The rule states that if you sit over or in back of the rear end section, then you must have .120” min. steel plate securely mounted to the rear end center section if you use universal joints.
Just bought an altered last week with a 4 link rear. When sitting in my car I sit in front of the rear end, not over it or behind it. The back of the roll cage shoulder hoop is about plumb with the u-joint on the rear end but my butt is well in front of the rear end so it appears this rule wouldn’t require any steel plate. If yours is like this then it doesn’t appear to be required. There is a drive shaft loop directly below the front of the seat in my car and another about 10” towards the rear along with a 3" wide piece of .120" steel attached between the two that won’t allow a loose shaft to come up and bite me in the ass. The setup has repeatedly passed tech at many national NHRA events though I don’t know if the car ever went through IHRA tech.
Besides, the paragraph from the rule book appears to be talking about the preferred use of couplers instead of a driveshaft with a solid mounted rear end; couldn’t use a coupler instead of a driveshaft in our case. And there’s the driveshaft loop for the front of the driveshaft installed within 6” of the front u-joint.
Now if you’re sitting over the rear in your car then you might want to contact an IHRA tech person or an experienced chassis craftsman just to be safe. Myself, I want to keep all the parts I was born with in one piece cause I’m kinda attached to them so I’ll error on the side of safety. There’s two reasons my car is going to the chassis shop; making a few modifications to the car and letting the expert look for and fix any problems or concerns. Safety first.
