When the Certification expires...adjustments, or recreation

Does the expired certified chassis car eg 8.50 still meet the current 9.50 specifications, and if so for how long? Also are the expired chassis updatable by adding or changing bars, or do they frequently change the tubing requirements

I guess it depends on the situation. IIRC the ET mark where you must have the cage certified is 9.99 & faster. So trying to run an expired 8.50 cert in the 9.50 range probably isn't going to work unless you race at an independent track with it's own ET/cert requirements. IMO you might as well try to get it re-certed to 8.50 & slower and be done with it

If a door car already had an 8.50 & slower chassis cert that recently expired, and you wanted to re-cert to the exact same spec (8.50 & slower) it should usually be no problem to pass a new 8.50 & slower re-cert if the previous chassis inspector didn't miss anything.......and if the new inspector isn't being a dick that day. But a car that had the chassis cert expire a real long time ago, or if the previous chassis inspector missed/ignored something important, then it might take a lot more work/effort to get the car to re-cert. And of course upgrading to a cert faster than 8.50 (like one of the 8.49 & faster SFI specs) will also be more work.

The thing that sucks is it's always possible that a car might be 100% legal, and a given inspector might still bounce it because he might interpret what the rule book says differently than another inspector might. One example of this is roll cages made of the 1.660" OD x .134" wall HREW structural mild steel "pipe/tube" material vs the more commonly used 1.625" OD x .134" wall HREW mild steel "tubing" material. From what I have seen most inspectors will usually accept/cert the 1.660" OD HREW m/s material no problem as long as it is in fact the "structural" steel pipe/tube material (as in the ASTM A513 material) and not the 1.660 OD (1 - 1/4 ID) "plumbing pipe-black pipe" SCH40/SCH80 material (as in the ASTM A53/A500 material). But there are a few inspectors that will flat-out reject any 1.660 material even without first sonic testing to confirm if it's the accepted "structural" material with a .127 to .134 wall, or the thicker "plumbing pipe-black pipe" material with a SCH 40 to SCH 80 wall (.140" to .200" wall range). Sometimes the problem is the car, sometimes it's which inspector you get.

Best bet is to get a rule book & read the specs & compare to what bars you have before trying to get it inspected/re-certed. Then if you discover something you're not sure is right contact one of the divisional tech directors listed in the rule book & ask them before taking it to get re-cert. The bad thing about any old/new to you race car is without owning a sonic tester you have no way of knowing what wall thickness any of the tubing might be before the actual inspection/re-cert happens.

That is what you call a complete fully understandable answer too a great question. Dave,you da man.

bbf-falcon wrote:That is what you call a complete fully understandable answer too a great question. Dave,you da man.

For those of you still in school, reading comprehension is important.

Nice, Dave.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:I guess it depends on the situation. IIRC the ET mark where you must have the cage certified is 9.99 & faster. So trying to run an expired 8.50 cert in the 9.50 range probably isn't going to work unless you race at an independent track with it's own ET/cert requirements. IMO you might as well try to get it re-certed to 8.50 & slower and be done with it

If a door car already had an 8.50 & slower chassis cert that recently expired, and you wanted to re-cert to the exact same spec (8.50 & slower) it should usually be no problem to pass a new 8.50 & slower re-cert if the previous chassis inspector didn't miss anything.......and if the new inspector isn't being a dick that day. But a car that had the chassis cert expire a real long time ago, or if the previous chassis inspector missed/ignored something important, then it might take a lot more work/effort to get the car to re-cert. And of course upgrading to a cert faster than 8.50 (like one of the 8.49 & faster SFI specs) will also be more work.

The thing that sucks is it's always possible that a car might be 100% legal, and a given inspector might still bounce it because he might interpret what the rule book says differently than another inspector might. One example of this is roll cages made of the 1.660" OD x .134" wall HREW structural mild steel "pipe/tube" material vs the more commonly used 1.625" OD x .134" wall HREW mild steel "tubing" material. From what I have seen most inspectors will usually accept/cert the 1.660" OD HREW m/s material no problem as long as it is in fact the "structural" steel pipe/tube material (as in the ASTM A513 material) and not the 1.660 OD (1 - 1/4 ID) "plumbing pipe-black pipe" SCH40/SCH80 material (as in the ASTM A53/A500 material). But there are a few inspectors that will flat-out reject any 1.660 material even without first sonic testing to confirm if it's the accepted "structural" material with a .127 to .134 wall, or the thicker "plumbing pipe-black pipe" material with a SCH 40 to SCH 80 wall (.140" to .200" wall range). Sometimes the problem is the car, sometimes it's which inspector you get.

Best bet is to get a rule book & read the specs & compare to what bars you have before trying to get it inspected/re-certed. Then if you discover something you're not sure is right contact one of the divisional tech directors listed in the rule book & ask them before taking it to get re-cert. The bad thing about any old/new to you race car is without owning a sonic tester you have no way of knowing what wall thickness any of the tubing might be before the actual inspection/re-cert happens.

Thank-You for the very detailed explanation very helpful !

bbf-falcon wrote:That is what you call a complete fully understandable answer too a great question. Dave,you da man.

maverick wrote:

bbf-falcon wrote:That is what you call a complete fully understandable answer too a great question. Dave,you da man.

For those of you still in school, reading comprehension is important.

Nice, Dave.

A concise treatise for all to partake.

Of course any racer that has the "golden gift of gab" & is a smooth b/s talker might be able to talk his way into a fast class tech card at most any track without having a chassis sticker.


I know a guy who over the last 12-14 years had raced a number of different cars that ran in the 5.00 to 4.50 range at local Quick-8, Top Sportsman, & Pro Mod shows and never once had a chassis sticker on any of the cars. Any time he was told he couldn't race without a sticker he would just lay the buddy buddy/good-ol-boy/charm/bs on real thick.....and after a few minutes of talking like magic he was allowed to race that event anyway, but of course with a stern meaningless warning to "get the sticker before the next race".

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:Of course any racer that has the "golden gift of gab" & is a smooth b/s talker might be able to talk his way into a fast class tech card at most any track without having a chassis sticker.


I know a guy who over the last 12-14 years had raced a number of different cars that ran in the 5.00 to 4.50 range at local Quick-8, Top Sportsman, & Pro Mod shows and never once had a chassis sticker on any of the cars. Any time he was told he couldn't race without a sticker he would just lay the buddy buddy/good-ol-boy/charm/bs on real thick.....and after a few minutes of talking like magic he was allowed to race that event anyway, but of course with a stern meaningless warning to "get the sticker before the next race".

I've tried that shit Dave just did'nt work for me. I've got the gift too Gab,the line of BS etc. Just don't have the touch i guess.

I'm lucky enough to have good tracks around here that dont give you a prostate exam over tec.safety should be considered for the other folks around you but its ultimately YOUR ASS.I've saw more damage in the pits from golf carts, 4 wheelers, and drunks testing their transbrake ,all of which have nothing to do with sfi rules etc...

cool40 wrote:I'm lucky enough to have good tracks around here that dont give you a prostate exam over tec.safety should be considered for the other folks around you but its ultimately YOUR ASS.I've saw more damage in the pits from golf carts, 4 wheelers, and drunks testing their transbrake ,all of which have nothing to do with sfi rules etc...

This