Changing roll bars
 

I asked this question at M.net a while back and didnt get anything useful. I currently have Boss Frog double hoop Maxx bars, which I love. Plenty of head room and look great, but are not hard top compatible since they slope backwards. The question:

If I decided to remove the current bars and go with say, a single hoop HD, does anyone think I would run into any problems with holes overlapping, and making a general mess with mounting? Im guessing the likelyhood is probably low, and it wouldnt be a big deal anyway with backing plates, but something about this bothers me. Id have a fit if I went to drill a hole, and ended up making an elongated messy hole.

I dont currently have a hard top, and dont exactly plan to any time soon, unless one falls into my lap for a great price. But I am one of those type who hate knowing I cant have one if I did want one. Plus I kind of want the door bars, which I dont think are BF compatible (though I could just weld up some myself). Maybe its a stupid question, being why I didnt get any asnwers much over at m.net :bang:

I think I read where someone actually fit a hardtop over them, but it may have been one of their single hoop maxx bars. The boss frog stuff looks nice, but hardtop capability is always good too!!

There's a retired guy that does a lot of track days. He has a hard top with the double hoop. Looks like they build two versions. On the boss frog website they have one for the hardtop and one, like yours, that isn't compatible. Bummer. I can't answer you question but I can suggest the best place to get the answer!

Here is a link to the contact page at Boss Frog. Contact Us


Forums are funny. I find myself doing this too. Posting questions looking for answers a professional or vendor could answer in 30 seconds on the phone. Kind of like looking for a business all over the net when the phone book is sitting right next to you.

the cool part about the double diagonal is you're boyfriend can handcuff you to the diagonals so he can "reward you with discipline."

hustler; you're on a roll today! :bowrofl:

"Hard Top Compatible" usually just means whether or not the roll bar interferes with the side latch operation. If the soft top fits over the rollbar, as it must, then the hardtop should too. You just may have to go with bolting it at the side latch locations, or, just leave them off entirely - some people have done this for track days and report that the windshield latches + frankenstein bolts are plenty sufficient to hold the hardtop on at speed, see m.net thread here : MX-5 Miata Forum - Roll Bar?

Run-on sentences FTW!

Well, my question wasnt so much about hardtop compatability, but more about wether or not going with a different roll bar would cause any issues with the current holes drilled for mounting. Idont expect many if any of you have done this, so it was kind of a pointless question in the first place.

Your 1st post made it sound like you are thinking you have to change the roll bar if you get a hardtop!!! If you don't have to change it your questions about bolt holes and work needed are moot.

I still like my answer best. Call or email Boss Frog and ask them!

There aren't alot people out there that have taken out a perfectly good roll bar to install a another one very similar. I'm ugrading from the autopower street bar to a Solo 1 approved set up but they bolt up completely differently from each other.

Have you ever tried to put a hardtop on over your current set up?

No, I havent tried to. Aside from the hard top issue, Im also wanting a new look, which is why I said HD single hoop of some kind. I cant see Boss Frog having info on if their bars will share mounting holes with a HD bar. From the pictures Ive seen, they seem to bolt up in similar places, which is why I was kind of worried. I guess I will just have to try it and see what happens. Or just shut up and deal with the non hardtop compatible issue. I wish I had checked the little "Make hard top compatible for $X more" box when I ordered them. I meant to but forgot. Oh well. Thanks for the input.

From my understanding, you can put a hardtop on with a non-hardtop roll bar but with some minor issues. The bar can hit the top and rub. This leaves fiberglass dust being distributed in the car. The side latches dont work well with the bar, but you can swap out the latches for spec latches or one of the other latches out there. There also has been an instance where a hardtop has been put on a car will a non hardtop roll bar and it actually broke the window of the hardtop.

Also from my understanding, each roll bar will have different mounting holes no matter what. For instance, if you had a hardcore bar and put another hardcore bar in, the holes wouldnt match up and you would have to redrill no matter what.

If you go with a hard dog as a replacement bar I bet Bethania will be more than happy to share that knowledge IF they have it!

Oh Hussie! Until now I thought you had forgotten all about me.
You were pretty drunk that night, so I'd understand if you didn't remember.:giggle:

Are you still being a bad boy?

Everyone is pointing you the wrong direction. You already have a Boss Frog, so your question should be posed to the Hard Dog folk.

Call Tom at 336-922-3018 or eMail him at cobradoc@juno.com - He's the top dog at HD...

- L

boss frog makes a single hoop bar,, also I have the std double hoop works with the hardtop.