NHTSA new Roof Strength Rules

[southtj]

The last two paragraphs of this article are what worry me.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/nhtsa_ragtops.html

DaimlerChrysler�s Jeep Wrangler seems to be in a class by itself. The Wrangler carries a sports bar that is not designed or engineered as a protective device. Maybe it's for decoration. Or maybe it's just to hang your hat on.

While the new roof strength rule will not go into effect until 2010, the Wrangler as it is designed now is unlikely to pass the test.

Not a protective device? What?

 

[TwistedCU]

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/nhtsa_ragtops.htmlNot a protective device? What?

That's right. It is not strong enough to be called a "roll bar". That's why they call it a "sport bar".

Nice, eh? Well It does offer protection, but not enough to be able to call it what it should be. I'd be interested to see what it could actually withstand.

 

[OutOfStep]

They're not exactly right, but they're not exactly wrong either, The front part of the stock cage is really only there to mount soft top parts and to keep the windshield in the right spot so hard tops don't leak. It wouldn't take much on DC's part to make it a real cage though. Plus I would think that they would be able to gain the softop exemption simply by including a soft top with every Jeep sold, even if the purchaser decided they wanted a hard top as well. Is the fact that the Jeep hard top is a fixed hard top instead of a retractable one that is the stickler in the regs.

 

[OutOfStep]

I've never seen the rear part in a Wrangler fail, but I've seen the windshield and side bars fail with surprisingly little force. Unfortunately it seems like they always tend to head right toward the drivers face.

 

[cjkirchman]

Is it just me, or does it seem like we have less and less freedom as time goes by?

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

While the new roof strength rule will not go into effect until 2010, the Wrangler as it is designed now is unlikely to pass the test.

Test? what's likely is that it won't be held up to the same standards as vehicles with permanent enclosed tops. Wrangler will likely be kept in the same category as convertibles.

This story is just BS meant to fire people up. Doesn't hold any water as far as Wranglers are concerned.

 

[Junkpile]

The bars that come in our Jeeps aren't rollbars and never have been. It makes you feel a little better, but don't ever rely on it to save your butt in a nasty rollover. It could be built on the best machines in the word, welded by the best welder in the world, and constructed from the highest quality materials available.....but it's still decoration if it just bolts to the sheetmetal body.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

.....but it's still decoration if it just bolts to the sheetmetal body.

Exactly right, Junkpile. That's what they're alluding to in the article, too. A genuinely safe "roll bar", as set forth by the NHTSA, must have a minimum of 4 outside corners bolted directly to the frame and 4 crossbars (two front to rear and two side to side). I've grown tired of trying to correct people with pickups that have the "sport bars" or "light bars" mounted in the beds that resemble roll bars. They are even worse than the "sport bars" in a wrangler, as they are generally only 1/8th inch aluminum or sheet metal, and pieced together with rivets or screws. Most dipwads that have them honestly think they are roll bars and will protect them in a roll over accident.

 

[jeepless20]

i wonder what the NHTSA thinks about the people who put real roll cages in there rigs.

 

[OutOfStep]

This reminded me of a friend I had in highschool, he was really into Corvairs (I don't know either). His parents were so freaked out at the idea of it being a convertable and a Corvair they made him put in a full roll cage, racing seats, and five point harnesses.

It always made me laugh watching him roll down the road with his bright red seatbelts, safely tucked into his iron exoskeleton, in his 95 horsepower air cooled junk-in-the-trunk car that had a top speed of 60 before the 300 pounds of steel roll cage was added.

Personally I would have been more worried about the javalin-like tendencies of the solid steering column than the "unsafe at any speed" rear spring set.

Regardless, he survived until he sold the car.

 

[cjkirchman]

His parents were so freaked out at the idea of it being a convertable and a Corvair they made him put in a full roll cage, racing seats, and five point harnesses

You can thank Ralph Nader for that one.