs (w/ Driver) �1%, DOT approved tires required
» Tube chassis, back halved, 4-link, 3-link style rear suspension prohibited
(Traction/Ladder Bars allowed)
» Hood Stacks prohibited
» Must have OEM Style transmission (Lenco, Liberty, Bruno, Clutchflite, Danco,
or similar prohibited )
» Engine must be forward of OEM Firewall
» Fuel Tank must be in stock location.
» Battery(s) must be forward of OEM Firewall
» Must meet NHRA tech and safety requirements for MPH and ET
» Must meet NHRA and/or IHRA licensing requirements for MPH and ET

Last year my truck made 768hp 1305ftlbs at the rear wheels. I ran a 10.6@126mph. That was with a stock long block Duramax. This winter I'm building a new motor with forged parts and bigger turbo's. I'm hopping to make 1300Hp and 1700-1800ftlbs.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

The two lists are very extensive...don't speculate - it can quickly cost twice as much if you guess, or only go by what others post. Here's the link to order the rulebook, and be sure to talk with your local track tech inspectors and establish a relationship (and keep in mind that there are variances from track to track, some being stricter than others, or enforce higher levels of the rules instead of the NHRA minimum).

http://store.nhra.com/products/nhra-2012-rulebook/

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Thanks vin63. I just got off the phone with Pat, I'm going to go over to his house and take a look at his work.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Thanks for all the help. I just ordered the rule book, all I need to do now is figure out what all of it means.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Here is one of the cars Pat built that recently received some coverage...

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/fe...a/viewall.html

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

First, I'll appologize for my stupidity here, I totally missed the fact that this is diesel

I'll sit down with the rule book and get a total list for bet it all , but a few things that are going to be 'interesting' will be the SFI balancer, SFI flexplate, SFI flexplate shield, or a SFI approved bell housing, SFI approved trans case, or SFI trans shield.
I dont imagine there are enough sub-ten second duramax / Allison that it is going to be as simple as picking up the phone and ordering the SFI stuff from slummit.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

As of right now there are 15 sub 10sec duramax's that I know of. Yes, it is a pain in the azz to find the safety stuff and when you do find it you have to pay an arm and a leg for it. My new motor will have a SFI balancer and flex plate on it. I found a company that sells the SFI trans blanket but they are about $500, so I'm going to see if I can find a universal one that may fit. The only problem is the allison is so big.

Thanks for your time Marv D.

The record for the super street class was set this year with a 9.34@148mph. The truck was 4x4 and weighed 6006Lbs. I don't think I will have the money to go that fast but to be competitive you need to run a 9.8 or faster. I think if I spend a little time getting the suspension dialed in I could run with these guys. Last year I ran a best of 10.69@126 with a 1.49 60ft. That was with 768hp. With my new motor I'm looking to make between 1100-1300hp.

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Re: Help with roll cage.
 

Sounds good, when the time comes I will get in touch with you. Do you know if the trans blanket has a expiration date on them?
Thanks for all the help.

Re: Help with roll cage.