Holy crap handles

[oprn]

Ok, I admit it, I should have titled this "Aids for the elderly"!

Yes we find it a bit awkward getting in and out of the buggy. Well the Missus does! On the driver's side you have a steering wheel but the tendency on the passenger's side is to grab the windshield and pull to exit the buggy. I can see that practice eventually leaving the windshield loose and flapping in the wind. So - what to do... thinking originally of putting a grab handle right on the dash in front of the passenger but... that would make for a nasty bit of dental work on a hard bump or sudden stop! Just lap belts on this Buggy!

So this is what I came up with. Just used a bit of 1/2" stainless tubing and a bender. What have you done?

[wythac]

I was thinking just yesterday if I didn't have a roll cage it would be tough to get out of my car without tweaking something either on my body or that of the car!

You'd need a full cage to do the following:

Two things I would discourage on your setup:

1.)Having the passenger use it as a grab bar while the car is underway. At best it puts your hand out in the slipstream of road debris. At worst the back of your hand becomes the first point of contact with anything you pass or roll over onto.

2.) Putting any sort of significant weight on it without reinforcement. You might have it more substantially secured behind the windshield and under the dash than I can see, but if not, I think you will start cracking the fiberglass over time.

All in all though, it beats crawling out of the car or tweaking your windshield frame, and damage to the body can be repaired more easily than your relationship with your bride if she were to hurt herself coming or going from your car!

[oprn]

It is surprisingly solid, the dash is 3/4" thick right there but I will watch it for signs of loosening and put a back up plate behind it if it does.

It is really too far forward to hang on to while driving. Would not be comfortable for long. Here is a shot to show you it doesn't stick out any further than our elbows and is well inside the fenders and mirror. The headlight will catch the most of the bugs too!

I thought about one down lower on the dash like yours but I am a taller feller and would be constantly cracking my knee caps on it! It would also be a bit low to help much for getting out I suspect. The top of the window frame actually works best for me but is not near strong enough.

I'm not sure there is a perfect placement, that is why I started this thread and I could change my mind later. Lets see what else is out there.

[wythac]

Agreed, looks smaller in pic #2.

Mine is clear of the knees of a friend who is 6'3"...same issue with the pic though you don't see the angle. Moot point if you don't have a cage with a front hoop, although depending on your dash you could place a bar there if you backstopped it well. I've not seen that done but I imagine it has been.

I pull myself upright on an overhead cage bar then step over the body lip onto my running board/tree bar to get out. Reverse the process gets you in. "Some Gymnastics Required"

[cbeck]

Also have a cage, took the grab bar 1 step further. You can see it on the far side.

[oprn]

Wythac, I suspect you don't have a back seat then and the passenger seat is much further back than ours.

Nice job cbeck! Yes having a roll cage would make placement much easier. In fact the roll cage itself is all I need to get in and out of my sand rail. I am considering adding a single roll bar to this Buggy if just to gain a third anchor point for a shoulder harness. Then I could move the lap belts to the back seat.

[wythac]

Correct. No rear seat. I have a different name for mine, it is the "ohno bar".

Cbeck, I've been struggling to find a way to incorporate a cabin roof in the floor of a removable roof rack but the way you have mounting tabs on your cage has me rethinking that as two separate assemblies.

A million different ways to put these puzzles together...

[cbeck]

Made the panels out of some used 3/16 lexan that has been around for 20 years. A little heat and you can bend it as needed. Tried to blend into the lite bar mount.