Convertible Roll over bars - windshield frame

No, a windshield frame will not protect in a turn over. The roll bars have not been a law. Due to pressure from the media, Jeep put them in. Some cars like the Mercedes have a automatic pop up roll bar. Some are optional from dealers and some are owner installed.

OT: About the jeep rollbar ... I have seen one collapsed a few years back when the roll occurred at highway speed ... the driver was killed. I keep meaning to look into this ... perhaps someone has info on "to what speed" those jeep rollbars are good to.

Most of them were factory-installed placebos. They weren't tested or rated for rollover protection, but they "looked" safer than a completely open car.

Even the Viper R/T 10s "halo bar" over the rear window wasn't technically called a "roll bar" because that would have opened up too many legal worm cans if someone were to be killed in a rollover. It was at least engineered to give *some* protection, most of the others weren't.

And by the way- you'd be surprised how little protection a full roof gives in a rollover sometimes...

Interesting -- I had thought there were some liability cases that established that anything that looked like a roll bar needed to function as one, and calling it a light rack or something wouldn't help... (note the conspicuous lack of cites here, of course).

Due to their poor performance in rollover tests, I believe !!!

Jeep never put a 'roll bar' into any stock product I am aware of. They put a 'sport' bar in that works very well for off road slow speed roll overs or tip overs.

Even so most serious off roaders modify the sport bar and anchor it to the frame instead of just the body tub like it comes stock. This increases the strength. Lots make real roll cages too.

I have my 'sport' bar tagged to my frame.

Mike

Just for reference, my 1996 Chevy extended cab pickup has a (don't remember the exact name of the option) "hinged panel" and not a 3rd door. This was the first year Chevy put the 3rd door in the truck and the design didn't meet the standards for a "door" (I think relative to crush strength and such) so they couldn't call it a door. Maybe "roll bar" has a legal definition and standard.

"And by the way- you'd be surprised how little protection a full roof gives in a rollover sometimes... "

Especially when the windshield pops out- its a structural member. (I couldn't believe that when I first heard it...)

Dave

Maybe that's why they called it a 'halo' bar. I don't honestly know, but I did just read a passage in a book about the fact that there was an internal argument between some guys at Chrysler over whether to include it or not. One camp thought that it detracted from a clean top-down look. The guy who prevailed was the one who had a had actual experience with building limited-production high-performance vehicles before, and felt that it was necessary because it offered some level of protection, and given the type of car there *would* be single car incidents that wound up with the wheels in the air. he must've seen Kelsey Grammer's name on the waiting list... :-)

That's why they're almost universally glued in now. They're designed to STAY in and add a little rigidity to the front of the roof.

nate

(strange but true...)

Indeed. The rear head rests. They can be raised and lowered in 'normal' use. They pop up and lock in an emergency. This includes, I gather, the car being at an 'unnatural' angle.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

YOu can be sure that the jeep did not have a 'rollbar'. It had a light bar or a style bar, or some other bar. Jeep is not dumb emough to call it that because they don't want people to think, as you know, that the bar can protect them when they flip over.

------------ Alex

I agree. A real roll bar will have a government certification label on it, certifying it as such. Ran into this while selling my vehicle. The potential buyer was warning me about advertising a bar as a roll bar when it wasn't. Tried to get the price down. When we were inspecting the vehicle previous to negotiating the price, lo and behold, we came across this government certification tag that specifically stated it was a roll bar, the price went up on the vehicle. The buyer was a HD mechanic, and new the difference between a real roll bar and a decoration. He bought the vehicle.

And by the way, I think most vendors would like you to think, it is a roll bar, even if it's not.