EDO Performance’s Cusco Roll Cage Guide

With so many options and variations of Cusco Roll Cages I put together this guide to help answer technical questions regarding the cages and find out which is the correct roll cage for you.

Pillar Diagram

General Information

Cusco Roll Cages comes in many shape sand sizes but the standard construction among all the roll cages are a 40mm diameter tubular frame with either bolt or weld together joints. Each leg of the roll cage has a base plate that can be either welded into the vehicle or bolted into the chassis. The Cusco Roll Cages are made to order and each one is custom made to fit the driver preference.

Cusco Roll Cage Joint Cusco Roll Cage Base Plate

Roll Cage Selection

This part of the guide will walk you thru the basic process of roll cage selection. Please note since the Cusco makes roll cages for over 300 vehicle applications not all vehicle will have full selection of roll cage options. If you have any questions feel free to contact your nearest Cusco distributor for more information.

1. Cusco Roll Cage Material Selection

Cusco Roll Cages comes in two different types of material D1 Chromoly and Safety 21 Steel.

The Cusco D1 Roll Cage was designed for the D1GP Drifter Series in Japan. The chromoly material used roughly 33% lighter then your conventional Safety 21 Steel. This material is made to absorb light to medium impact with out jeopardizing the structural integrity of the cage and comes in a shiny Cusco metallic blue finish. The D1 chromoly are great choice weather if it’s for a high end show/track car or a daily driver.

Cusco D1 6 Point Cage

With a long line of racing heritage Cusco’s Safety 21 roll cage has been test and implemented into multiple style of racing such as Cusco’s GT300 and Cusco’s Rally Team. The Safety 21 roll cages are constructed of carbon steel and can withstand heavy impact. These roll cages are recommend for heavy track use or if you’re simply on a tight budget.

Cusco 7 Point Safety 21 Cage

2. Manufacture and Chassis Code

The next step is selecting your vehicle manufacture and chassis code. Since Cusco is manufacture and developed in Japan and not all the cars in Japan have the same production time and name as its US counterpart, we must go by the chassis code in order to insure the correct fitment for your roll cage. If you have any question as to what your cars chassis code is please consult http://www.wikipedia.org/.

3. Sunroof

The sunroof in your vehicle plays a key factor into the roll cage fitment. Cusco only makes a handful of cages that are sunroof compliant. If you have a sunroof in your vehicle and there is no sunroof compliant roll cage you have to make a basic modification to the roll cage in order for it to fit the vehicle. The modification process consists of shortening each leg of the roll cage to compensate for the sunroof thickness when compared to the same car with out a sunroof.

4. C Pillar Bar Style

The C Pillar variation gives you extra the customization when it comes to deciding what type of roll cage is right for you. Currently there are 3 types of C Pillar Bars, Window Style, Roof Style, and Race Style.

The term window style means the C Pillar Bar is bent out and it runs along the edge of the rear window going around the rear seats. This style of bar is primarily used on a 2 door vehicle wanting to retain it’s rear seats to carry additional passenger or simply keep the car interior closest to stock as possible.

Cusco 6 Point Cage Window Style for Honda EK9

Cusco 4 Point Window Style in a Nissan S14 Cusco 6 Point Window Style

The term roof style means the C Pillar Bar runs along the edge of the roof and down the C Pillar over the rear seats to the C Pillar mounting position. This style of bar is primarily used on a 4 door vehicle where the C Pillar bar won’t block the entering and exiting of the rear passengers and leaves the rear seats intact.

Cusco 6 Point Cage Roof Style for Mitsubishi CT9A

Cusco 6 Point Roof Style in Subaru GDB-F Cusco 6 Point Roof Style

The Cusco race style roll cage is the most popular application out of the group. The race style term means the C Pillar Bar runs directly thru the rear seats the shortest distance between the B Pillar Bar to the C Pillar Mounting position. This style of bar configuration is the sturdiest out of all the C Pillar Bar however this requires the removal of rear seats and interior pieces. This style of bar is recommended for track use or 2 seater vehicle.

Cusco 6 Point Race Style for Mitsubishi CT9A

Cusco 6 Point Race Style

5. How Many Points?

The number of points in a roll cage determines the size and number of bars on the roll cage. The general rule of thumb is anything below 5 point will only have B Pillar Bars and the C Pillar Bars, anything above 6 point will have A, B, and C Pillar Bars which extends from front of the dash to rear suspension tower or trunk or the vehicle. Since there is no universal pattern among roll cage manufacture point system please refer to the chart below to find out exactly how many points you need.

Cusco D1 Style Roll Cage Comes in 4 to 8 Point

Cusco Safety 21 Style Roll Cage Comes in 4 to 15 Point

6. To Dash Escape or Not?

Any Cusco roll cage 6 point or more has the option of Dash Escape on the A Pillar Bar. This means you have the option of choosing weather if the A Pillar Bar goes thru the dashboard or bend around the curvature of the dashboard. This option eases the install of the roll cage but at the same time it loses structural rigidity. Dash Escape should primarily be used on street driven or show cars; track cars should avoid this option and get the standard thru the dash mount.

Cusco 8 Point Safety 21 Roll Cage w/ Dash Escape on Mitsubishi CT9A

Cusco 6 Point Safety 21 Roll Cage w/o Dash Escape on Toyota AE86

7. C Pillar Bar Mount Position

The C Pillar Mount Position refers to the general area where the C Pillar Bar will be mounted. This mount position is not optional; Cusco has already chosen pre-designated area on each specific vehicle to insure maximum safety.

Various C Pillar Bar Mounting Position

Roll Cage Accessory

In addition to its roll cage customization Cusco also offers a full line of roll cage accessory such as, color padding for the bars, removable driver side pillar, and roll cage reinforcement plate.

Colored Bar Padding

Reinforcement Plate

Removable Side Mount Pillar

Conclusion

Cusco Roll Cages are one of the very few manufactures that caters so many options to insure the best driving experience possible! I hope this guide will help you decide on your Cusco roll cage. If you have any questions regarding the roll cage please feel free to contact us or your nearest Cusco distributor.