Let's talk ROLL BARS

[Powerhouse Ranch]

I'm gonna ramble on about bed roll bars here for a moment:
To say you're gonna get a roll bar for your bed (i've never done but heavily considered) there's really two routes i believe: bolt to bed or bolt to frame (obviously)
Now i guess you can bolt to bed if you're not planning on possibly flipping your truck, but to do it RIGHT you should do to the frame. So now then, do you cut holes into bed to mount to frame directly, or are there special roll bars with the perfect width to mount THROUGH the bed to the frame, if that makes sense. Also leading up to the main question:
Where would you find a Square Body roll bar, how many different varieties are there and how would YOU mount it/dress it up? (spare tires, off-road lights) and if you do already have such a thing, please due post your photos. Thanks fellers

 

[bucket]

They are much harder to find now because they have fallen out of style (not in my opinion though) and there's only like one manufacturer now. Most of the old used ones have rusted away or been scrapped.

Now, all the ones that were commonly seen in all the street driven trucks were actually 'show' bars. They were for looks and they were a good place to mount lights. They mounted to the bed. If you did happen to reconfigure one so it tied into the frame, the tubing of the bar is not heavy enough to support the weight of the truck.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

They are much harder to find now because they have fallen out of style (not in my opinion though) and there's only like one manufacturer now. Most of the old used ones have rusted away or been scrapped.

Now, all the ones that were commonly seen in all the street driven trucks were actually 'show' bars. They were for looks and they were a good place to mount lights. They mounted to the bed. If you did happen to reconfigure one so it tied into the frame, the tubing of the bar is not heavy enough to support the weight of the truck.

the more you know. that makes some sense there. guess i couldn't feel too bad about mounting to bed then. thanks bucket

 

[waterpirate]

If you want a real roll bar for protection, look at the crawler trucks and off road guys. They all mount to, or are part of the frame. Light bars can be a variety of shapes and sizes, they mount to the bed bottom, or bed sides. If you are going the light bar route, you could use 4 inch thin wall pipe and fittings and make your own.
Eric

 

[Turbo Dog]

I do some off road racing with my cousins in a Class 11 VW Bug. There isn't a frame so the roll cage is mounted to the sheet metal body. We have rolled the bug, not at extreme high speed (it just isn't that fast) and the cage holds up fine. It is .120 wall DOM tubing and effectively makes up it's own cage, the sheet metal body is just holding it in place. For a slow speed roll over a bed mounted structural bar would be a great help. But look at trucks that have rolled without a bar out on the freeway. The front of the cab will crush into the seating area. So the roll bar needs to either enter the cab and support the wind shield area or wrap the cab as seen on rock crawlers. A simple hoop in the bed will only help slow speed roll overs.

 

[waterpirate]

Not sure if this is frame mounted or body mounted.

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[Powerhouse Ranch]

Not sure if this is frame mounted or body mounted.

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does it matter for a boat? haha not a bad rig tho

 

[SDJunkMan]

I do some off road racing with my cousins in a Class 11 VW Bug. There isn't a frame so the roll cage is mounted to the sheet metal body. We have rolled the bug, not at extreme high speed (it just isn't that fast) and the cage holds up fine. It is .120 wall DOM tubing and effectively makes up it's own cage, the sheet metal body is just holding it in place. For a slow speed roll over a bed mounted structural bar would be a great help. But look at trucks that have rolled without a bar out on the freeway. The front of the cab will crush into the seating area. So the roll bar needs to either enter the cab and support the wind shield area or wrap the cab as seen on rock crawlers. A simple hoop in the bed will only help slow speed roll overs.

Where does he race? I used to race a class 10 buggy here in SD back in the 80's and 90's, but haven't heard of any off road racing in the 5 state area in quite a while.

Most of the VW's also have the roll cage tied into the rear suspension, at the torsion tube, which is about as solid as it gets on a bug. The bodies are surprisingly solid. I've rolled a couple and they barely dented!

 

[Shorty81]

I was passenger in a 78 short bed K10 in a roll over accident forty years ago. The bed mounted roll bar saved our bacon. It did keep the cab from crushing us.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

I was passenger in a 78 short bed K10 in a roll over accident forty years ago. The bed mounted roll bar saved our bacon. It did keep the cab from crushing us.

WHOA. Sick to know dude, glad you're okay

 

[bucket]

I was passenger in a 78 short bed K10 in a roll over accident forty years ago. The bed mounted roll bar saved our bacon. It did keep the cab from crushing us.

Good to know! I'm guessing you have no idea what brand that one was or if it was custom?

 

[Shorty81]

Good to know! I'm guessing you have no idea what brand that one was or if it was custom?

. Sorry Bucket, been too many years (beers?)ago. It was black, does that help?? Lol

 

[78C10BigTen]

Not sure if this is frame mounted or body mounted.

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Seeing this brings up a question in my noodle.... why are boat steering wheels on the right side and not left??

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

Seeing this brings up a question in my noodle.... why are boat steering wheels on the right side and not left??

something about boat people wanting to be british. i can't stand Europeans. they just think they're better than us

 

[Turbo Dog]

Where does he race? I used to race a class 10 buggy here in SD back in the 80's and 90's, but haven't heard of any off road racing in the 5 state area in quite a while.

Most of the VW's also have the roll cage tied into the rear suspension, at the torsion tube, which is about as solid as it gets on a bug. The bodies are surprisingly solid. I've rolled a couple and they barely dented!

Sorry, a bit off topic here. We run the S.N.O.R.E. series, second place in 2019 #1150, and have done the Mint 400, all started wishing to do the Baja 1000. Lately the Primm race got canceled at the last minute, after everyone had arrived, glad I didn't drive out for that one. I lent my fire suit to a cousin so his son could ride shotgun. Right now I'm in deep isolation only running my Chenowth on some dirt roads around here.