D&C cage unibody tie in Q's. Sorry dialup users, beware!

I got my D&C cage installed and noticed something odd. When riding down a bumpy freeway and driving at a certain speed I noticed that the roll cage will move and ocilate opposite the body motion. To attach it I plated the floor with 1/8" sheet steel. The foot plates were then welded to the 1/8" plated floor. Here some pic's on the install.





























To solve the problem I bought some more tube and I'm going to add some triangulation throughout the cage. However, I was also thinking that tying the cage into various points on the unibody frame would help as well.

Has anyone done this before and where are the best tie-in points are on the XJ unibody. Someone I talked with and respect suggested that tying in the cage that is currently attached to the floor only would put additional stresses on the rest of the unibody if I tied it into the roof. Please let me know your thoughts and experiences on doing this. I'd greatly appreciate the forums input.

I really like it D&C cage with one exception. It would be nice if the bar above the windshield contoured the top of the winshield frame closer. IMHO it would protect the front roof better and move it farther from the noggin'. If I hit the lotto and can buy a bender I'd do it. In the meantime it's heads up on the trail!

Cool, nice install. Ive been thinking about that company, since I don't have access to a bender.

About how much did the floor plating weigh? And they are just bolted through the floor it looks like. Anything on the under side to spread the load of the bolts?

Thanks. The D&C cage fit together real nice. However it took a while for it to get here. I had them make it from DOM rather than HREW. The floor plating and foot plates weight about 50 pound.

To attach them I put alot of of tubes of urethane door and windows caulk on the floor before setting them to keep them from sliding around on the floor. They are attached with bolts at least about 6" on center. There are 2" fender washers on the bottom for now. I was thinking about making a big sandwich plate for the bottom side too. But the frame wiggling on the freeway thing has gotta come first.

man thats pretty well reinforced as for the wiggle see if additional triangulation helps but i guess something is making the cage move... maybe balancing tires, t case and driveline, or maybe the unibody has some stresses... i guess give the unibody a good look too and look for stress fractures etc... awesome install!!

Thanks for the advice. I'll get the tires rebalanced. I know with all the gouges in them and from airing down they gotta need it.

Hopefully the triangulation will fix it up. Also I'll look the unibody seams over real good. If I find a problem with a seam I might just weld it back up with the MIG or I can borrow a spot welder from a friend. Should I ty the cage in at the b-pillar and the roof too? What do you think?

I added about 15' to mine and it made a big difference, but it still moves a bit. Sleeved the frame and will by tying it to frame this weekend(at least partially)if it ever stops raining.

so the 1/8" is bolted to the floor, and the cage is welded to the 1/8" ? just sort of wondering, looks real nice.

Thanks for sharing your experience. So far it sounds like some tire balancing and more triangulation is all I need to minimize this movement. Glad to hear it worked for your install.:thumbup:

I'll stick with just doing the triangulation. I guess I better go with the advice I got on not tying it into the roof and roof pillar supports. Don't want to create more of a problem by going overkill.

If someone has attached a cage to the roof or roof pillars please share your experience with this and let me know how it worked out. I though it might be cool to attach a roof slider to the cage top but don't want to FUBAR my unibody by attaching the cage to the roof.

I would add an X or an A to the B-pillar, tie the cage into the seatbelt bolts on the B-pillar, and add C-pillar tubes. Do you use a back seat?

Skullvarian said:

so the 1/8" is bolted to the floor, and the cage is welded to the 1/8" ? just sort of wondering, looks real nice.

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looks like the cage is welded to small squares of 1/4", which is welded to large pieces of 1/8", which is bolted and caulked to the floor. Looks like a great attachment method to me, and I highly doubt that is part of the problem.

Skullvarian said:

so the 1/8" is bolted to the floor, and the cage is welded to the 1/8" ? just sort of wondering, looks real nice.

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Thanks! Making the plates took longer than welding the cage and was a PITA. It was so much fun I kept the cardboard templates :spin1:

Yes, The plate 1/8" is bolted. There is also urethane sealant sandwiched between the plate and floor. This sealed it and keeps it from moving around and making noises. The footplates are thicker and 1/4" plate. They are welded to the 1/8" plate bolted and urethane bonded to the floor.

i like it, adds that little extra strenght.

Looks like your are protected against land mines as well. :gag: Just the right amount of overkill. Congrats.

The X brace sound like the ticket. Should brace it up amd help keep the gear in the rear. I want to keep the rear seat for the kids. So you think I should go ahead and tie it into the b and c pillars too?

The way you tied in the cage is interesting. All of that 1/8" plating really only weighs 50#?

I'm running the D&C cage as well. I put two sections of tubing right behind the back seat. The tubing ties into where the shock towers run under the floor so I wasn't just welding to the thin sheet metal floor.

(ignore the tape)


I also added some triangulation on top. In hindsight, it really isn't necessary to do as much as I did since it is mainly over the cargo area and I have yet to have a passenger ride in the back seat on a trail run.



The cage moved less with the two sections of tubing behind the rear seat, but it did just as you described when the Jeep was moving. After I rolled the Jeep, I added two small sections of tube from my rockers (cut out the stock ones and replaced it with box steel) to the base of the A pillar posts, and that almost eliminated all movement altogether. Since I wan't running doors anymore, it worked out nice. You can kind of see them in this pic:



My Jeep in now being scrapped, and all of the good parts are being transferred to my "new" two door. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the cage since my old Jeep was a four door and the new one is a two door. I'll figure out something...

Good job by the way...

its not worth keeping? you damage it that much in that roll?

Wow! thanks for you experience and advice. I stand corrected as my calculation were off. The additional plate and feet added somewhere around 140lbs. I do remember the cargo area one was a bit heavy and I needed some help from my friend. I used about 75% of a 4x8 sheet and that weighs about 160lbs. I guess once you start thinking about building a tank to drive around thats what happens. The weight go on and I close my eyes!

It's so cool to to hear from someone who's had the oscillation issue with a cage too. Glad to hear you got the problem fixed up good. I see you deviated from the D&C install and placed the rear pillar over the rear shackle mount. I like the way you think and thanks for sharing this with me! Sounds like getting the triangulation at the points you've shared with me will do the trick. I dig how you've got the triangulation on 2 axis in the cargo area and just aft of the rear seat.

I will take your advice and do something similar for the b&c pillars being it is the strongest place on the unibody to do this. Maybe with an X brace instead aft of the rear seat. For the A pillar I'll add the brace down to the floor plate where it kicks under the dash. Sounds like that did the most for you and makes sense cause that is where mine moves the most. Now I know what to do with that tube laying on the garage floor. Excellent!

Someday I'd like to tie it in to the slider rail with a beefed up rocker panel. But I haven't thought it through that far yet as you have done. Thanks again for you advice! :cheers:

Hopefully you can salvage some of that cage for your new ride. Then again it might be easier to start fresh.

Ramsey said:

its not worth keeping? you damage it that much in that roll?

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Well, it wasn't the first time the Jeep had been over in some way...

First time:



Second time:



Third time the Jeep did a complete roll and landed back on the tires. I believe that the D&C cage saved me from really getting hurt. The B pillar on the driver's side was smashed into the cage, about where my shoulder sits. The front end was so badly damaged that the radiator nearly fell out (bungee cords are great), and the front fenders sagged about 3 inches down and I had to Hi Lift them back into their original position. They no longer had any structure to the front and the whole body flexed so badly that I could literally grab the cage and move the upper part of the Jeep by pushing on it. I got a great deal on the "new" Jeep, so I decided to start over.





The "new" Jeep will have a hoop completely protecting the radiator this time around. I need to learn how to drive...

like a stinger style? would you build a bumper or tie it in in an exo? i have rustys stinger but am wondering how much good it could really do

At least you know exactly how far to push it and know what needs to be done to make it roll ready. :scared:

Is that the tank trap at Hollister? Looks knarly! Good to hear the cage held up well and sustained multiple roll overs. Look forward to seeing you next XJ evolution! An exocage over the hood with a stinger will make your next one the ticket to trail mastery. :attom: