1 (edited by St. Mary 2010-12-05 07:16 PM)

Topic: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Are these guys too good to be true?
http://www.swracecars.com/store/Lemons- … 3-626.aspx

$315 for a prebuilt cage that is supposedly Lemons legal (<3000 pound car).

I searched and only had one hit on this site but that's about it.

We're on the fence about just fabbing up our own, but hell, the tubing is going to cost at least $200. I'll let someone do all the bending for $100 if all we have to do is some fitting and welding.

Anyone use these guys?

Apparently autopower doesn't make one for a Chevette wink

Maximum Efforts Motorsports
Mid-Engine Chevette
S-10 incoming...

2 (edited by Team Azz Backwards Yankee 2010-12-05 07:41 PM)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

I got a cage from pitstopusa.com   was 350ish delivered!!!   Its a well fabed cage, and got it in 3 days...   I called them, they have a good selection and nice to talk with.     I WAS going to fab my own.............  Wasnt worth the time and extra work to do it myself, and had the cage welded and mounted to the frame in less than 8 hours,   myself!!!!   I also have REAL drivers side protection   as in the bulged out cage style door bars....     My thoughts after looking over MANY sites, and cages,   I decided   A)  time is money   B)  MONEY WELL SPENT BUYING THE CAGE I DID   C) Im more safe than most, who are looking to save weight

Try this site also  rollcagecomponents.com     they have a good gallery of many cars, dont know prices, didnt ask

Team Azz Backwards Yankee,  Nick

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Was it something they advertise (like the Montes or Impalas) or was it custom?

I'm wondering how accurate things get with the whole, you measure, give them dimensions, and bars show up at your door.

The whole "we don't ship to residential addresses" kinda blows too.

Maximum Efforts Motorsports
Mid-Engine Chevette
S-10 incoming...

4 (edited by Team Azz Backwards Yankee 2010-12-05 08:02 PM)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Well check them out, I have a crown vic frame, and of course they didnt make one for me, but I measured the frame for what wanted, and searched the cage sizes they had.  I was hesitant to order/buy it...  I very much like to build myself,  I am very satisfied with what I ordered and received.. Measure  where you are wanting to mount your cage on the "frame" area, width and length,    for me the top hoop didnt matter too much  since um the truck is backwards.   extra tip,  I also welded the whole cage together, then mounted it.  with a "regular Lemons car"   I would cut the roof to drop in the cage,    much easier to weld a few spots to hold the roof, than weld upside down and bent like a contortionist to get a solidly welded cage that is safe.

They had many sizes     I picked one that was close to my needed measurments  and they ship residential
support the body/unibody solidly before cutting the roof so it wont twist or bend

Team Azz Backwards Yankee,  Nick

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

pitstopusa.com   mini stock deluxe cage for escort and neon  $273   I was VERY satisfied with my purchase and delivery

Team Azz Backwards Yankee,  Nick

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Yes, we got a VW cage from S&W.  It cost us $249 on sale, and ~$50 fedEx ground to our office.  I could not buy the tubing & spreaderplates from my local overpriced steelyard for that money.  The bends were nice mandrel work and most of the tubes were fishmouted, with the other end needing cut to exact length and fishmouthed.

I recommend the DIY cage kit (S&W, PitStop, etc.) if you have everything except the bender.  Like a welder, chop saw, press, torch, plaz, etc.

Jim C.
If God meant for us to race, we'd all have baggy Nomex skin.
08TMS.09NL.10GM, SP, NL.11SP, NL.12SP, VIR, NL.13GM, NJ.14NJ, VIR, WGI.15AB.16GM.17NCM.18GM.19...

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

The big question, is it DOM or ERW?

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

It's ERW.
"All cages are made for a specific make & model - PLEASE INCLUDE YEAR, MAKE & MODEL of your car in the ADDITIONAL INFO box during checkout!
All tubes are 1-3/4" X 0.134 EWS Mild Steel, REQUIRED FOR CARS WEIGHING MORE THAN 3000 lbs !!!  Also acceptable for cars under 3000#   Includes all the tubes of a standard roll cage PLUS a diagonal for the main hoop & (2) additional door bars.  Also includes  (8) 6"X 6" X 1/8" floor plates."

Jim C.
If God meant for us to race, we'd all have baggy Nomex skin.
08TMS.09NL.10GM, SP, NL.11SP, NL.12SP, VIR, NL.13GM, NJ.14NJ, VIR, WGI.15AB.16GM.17NCM.18GM.19...

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

We bought a cage kit from S&W for the Bobcat and it fit very well especially the halo bar.  They offer DOM and ERW in all of their cage kits so if you have the extra cash, go for the DOM every time.  All of the bends were very nicely done and all of the pieces were fabbed on the long side so you can cut and notch to your specific needs.

Greg
Team Skid Steer
Bullitt Bobcat 2.0
Fox Cougar Sedan

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

I have an S&W cage in the Beretta, I think it was $425 shipped.  It went together well enough, and has passed Tech twice with no problems.

Former chief proprietor and lead bad idea generator of Binford "More Power" Racing, 2010-2013: humbly self-proclaimed the best Chevy Beretta in Lemons history.

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

They all sound like good prices.....

We bought a supposed .. ready fit roll cage off of a guy on Ebay calling himself Broke Dick Racing.....he add said something like I have taken all the guess work out of this cage for your E30 Lemons car......we paid $500 for two pre bent sections (main hoop and halo that still had about 6" of timming to be done) and 17 straight tubes and some flat plate.....there was still a lot of measuring, cutting and welding to be done!

Is it because I is an E30 owner???

12 (edited by Team Azz Backwards Yankee 2010-12-07 08:52 AM)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

I REALLY like to build stuff, BUT  the ten 1/4" drill bits for the hole saw, 3 hole saws, 500 million times the drill wrenched from my large and solid working man hands, and the fab time it took me to add the extra bars, and oh yeah, the grinding wheels to make sure its a tight exact fit (cuz Im like that)   and the headache and swearing because another bit just broke that I just put in   FLASHBACKS............  Oh sorry.....   Yea I said within 8 hours my cage was ALL welded together and mounted,  was actually long. My flashback just replayed the UPS guy driving up and saying, I have two packages for you..  That was about 330ish before the neighbor kids got home from school,  and I had the doors all open it was nice and WARM.....  I had the main cage ALL welded BEFORE DARK..  That also consisted of one or two corona breaks, and the kids stopping in to see my mess...   BUT, KEY PIONT HERE IS,   I had to do ZERO fit grinding for ANY of what I ordered..     I was actually impressed, that a company would envoke quality at a reasonable price!!!
DOM PIPE its worth the lil extra

Team Azz Backwards Yankee,  Nick

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

S&W is a great company, local to me.  Ask for a diagram of the cage (I see the one on the website but I'd confirm it's accurate), they should send it to you, and get someone knowledgeable to check it out first.  In some cases we've had to add bars to make the cage what I'd consider "safe" -- for example, beefing up the door bars, adding more rear bracing, and adding a cross bar in the front between the two a-pillar bars.  It's probably technically legal to run without that front bar but I'd never race in a car without one.  Remember just because something is rules compliant doesn't make it always "safe".

From the picture on that link, they have added some of the bars that we've fabricated in the past...so they might be fine now.

What you can't do easily yourself is the bends because you need the right equipment to do mandrel bends which S&W has (unless you have the equipment, I don't know).

In any case get some advice from reputable cage builders and be safe!!

BTW -- those autopower bolt-in cages are junk IMHO -- I've seen then punch through the floors in cars in a rollover.

Team Cardorks
#81 1995 Acura Integra (Flying Spaghetti Monster)
#113 1986 BMW e30 (Invisible Pink Unicorn)
#811 1990 Acura Integra (Pirates! Integra Type Arrrrrr)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

those autopower bolt-in cages are junk IMHO -- I've seen then punch through the floors in cars in a rollover

Then it's not a cage failure, it's a failure of the cage builder to put spreader plates under the cage.

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Agreed -- in the case of Autopower roll cages they are sold as just bolt-in deals which gives people the impression that when you do so you'll have a safe race car.  The cages come with plates, are made to be installed in basically one location, and unfortunately plates on sheet metal just ain't that strong.  The Autopower cages are also made to work with full interiors, which is not the case with us.

The S&W cages come with thick plates that you can box into the structural areas of the car.   The bars are also bent in a way to make this easier.  You can make a very serious and strong cage with their products.  And as mentioned, the cost is slightly higher than the actual material costs.

Team Cardorks
#81 1995 Acura Integra (Flying Spaghetti Monster)
#113 1986 BMW e30 (Invisible Pink Unicorn)
#811 1990 Acura Integra (Pirates! Integra Type Arrrrrr)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

I called them to inquire about install on their cage.  I think I was quouted in the "over 2000.00" range, if I had the car stripped out and prepped.

I went for one from roll cage components.

Next car will be RobL

Silent But Deadly Racing-  Ricky Bobby's Laughing Clown Malt Liquor Thunderbird , Datsun 510, 87 Mustang (The Race Team Formerly Known as Prince), 72 Pinto Squire waggy, Parnelli Jones 67 Galaxie, Turbo Coupe Surf wagon.(The Surfin Bird), Squatting Dogs In Tracksuits,  Space Pants!  Roy Fuckin Kent and The tribute to a tribute to a tribute THUNDERBIRD/ SUNDAHBADOH!

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

We have an SW cage in our Metro that we had to custom measure for. I did not have high hopes for it fitting, but once we got it in the car the fitment was perfect. They also threw in some extra plates and bars that we used to beef it up some.

I also have an SW cage in my Z31 drift car that I ordered right out of their catalog.

Don't expect it to be totally ready to weld in. You'll to spend an hour or so with the angle grinder making some fishmouths and minor adjustments for fit. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

The Charnal House Geo MetSHO: Turning less laps than a regular Metro, the hard way!

1969 Subaru 360

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

$315 for a prebuilt cage that is supposedly Lemons legal (<3000 pound car).

I searched and only had one hit on this site but that's about it.

We're on the fence about just fabbing up our own, but hell, the tubing is going to cost at least $200. I'll let someone do all the bending for $100 if all we have to do is some fitting and welding.

Anyone use these guys?

We had S&W do a cage kit for the J30 from our measurements per their instructions.  It was exactly what they promised, and delivered on time.   I would recommend them.

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

I'll let someone do all the bending for $100 if all we have to do is some fitting and welding.

I bought $600 worth of tubing for our Jaguar, but used half. Then I paid about $180 to have someone else plan it out, take measurements, and bend it. Then I paid another $300 to have a welder weld it while I cut and notched every bar with a $120 chop saw and an $80 tubing notcher. That's just under $1000 and about 20 hours of labor on my part.

20 (edited by St. Mary 2011-01-14 04:26 PM)

Re: Any experience with SWracecars for prebuilt cage?

Just an update:
We went the do-it-yerself route and so far we're really happy we did.

Picked up the JD squared bender with 1.75" dies for around $660 shipped. We built our own "mobile mount" that plugs into a standard 2" receiver hitch (yea, like on your truck). $400 worth of 1.75x.095 tubing and we're in business.

We followed the instructions on this forum:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/bendin_tube/index.html

Nailed the main hoop on the first shot. Bends look fantastic, fit is perfect, it's pretty damn sweet. We figured we'd be scrapping at least $100 worth of tubing before we got it right but follow those instructions and you'll be all set.

So yea, we're about $1100 into this first cage but it means the next cage will be dirt cheap, it'll be done right, and it'll fit better than anything we could have gotten pre-made.

Oh, and the mobile bender patrol will be on call at all the northeast events (I hope) this year in case anyone needs a little help getting through tech wink

Maximum Efforts Motorsports
Mid-Engine Chevette
S-10 incoming...