Ewheels
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I recently installed a Watson 4pt roll bar and wanted to share my thoughts and opinions for anyone curious or interested in adding one themselves.
Firstly, I chose Watson over the other brands simply because Ford uses Watson for their factory race car cages in the FP350S and I believe the GT4, though that car might be Multimatic.
The roll bar packaging was fine; everything was well protected. The kit comes with all necessary hardware and great color instructions. The install is fairly straight forward but those instructions do help.
Once the roll bar is in the car, the real challenge begins. These do not line up perfectly. It took many attempts to position the thing just right. The rear legs going into the trunk have to be positioned in the correct spot so it's bolted to frame and so the bolts have clearance through the floor. This thing was a b**** to get it lined up in the right spot.
Drilling the holes through the floor was also a headache. Do yourself a favor and get two things before you start drilling. 1) Cobalt drill bits 2) drill stops.
I started with the standard Home Depot titanium drill bits and they take forever. Once I bought some cobalt ones, the drill took a fraction of the time. Next, you really really really do not want to hit a brake line (like I unfortunately did) so use drill stops when drilling so if the bit catches and pulls you in, it can only go so far and ideally avoid contact with your brake lines.
Driving impressions: the added rigidity from the roll bar is very apparent. My car feels much stiffer now. Bumps in the road toss the car around more and the whole car feels like one solid piece. Feels more immediate if that makes sense.
Once I get this car on track again, I can update with on-track impressions
Firstly, I chose Watson over the other brands simply because Ford uses Watson for their factory race car cages in the FP350S and I believe the GT4, though that car might be Multimatic.
The roll bar packaging was fine; everything was well protected. The kit comes with all necessary hardware and great color instructions. The install is fairly straight forward but those instructions do help.
Once the roll bar is in the car, the real challenge begins. These do not line up perfectly. It took many attempts to position the thing just right. The rear legs going into the trunk have to be positioned in the correct spot so it's bolted to frame and so the bolts have clearance through the floor. This thing was a b**** to get it lined up in the right spot.
Drilling the holes through the floor was also a headache. Do yourself a favor and get two things before you start drilling. 1) Cobalt drill bits 2) drill stops.
I started with the standard Home Depot titanium drill bits and they take forever. Once I bought some cobalt ones, the drill took a fraction of the time. Next, you really really really do not want to hit a brake line (like I unfortunately did) so use drill stops when drilling so if the bit catches and pulls you in, it can only go so far and ideally avoid contact with your brake lines.
Driving impressions: the added rigidity from the roll bar is very apparent. My car feels much stiffer now. Bumps in the road toss the car around more and the whole car feels like one solid piece. Feels more immediate if that makes sense.
Once I get this car on track again, I can update with on-track impressions
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