gt1guy why do you refuse to build a cage that has bends in the X bar? I know straight is ideal and the strongest but with space constraints sometimes you have no choice. It’s definitely better than nothing.
First off, let me say I don't build cages for a living. I'm just a idiot in his garage. So it's not like I'm refusing work or something like that. Though for another project I have, I've spent hours reading rule books from NASA, SCCA, NASCAR and a couple others. NONE of them allow bends in the X. ALL of them deal with big hits.
I won't build a cage for myself with bends in the X-brace.
The X-brace in the main hoop is the most important part of the main hoop itself. It's what gives the main hoop all it's strength. In short, it turns the main hoop into a series of triangles that converge in the center point of it.
Being that the main hoop (including the X) can be thought of as the foundation that the rest of the cage is built off of, it only makes sense to have the absolute strongest foundation you can have.
Bends in the X are weak points, or potential failure points. That's potential failure points in the single most important part of the entire cage.......the part directly over your head.........that everything else is built off of.
Do people put bends in their X? Absolutely. Jeeps, Scouts, Blazers, you name it, you see it all the time. Main hoop gets installed forward of the back of the seats. 99% of the time the fix for that is to add bends in the X to move it back behind the seats. 1% of the time either the main hoop gets moved back, or a second main hoop is added (the double B) so the X can be made without bends.
Are bends in the X better than nothing as you said? Of course they are. My question to you would be, how much better than nothing are they? We don't know that answer. Could be very little or could be a lot. But we do know what the best way is.
When I built the cage for my JKU, I asked myself what was the worst case wreck I could foresee, given what I planed to do with it.
The honest answer was getting cut off on the freeway and barrel rolling at 80mph. That was very eye opening and changed my whole approach. My thinking went from slow motion roll on dirt, to high speed roll on concrete with the possibility of secondary hits from other high speed vehicles.
So I'd say ask yourself the same question and let your conscious be your guide.
We don't get to pick when or how we wreck.