Roll Bar Padding Feedback

bruno wrote:does it turn corners well ?

Only left truns.

Hey Guys....

Thanks to David and Jon for their comments Keep 'em coming.

Sticking the cap of a sharpie into anything , well I better restate that....

As I orginally stated, this material is flexible and very user friendly. I think it has
to have a compression factor of .25" to be certified. I don't know the exact details
like pressure applied, etc... that's what SFI is for. But my poin is that it is softer
and easier to use than others I've seen. The padding is flexible but will "snap" if not 70 degrees F. It can heated with a heat gun or your wife's old hair dryer. This will
increase the flexibility to make those bends.

Another manufacturing benefit is the contoured edges. It's not "blocky" and makes
a relatively smooth transition to the bar surface.

I found that if you "notch" it for cross bars, and then try to make a sharp bend at
the notch, it will tear. Most cross bars will not be in the curve anyway, so just
be careful after you notch it not to make sharp bends.

Thanks again for everyone's input.
Robbie

Is this padding a little softer than the stuf that Jaz makes?

This padding while not technically "fire proof" appears to have good flame resistant/retardant properties for a given amount of time. So while it will burn when exposed to a direct flame, it does as expected self extinguish when the flame source is removed (again for a given amount of time). But as with any flame retardant plastic, the longer the padding is exposed to a direct flame, the longer the time frame can increase before it fully self extinguishes.

When exposed to a constant flame source over a very long extended period of time it reached a point where it wouldn't self extinguish (well, not easily anyway) which is expected, it is a plastic after all. But during this extended constant burn it never once tried to melt/drip/flow hot molten plastic which is definitely a plus.



As for bending the padding to follow a given roll cage bend/shape, in my opinion putting the padding directly on the inside of the bend (it's self) might not always really be that important depending on how tight the cage bend in question is. Factoring in the diameter of the average helmet, on a really tight cage bend (like say the side/top inside bend of an inner FC cage bar) just putting the padding on the straight parts of the bar, (& leaving the inside of the bend bare) might be good enough because the padding is thick.

Of course on a much shallower angle cage bend, where the helmet would still come in contact with the inside of the bend even with padding on the straight parts of the bar, the padding would need to be on the bend too.



I found that a simple "squeeze/ratcheting" type cutter for PVC pipe cut a very nice/straight/square/clean cut. It chopped through it like butter in one constant action. It produced a much cleaner cut than using any other cutting tool that required a repetitive cutting/sawing action.

These guys are good

Robbie

steve1071 wrote:Is this padding a little softer than the stuf that Jaz makes?

Steve.....
To the best of my knowledge, same manufacturer.

Robbie