Rolled Spider

[spidernut]

There's a ton of emphasis expressed over having roll bars. Apart from cars used in racing, how many of you have actually seen a Spider that has rolled over? I've never seen one.

[SoFlaFiat]

I'm with John on this one...
If you really need a roll bar then you should be using 5 point belts and a helmet.
I had an aluminum one made for my car solely to mount a 3 point seatbelt to. And it looks cool to the teenager in me!
If I ever roll the car I figure I have much bigger problems then the roll bar holding up...

[So Cal Mark]

the roll bars really stiffen the unibody and result in much flatter cornering. I've seen pics of a couple of them that rolled, but not in person

[SoFlaFiat]

Mark, I can believe that a roll CAGE does stiffen the unibody but the roll bars I see can't do much in stiffening the unibody in a for and aft sense, which common sense, with ragtops, tells me it is needed most. Please tell me what I am not understanding. Do they really do that much for side to side support, or is that just true of rust riddled unibodies which need all the help they can get.

[manoa matt]

I'm pretty sure it was this forum about 2 years ago. A member let his wife and daughter use his spider for a trip to the grocery store. IIRC they were T-boned in an intersection and the car flipped and landed in a ditch on the side of the road. Without the roll bar they would be about 2 feet shorter. Both survived with a few minor cuts/scrapes.

It wasn't their driving that lead to the rollover as they obeyed the traffic laws. Sometimes its the other guy on the road that gets you.

[SoFlaFiat]

I'll give you that Matt! Hopefully it's always the other guy! Or, better yet, never!!

[So Cal Mark]

I wouldn't waste time putting a roll bar in a rusted chassis. A roll bar makes a significant difference in stiffness. Sure a complete cage is far better, but a mere roll bar makes a noticeable difference. Everyone that I know of that has installed a bar noticed the added stiffness on their first drive

[SoFlaFiat]

Good to know! Thanks Mark!

[htchevyii]

I'm pretty sure it was this forum about 2 years ago. A member let his wife and daughter use his spider for a trip to the grocery store. IIRC they were T-boned in an intersection and the car flipped and landed in a ditch on the side of the road. Without the roll bar they would be about 2 feet shorter. Both survived with a few minor cuts/scrapes.

It wasn't their driving that lead to the rollover as they obeyed the traffic laws. Sometimes its the other guy on the road that gets you.

I remember reading that too. It's more likely that you would get rear ended than roll so make sure that your head won't hit the roll bar.

[azruss]

One of our nations premier distance runner, Steve Prefontaine, died at the peak of his career when driving his MGB home from a party, hit a big rock on the edge of a tight turn and flipped the car. it landed on top of him pinning him to the pavement where he suffocated from the weight of the car on his chest. Investigators said he was doing about 20 mph. Probably would have help if he was wearing his belt.

[BEEK]

in my 20 years of running a fiat salvage yard along with my repair business, we parted out 1800+ fiats only 1 spider had been rolled, no roll bar, it smashed it pretty flat to the door tops, the windshield frame held up supprisingly well, but did smash 70% flat, the driver who was wearing a seatbelt walked away. not sure how but he mush have been face down in the passenger seat.
i also had 1 rolled x1/9 the occupants of that car were not so lucky, they both were un belted and the windshield frame landed on their chests. i personally knew the occupants, drinking and driving was the fault

[kmac33]

Adding a roll bar makes a significant difference in chassis stiffness, at least it did with my Spider. That was my motivation for the installation versus roll-over protection.

[courtenay]

Aside from everything else, a roll bar in a Spider looks kind of cool. I have one, but have not had the intestinal fortitude to do the cutting and drilling required to install the thing.

[azruss]

this brings up the interesting question of an aluminum roll bar. It should be a decent weight saver. Anyone have an idea of what size tubing would be required.

[SoFlaFiat]

i used 2" tube for the main part and used 1 1/2" for the rear supports



I am sure it is no more than 30lbs and will serve perfectly to hold the seatbelt.
That said, maybe I made the wrong decision and should hav gone with steel???