Anyone see a reason our cage won't pass tech? (Page 1 of 2)

Right off the bat, your diagnal should be one piece - an SCCA and NASA requirement but I think that in the past Lemons Tech has let it slide.

You harness bar is too low.  It should be level with the belt openings in your seat.  It doesn't matter if it hits the seat - that would mean less room/flex in an accident.

Otherwise, I'd say the cage looks good.

Your harness bar is allowed to be lower than your belt openings but not higher than the driver's shoulders. Permissible angles as per FIA:

In other words-- your harness bar is fine if when someone is sitting in the seat the belt is at no more than a 45-degree angle downward to the bar.
[edit: unless your drivers are short as heck, either you need to raise that harness bar or lower your seat--do a check with your tallest driver in the seat]

Personally, I would consider a diagonal at your rear legs or an X back there-- those dog legs are mighty long. May have been better to stop them at the strut towers/arch. That's not a req, though. Just my gut preference.

--Spank

any reason you did not tie the rear suspension towers into the cage?

granted I'm not a tech inspector...but the bars look pretty close to where the drivers helmet would be.... which is fine if its padded properly....

another thing the inspectors really like to look for is 360' welds....there MUST be welds all around the tubes....if there is a visible gap = FAIL

Tech won't happy with any hrness bars that were downward and liked 0-15 degrees upward. I helped out with tech and saw  downward bars that had to be changed.

Send pics to Nick Pon he is the first in the tech lines.

Here's a bunch more words.

NASA:

3.6.2.5 Shoulder Harness
The shoulder harness shall be a two-strap over-the-shoulder
type. (“H” type configuration is permitted.) In the downwards
direction, the shoulder straps must be directed towards the rear
and must be installed in such a way that they do not make an
angle of more than 45 degrees to the horizontal from the upper
rim of the backrest, although it is recommended that this angle
should not exceed 10 degrees. The maximum angles in relation
to the centerline of the seat are 20 degrees divergent or
convergent. (See diagram 253-42) Anchorage points creating a
higher angle to the horizontal must not be used unless the seat
meets the requirements of the FIA standard. A safety harness
must not be installed on a seat having no head restraint or
having a backrest with integrated head restraint (no opening
between backrest and head restraint) (If the seat does not
provide lateral restraint, the mounting point on the vehicle
structure shall be a minimum of 20 inches behind the seat back
when measured along the belt.)

Rally America:
H. Shoulder Harness
1. The shoulder harness shall be a two strap over the shoulder type.
There shall be a single release common to the lap belt and shoulder
harness. Only completely separate straps are permitted. “Y-type”
shoulder straps are not allowed; “H-type” configuration is allowed.
The separate straps shall be individually attached to the structural
points of support. The shoulder harness angle to the point of support
shall be between horizontal and 10° below horizontal and
perpendicular to the rear of the seat. The belts shall also be kept as
short as practical. At the mounting point, the distance from the
center of one belt to the center of the other shall be 7" or less, closer
is better.

SCCA:
The shoulder harness shall be the over the shoulder type. There
shall be a single release common to the seat belt and shoulder
harness. When mounting belts and harnesses it is recommended
that they be kept as short as reasonably possible to minimize
stretch when loaded in an accident.
The shoulder harness shall be mounted behind the driver and
supported above a line drawn downward from the shoulder point
at an angle of 20 degrees with the horizontal. The seat itself, or
anything added only to the seat shall not be considered a suitable
guide. Guides must be a part of the roll cage or a part of the car
structure.
Only separate shoulder straps are permitted. (“Y” type shoulder
straps are not allowed.) “H” type configuration is allowed.

FIA:
ARTICLE 6 : SAFETY BELTS
6.1 Belts
Wearing of two shoulder straps and one lap strap ; anchorage
points on the shell: two for the lap strap, two or possibly one
symmetrical about the seat for the shoulder straps.
These belts must be homologated by the FIA and comply with FIA
standard n°8853/98 or 8854/98.
Furthermore, the belts used in circuit competitions must be
equipped with turnbuckle release systems.
On the other hand, it is recommended that for competitions which
include public road sections, the belts be equipped with push
button release systems.
The ASNs may homologate mounting points on the safety cage
when this cage is being homologated, on condition that they are
tested.
6.2 Installation
It is prohibited for the seat belts to be anchored to the seats or
their supports.
- A safety harness may be installed on the anchorage points of the
series car.
The recommended geometrical locations of the anchorage points
are shown in Drawing n° 253-61.

In the downwards direction, the shoulder straps must be directed
towards the rear and must be installed in such a way that they do
not make an angle of more than 45° to the horizontal from the
upper rim of the backrest, although it is recommended that this
angle should not exceed 10°.
The maximum angles in relation to the centre-line of the seat are
20° divergent or convergent.
If possible, the anchorage point originally mounted by the car
manufacturer on the C-pillar should be used.

Anchorage points creating a higher angle to the horizontal must
not be used unless the seat meets the requirements of the FIA
standard.
In that case, the shoulder straps of 4-point safety harnesses may
be installed on the rear seat lap strap anchorage points originally
mounted by the car manufacturer.

you  can  just add  a  harness  bar   at the   right level  we  did that  for  our  first  race  and   bring  pipe  and welder   in case  the  call you  on the   diagnal

I like the o-shit handles on the a-pillars.  Suck that they didn't tie in the rear suspension.  Maybe add a cross bar in the rear tied into the cage

Nice looking cage - but as mentioned above it won't pass - but it's an easy fix.

Rule 3.1 covers the continuous diagonal - so that's the only bar that needs to be fixed, as I see it, for it to pass.

The shoulder bar could be ok - but you're on that re checking this weekend so it's a moot point.

The diagonal in the main hoop is load bearing - the main hoop cross bars are not.  If there is a load coming from the top, the main hoop will try to "parallelogram."  The bar that prevents that from happening is the diagonal.  The cross bars hold the diagonal in place so that the diagonal can hold the hoop in place. 

Door bars are similar but not exactly the same as you will always have at least one bar that is continuous from the main hoop to the front stay bar. 

And while I agree with you that good welds make this argument moot.  The fact is that without x-raying every weld for quality, you are left mandating good design to mitigate mediocre build quality.

Thanks for the additional feedback, guys. We're still looking into the harness bar and can change/add if we have to. As for the diagonal, I'm going to try and get something more official from HQ, but if it looks like it's good we'll leave it. I may add some gusseting where it intersects the cross bar for a bit of extra protection. Also, I may try to tie the rear stays to the strut towers with a few short pieces of tube and spreader. Will keep everyone updated on our progress.

Your diagonal bar does not end at the floor. It should go from the bend corner (upper) to the floor joint. The hoop bar and the diagonal bar should meet at the floor. You have about 6-8" of unbraced bar from the floor up to where the Diagonal joins.