Found a bad cage? Post it here for critique!

[Erik the Awful]

If you have pictures of a bad cage, post it here. If you are looking at buying someone else's used car and it's caged, post it here and we can critique it. Not because we want to rip on someone else's work, but because we'll all be safer learning what to do and what not to do. There absolutely are sellers out there trying to make a quick buck selling junk, and it pays to know what to look for.

I don't have any credentials for this, but I've been racing for over a decade now. I've learned what makes a good cage and what's crap. Honestly, critiquing bad cages is kinda fun, like a "Where's Waldo" of bad work.

I'll kick it off with one that got posted on a Facebook group. See if you can find anything I missed - I've already spotted another crush bend that I missed when labelling the pics.

1) Tabs aren't an approved method of connecting the halo to the rear hoop. The tube ends must be welded directly to the hoop.
2) The front downbars make an S-curve
3) There's no diagonal on the rear hoop
4) The rear downbars are not contiguous, they're butt-welded to existing stubs
5) Crush bends are not allowed
6) The rear downbars are too far inward
7) The bar between the front downbars has a dimple in it
8) Welding appears to be dabbed-on rather than having good penetration
9) Main hoop is spliced, not a contiguous piece
10) Weld appears to have gaps
11) Halo is spliced, not a contiguous piece

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[Supercharged111]

Since he has the gall to post it for sale you know he's proud of that turd. Just go to any local roundy round race to get your fill of shjt cages.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

The first thing I always look at are the welds. If even one bar breaks its weld and bends inwards it becomes a jagged spear to be impaled onto. I have seen this happen on forestry machinery that have rolled over and it isn't pretty.

 

[Hipster]

scary looking, I've been mostly around drag cars where there's a tech inspection involved and everything is top notch, and been around some roundy round stuff that looked it was done with a Horror freight pipe bender that looked like wrinkled potato chips in the bends. And this is before talking about guage thickness/proper materials etc.

 

[Supercharged111]

scary looking, I've been mostly around drag cars where there's a tech inspection involved and everything is top notch, and been around some roundy round stuff that looked it was done with a Horror freight pipe bender that looked like wrinkled potato chips in the bends. And this is before talking about guage thickness/proper materials etc.

Don't forget about the 6" gaps between the cage and what it's supposed to stop from collapsing.

 

[Hipster]

Don't forget about the 6" gaps between the cage and what it's supposed to stop from collapsing.

The one pictured is very scabbed together looking. Parts of different cars? Multiple half-ass fixes etc.

 

[Supercharged111]

The one pictured is very scabbed together looking. Parts of different cars? Multiple half-ass fixes etc.

I swear some treat the cage as a barrier between them and racing instead of building something that could potentially save your life.

 

[Erik the Awful]

The one pictured is very scabbed together looking. Parts of different cars? Multiple half-ass fixes etc.

Yeah, someone commented that on the Facebook post and I completely agree, especially given they're trying to sell it on.

Nothing brings down the value of a caged vehicle faster than the buyer realizing they're going to have to cut out the cage and redo it.