not trying to start a bitch fight, there will be no foam in my cage, but, for someone looking for an extra edge with the stock cage, it seems its a cheap way to help.

I hear ya buddy I just would not want someone to think that it might protect a life

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for 750 psi ...do you think that would be worth the time you spent getting it in.

or how much would you be taking away from the tube, when you drilled it to get it in? Even if you tried to weld it shut after ... have you ever tried to weld around A-B foam ... it mite as well be gasoline!!

I dont disagre that it would add ...a very little ... but anyhting you add would incress it. Fill it with water and frezz it ... If it didnt pop the tube ... I bet that whould add to it also.

Hey I have no dog in this hunt. I don't sell stuff like roll cages to make a living. I just work in product testing and can tell you this is a common practice. Only reason it isn't more common is it's difficult & messy to do and for automotive products it needs to withstand the heat of the paint ovens. The thinner & weaker the tubing, the more benefit.

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And BTW since most of the cage bending occurs at the buttjoints & plates--foam wouldn't help.

OK, kind of sorry I asked the question here. I did talk with my engineering dept. @ work today and got some what of an understandable answer. The foam will not make the roll cage stronger and I understand that. What it will do is reduce the cage from bending in as easy and collapsing after bending. The way it was described to me was take a full aluminum can stand on it and try the same with empty. The full can will hold most peoples weight with no problem the empty can will collapse under very little weight. Fill the can with medium density polyurethane foam and it will hold a lot of weight.
It is my understanding that a roll cage is designed to absorb impact and would need to bend some what in order reduce impact. My problem is the old RZR cage bends too easy due to material of construction. All I was thinking was away to add more to the old RZR cages for those who don’t want to replace it now.
I have the RZR S with the 30% stronger cage so I am Ok I guess. I still don’t trust my life to it.
By the way all roll cages have holes in every tube that could be used with out drilling. Drilling would weaken the cage.
Thanks for the replies.

no i think you should put the foam on the outside of the cage so it wont bend

I by no means want to argue or start a fight. The roll cages that I have seen and that I have made ... and I do it for a living. DO NOT have holes in the tube. The cars/trucks/busses/semi trucks that I have caged for the film industry are not just for back-up safety. Every stunt car that comes out of are shop is crashed ... rolled ... flipped ... and things you cant even imagine someone could live through. I am not a engineer ... but have seen hundreds of cages get tested. All though the film industry cages are way over the top ... the result of a failure is personal injury or someone's life!

So I can tell you from experience ... you put a hole in a tube ... and you have given it a tear/collapse point when it is loaded!! I would like to know where the holes are in a RZR S cage ...or tubbing?

I tell you what ... have your engineer draw a piece of tube ....120 wall DOM in SolidWorks ..or Algor and load it for you with and with out a hole ... you will be surprised!!

wow guys, this is getting heavy, a fom filled rzr cage would be somewhat stronger than an unfilled one. but to make it as strong as a racing sancetioning body approved cage, it would not be. we are now doing a cage for an 09, trex, the stock one is to high and the owner wants to lower it, more like a rzr he says. it will be done with .125 dom tubing, proper x bracing and no foam, and it will be sturdy and stronger than stock.

LOL ...I got NOOOOO argument there.

I was just question my own sanity a second ago ... why am I even talking about this ... foam in tubing for a cage?

I did make myself laugh ... so I guess it is worth it ...LOL!!!

I feel stupid for asking the question here.

Abstract:

Recent bending tests show the effectiveness of rigid, polyurethane foam in improving the strength of automotive body structures. By using foam, it is possible to reduce pillar sections, and to reduce thicknesses or eliminate reinforcements inside the pillars, and thereby offset the mass increase due to the foam filling. Further tests showed that utilizing the foam filling in a B-pillar to reduce section size can save ~20 mm that could be utilized to add energy absorbing structures in order to meet the new interior head impact requirements specified by the federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) 201 Head Impact Protection upgrade.
Keywords: AUTOMOTIVE; OPTIMIZE; RIGID FOAM; SAFETY; STRUCTURE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1361/105994998770347666

And that's exactly why more automotive R&D departments are playing around with it. They keep searching for ways to cut weight and add rigidity and safety and fuel economy. We're not much interested in the fuel economy or weight savings and the safety and rigidity should come from better tubing, gussets and triangulation.

RzrS--don't get too cozy thinking you have a real cage. 30% stronger than zero is still zero

LOL ... I am sorry, I am not trying to be dick or by no means out to bash anyone ... A sheet metal structure and roll cage tubing are two completely different things.

By all means ... if it makes you feel safe and want to add foam to your cage ... then go for it! You can always make next years Darwin awards!

Darwin Awards: 2008 Darwin Awards

Wait...I thought the Rzr rollcage IS sheetmetal. In the shape of tubing.

that would be my take on the cage, rolled sheetmetal.