[Dennis]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

Matt is right. The extremities of vehicles are made to crumple and cave, minimizing energy transfer into the passenger compartment. Hell, there are bars specifically placed for tires and bumpers to crash into and buckle the frame, rather than being pushing into the passenger footwell. The sides and passenger compartment are made to be rigid and protective, especially the lower portion and frame on something like a Wrangler. None of that is compromised much here, and the added structure from the full cage, assuming it's tied in properly to the body and frame, will make the passenger compartment safer. Factory roofs, cages, and "sport bars" are made to protect the passengers once. They mostly hold up enough for the passengers to survive, then they go to the scrap yard. Aftermarket setups like this are made to protect and keep going whenever possible. If it's rigid enough to do that, logic says that it's rigid enough to help more in all forms of impact. The issue would come in more with stuff like engine cages, chassis stiffening, monstrous bumpers with long frame tie-ins, etc. If they don't allow the chassis to crumple and cave, or in extreme cases prevent air bags from deploying, then the forces and impacts are being transferred to the passenger compartment and its contents. Watch a youtube video of crash testing Smart cars. They hold up great crashing into a barrier at 60mph. The car barely takes any damage. Since it's tiny and rigid with very little crumple zone, all that energy instead gets transferred to the occupants. No thanks. That's why the giant steel boats of yesteryear weren't nearly as safe as newer vehicles, despite what people think.

Thanks now just have to convince the :wifey: and myself that the cost of a full cage is worth the expense to remove the B-pillar for a better look.