Roll cage build

[ZACHV]

Well, it had become apparent that my buddy could not improve his looks, or functionality, so we decided to at least make his Jeep look better, and more functional. I owe a serious thanks to my buddy Bill who is helping me with the build so that it actually stands a chance of seeing his Jeep before New Years.

Here are some pics of what we have been doing on Day One.

First, you have to take all of the crap out, and there was a BUNCH of crap:



Then we could actually start building something:





That is it for Day One. Believe it or not, that there is a pretty solid 10 hours of work from two pretty skilled men. There is a bunch more tube to add and finish up the seat tie-ins, which Bill figured a super slick way to do, and then take the whole thing out for final welding and paint. We hope to have it to that point tomorrow night. We shall see.

Comments, suggestions??

[ZACHV]

Okay, new pics after Day Two. Another 10-12 hours were put into it today by Bill and I. This was detail day with making sure all systems work and fit. There are some tight details that had to be incorporated.

Got node??



There is a bunch of headroom in this thing.



Here is how we made the rear seat safe and secure.

[metalfab755]

that looks pretty nice, and strong too. how the tubing on the top is bent in and up looks pretty awsome. nice job.

[Fishy Jim]

I dig it too.

[Sandy]

I watched a young guy roll his land cruiser about two/three weeks ago. Went sideways on wet paved corner and flipped when it hit the soft shoulder. Low speed, about 30-35. Rolled twice and came up on it's wheels. It was a lot simpler than the one you've got here, and it caved a bunch, but it sure saved his bacon.

Excellent job there.

Oh by the way--------those bullet holes----------------when my youngest first got his new silver ford diesel my daughter-in-law got some of those on put them on his tailgate. Blended in perfect. He went nuts!!! Took him ten minutes to figure out why no-one else was as jazzed as he was.

[hooohaa2]

I like the way the rearmost support ties into the rest of the cage, gives me some ideas.

[Storydude1]

Great work as usual there man.

[INTP]

Looks like a lot of work, and good work at that.

Please forgive my ignorance, but I have a question about the bends in some of the tubes. Keep in mind that I've read books, but have no actual experience, so I'm aware there's a lot I don't know .

From what I've read, though, the bends in the middle of a tube weaken that section. In this cage, there are bends on the tubes by the doors, in the halo braces, and also on the back supports. Is there a specific reason for them to be there? I guess the bends in the halo braces are for headroom, but the reasons for the other ones are less clear to me. I've noticed these kinds of bends a lot more in 4x4 cages than in other types (e.g. NHRA or Road Racing [SCCA or NASA] cages). Just curious.

[westval]

I've noticed that most of the 4x4 cages out there don't incorporate Z-braces. Is that strictly for passenger legroom reasons, or do you guys do that for some other reason? Cage looks good. Post some pics on the trail when your done.

[wworks]

what knd of bender did u use, do u have any pics?