Exo-Cage Kits?

This is a duplicate post from the Sierra Chapter.. asked the guys close to home first since they run the Rubicon frequently and figured they might have more 'cage time'. But why not toss it out to the whole gang..

I've done the search and can't seem to pin down a thread on exo-cage kits. I'll keep looking around the forums and Google tho'. Meanwhile, I thought you guys might have some insight for me. Any kits out there that you know of?

Eric's book says C-Rok has a good kit but it's not popping up on their website. I emailed them just now to inquire whether they still build them so will wait to hear back. Just looking for a weld together pre-bent kit to weigh my options for cost and time.

Me and my son-in-law (the fabricator/welder, and he has a bender) have done preliminary brainstorming on how to build a cage by using the JCR base roof rack without the side rails (http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/RCK/XJ-RCK-B.html) as a foundation, and building the cage incorporated into my AJ's front winch bumper and JCR tire carrier bumper and/or JCR lower panel guards and JCR Stage 3 sliders. I just finished installing the new Rusty's body panels/fender flares (http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-ex...es-xj.html),(I love them BTW - look good powder coated black to match my black paint and are very stout, but yes, they're expensive) and it seems perfectly reasonable that we could tie into these as well to cinch everything together. We would probably add horizontal pieces on top as a 'tree slider' as well and a low profile light bar for a 40" dual row LED bar, some tabs for lights in back, shovel/axe rack, and a mount for a couple Roto-Pac water jugs.

I guess I'm answering my own questions but it's experienced advice I'm looking for. Pros & Cons, ya know. What do you have, what do you like, what might you do differently and what haven't I thought about? Is it just dumb to think about 'pinning' the cage so it could be removed easily with the overhead hoist? Would that defeat the integrity of the cage?

For a rig I bought to tow my boat around Montana on vacation I've sure turned it into an addiction. Every time I add something (like the Rusty's Flares) it sparks a burning desire to do something more. Was not intended as a crawler and still isn't, but will be capable - I'm sort of 'hybridizing' it for Overland/hunting rig, crawler when needed or to try to hang with the bigger dogs when the opportunity arises .. it all started really when I bought Eric's beefed up diffs.. thanks man! Once I trimmed the fenders and added the flares it's screaming for 33s which I'll probably order tomorrow (I'm convinced I want 33 x 10.5" for more clearance than 12.5" and I'm leaning toward BFG KM2 over the Toyo MT - the only 10.5 options) then will end up with ACOS front and a 1" shackle kit for another inch lift, bringing the total to about 4.5 - 5.0. Then it'll probably require a longer shock to maximize flex.. blah, blah, blah. It's a flippin' disease as you guys already know. If it functions as good as it looks it'll be bad-ass. It's probably way prettier than most would like. Might as well try to keep it that way. Only need to bang it hard once to make it look like a beater - not that there's anything wrong with a beater if it performs. Seems like everyone who builds an XJ goes through various stages of changes/improvements.. again, an incurable disease.. but fun and satisfying, eh?

All this is in hopes of making the 4th Annual Reno Run so I can say it's not just a mall-crawler. Looking forward to the pucker factor.

Anyway, I appreciate any feedback.

Gary
__________________
1999 XJ Sport 4.0L Black
Mods: $$$$ Cash $$$$ :twak:

S&w race car

great-white said:

S&w race car

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Thanks for the suggestion but this appears to be an internal cage ("through dash").

http://www.swracecars.com/store/Jeep-Cherokee-XJ-84-0110-Point-Roll-Cage-OSCARItem_35=11-2587.aspx

I want to protect the XJ roof and body panels as well as passengers and have an integral roof rack with the Exo-Cage. The internal cage won't do these things.

Gary

Seems like that cage might be a little lightweight to serve as a halo for the cage. I'm not a builder, just thinking about a hard roll, full weight of an XJ on that with a shock load from the roll, I wonder about it. I'd build the cage you want and weld the rack to it.

if you want a good Exo- that will protect the vehicle and not get trashed the first time it gets flopped you really are better off starting fresh with your own tape measure and a pile of tubing.
any kits, if you find any, will be somewhat "generic" and will not be as tight to the body as you want. just like clothing, a bigger shirt will fit more people than the "just right" size. and fab companies have no interest in dealing with the complaints about how their kit doesnt exactly fit the variances of pre-abused rock sliders and fenders.
and it's likely you would end up wanting to reconfigure certian parts of the pre-bent cage to fit your personal desires.
a cage isnt as big an undertaking as it seems, especially if you have experience in fabrication.
i'd suggest bending your own roof hoop, rather than trying to adapt to a roof rack, too. the hoop will be what matters the most if you roll.
build it solid with multiple attachment point. the less the cage deflects when you bump it the better.

if you want an exo, do the hybrid design instead where you put the B and C and D pillars through the roof and tie them into the floor and then sandwich that between plates to the underside to the frame with tie ins.

run stiffeners first.

I spent about 450$ on 1.5" .120 DOM, I think I went with around 140 feet, cant remember. borrow or buy a JD2 model 3 bender, and go to town on the thing.

Read tube bending 101 on Pirate.

A kit would be crazy expensive, and you would still end up doing almost as much work as building it yourself.


if you want a kit, go with the S&W internal, if you want an EXO, buy some tube and start practicing bends.

sidriptide said:

if you want a good Exo- that will protect the vehicle and not get trashed the first time it gets flopped you really are better off starting fresh with your own tape measure and a pile of tubing.
any kits, if you find any, will be somewhat "generic" and will not be as tight to the body as you want. just like clothing, a bigger shirt will fit more people than the "just right" size. and fab companies have no interest in dealing with the complaints about how their kit doesnt exactly fit the variances of pre-abused rock sliders and fenders.
and it's likely you would end up wanting to reconfigure certian parts of the pre-bent cage to fit your personal desires.
a cage isnt as big an undertaking as it seems, especially if you have experience in fabrication.
i'd suggest bending your own roof hoop, rather than trying to adapt to a roof rack, too. the hoop will be what matters the most if you roll.
build it solid with multiple attachment point. the less the cage deflects when you bump it the better.

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This. and id highly recomend 1.75 dom not 1.5 my hybrid cage has a b and d pillars and has survived a good bit of abuse.

Wow! Great responses guys. Exactly what I was looking for. Funny thing about a little research and advice through experience, sometimes it makes me re-think the whole shaboom and decide what I thought I had to have might be overkill for the intended use.
Don't think you've wasted your breath on me if I decide to go with just a roof rack and add 'tree sliders', considering the intended use and likely infrequency of getting into situations where I might actually need a cage, and whether I would actually have the stones to push the rig to those limits - at my ripe old age and the bucks I have invested in this thing - it's likely I'd back out, at least until I get some real rocky stuff under my belt and learn the limits/capabilities of the Cherokee and my driving abilities. Chances might be good that the Jeep has more capability than I have guts, at least judging by some of the You Tube stuff I've watched - there's some stuff being done out there that there's no way I'd try, at least at this point. Also have to consider the passengers, wife, grand kids, etc. If it spooks me it might just spook them into never getting in the Jeep with me again and I might have to install garage made scabs on the cage so every XJ that drove by me wouldn't point and laugh at how pretty it is - I certainly don't wanna be 'that guy'. :looser:
And, a great point one of you made - other than rear quarters most of the body panels are fairly easy to replace. I just finished installing Rusty's fender armor with steel flares on all 4 corners, have rear lower panel guards, skids, sliders, bumpers.. should be good to go.
Forgive the babbling - I'm on zero sleep in 30+ hours but it looks like I've talked myself out of it with your help, and I appreciate it. That's pretty cool to get great feedback to help with good decisions. Don't wanna get mushy on all y'all but you came through big-time. Some say the tree sliders are unnecessary as well but I'm going to stick to my guns on that one. There are mucho-plenty trees and off camber stuff on the trails I intend to run. Save the roof, the trees will save me from a rollover.

Hehe.. I've had this rig for a year and a half and have probably driven it 200 miles.. all on pavement. It's going to be your quintessential "bought, not built" XJ. Sorry but I have no welding or fab skills. That's all I need is to learn that stuff and I'll be welding crap on until death do us part and never get it out of the shop.

33 x 10.50 KM2 with Black Rock fake bead locks go on tomorrow morning. Then it's bumpstop and maybe add ACOS and rear shackles. I'm gonna take this thing out in the hills and play! I'll get the lockers and compressor wired up soon but I need to DRIVE this thing. Time to stop talkin' and start rockin'! It ain't like I don't have 40+ years 4x4 experience in a lot of different conditions.. hell I pulled an 8000lb LMC 1500 snowcat as far as possible with a chained on all 4 pickup until I'd get stuck then offload the cat and yard the truck out and continue the trip to 8 - 10,000' microwave sites on a daily basis for years.. in both Montana and N. Nevada I've just never had a 'built' 4x4.. get over it and get on with it already.

Whew, I've worn myself out.. I can imagine how you guys are doing :wow:
If nothing else, the next guy that types Exo-Cage in the search line will get this one on top. Hope it helps him, too.

Thanks again. All decisions are subject to change when building an XJ.

Gary

If you don't have the fab skills you're stuck with the sw internal cage.

I have someone with the fab skills, just not me. He's all for building the cage; he thinks the XJ is his in the Will and that I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.. LOL! I just tell him I'm building myself one hella stout casket.. LOL x 2.

Build the cage you want. This isn't something you can buy off the shelf.
I don't think I would do the roof rack into a cage thing. You may think you will never need it and you will back out of it before you push your rig to that limit... but rolls rarely happen when expected. Also, a well designed cage will save your rig from tearing itself apart.

I considered buying a cage for years, but could never find what I wanted. I looked at hundreds of cage pics. I ended up borrowing a bender, ordering the tubing, buying a $200 welder off craigslist and going to town (I only tacked it together, I took it to my bro-in-law who builds big rig trailers to do the actual welding.). I had never done any fab work before, and at first I though I was in way over my head. I spent most of my time just staring at my jeep trying to envision what I wanted. I wanted sliders on the roof, so I based my cage on a design that incorporated that. After a couple weekends I had the cage I envisioned. I love how it came out, and I'm glad I chose to just do it myself. I got exactly what I wanted.

Any pictures and/or details? Would love to see it.

Thanks.

jrowell said:

Build the cage you want. This isn't something you can buy off the shelf.
I don't think I would do the roof rack into a cage thing. You may think you will never need it and you will back out of it before you push your rig to that limit... but rolls rarely happen when expected. Also, a well designed cage will save your rig from tearing itself apart.

I considered buying a cage for years, but could never find what I wanted. I looked at hundreds of cage pics. I ended up borrowing a bender, ordering the tubing, buying a $200 welder off craigslist and going to town (I only tacked it together, I took it to my bro-in-law who builds big rig trailers to do the actual welding.). I had never done any fab work before, and at first I though I was in way over my head. I spent most of my time just staring at my jeep trying to envision what I wanted. I wanted sliders on the roof, so I based my cage on a design that incorporated that. After a couple weekends I had the cage I envisioned. I love how it came out, and I'm glad I chose to just do it myself. I got exactly what I wanted.

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Sure, here you go:


http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1100389

I think the most important thing you said is grand kids. You're not gonna get spooked as easily knowing you have a well designed well built cage protecting you and loved ones. If there was a place not to skimp, it's safety. Spend the money on a quality purpose built cage.

That blue heep is sweet. Man I shoulda learned fab and welding 40 years ago. And you did this on the fly with no previous fab experience? You're smarter than your friends give you credit for. I don't know how far I can talk the son-in-law into going without the rig being down for several months. Can't understand why a guy who wrenches 12 hours a day underground doesn't show more enthusiasm for working on my junk on his days off? He can spend time with his kids when they're all growed up.

No consideration to tying into the quarter armor bars? I guess that wouldn't add to the structural rigidity.. Was one thing we were looking at doing with my new Rusty's (just like those -JCR? - with added steel flares) but makes sense to me now to not do it but tie into the frame and go interior like you did.
I don't see it happening for a good long while. I also don't think I'll go radical enough to need it. Just use my head instead of the go pedal.

Anyway, admirable job and thanks for info/input.

Rig wont be down for months. Wont really be down at all.
you can design the Halo and any external stuff piece by piece and mock it up as you go. then plan a big weekend for any through the roof tie ins.

FWIW, I think T&J Performance has a much better fitting internal 8-point cage kit than SWRacecar.

That's what I used as a starting point and added onto it.

I was into materials for around 500$ for hybrid exo, but it took me like 5 months and all my free time to make my cage by myself.

The 5 months of free time is worth the extra money to buy a prebuilt cage (even internal) for 850$ shipped, basically 350/(5*30) ~ 2.33$ a day. (I didn't work on it every single day)

Maybe they will do a Naxja discount ?

NOTNSUV said:

That blue heep is sweet. Man I shoulda learned fab and welding 40 years ago. And you did this on the fly with no previous fab experience? You're smarter than your friends give you credit for.

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Thanks man. Ya, no fab experience... I just jumped into the deep end. Glad I did, because I came out of it with exactly what I wanted.

NOTNSUV said:

No consideration to tying into the quarter armor bars? I guess that wouldn't add to the structural rigidity.. Was one thing we were looking at doing with my new Rusty's (just like those -JCR? - with added steel flares) but makes sense to me now to not do it but tie into the frame and go interior like you did.

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I didn't want to go too far into the "Road Warrior" look. The JCR's protect really well.

My rig was down for over a month. Didn't matter to me, as it is not a DD. Take your time, go through tons of pics of cages, read the bending 101 on Pirate. Sketch it out, and just jump in and do it. You won't be disappointed.

Any local metal supply place will carry bend/cut it yourself cage kits. I just bought a roguefab bender and I already had a welder. Hybrid exo is in my future also. I can weld, I have just never bent up a cage. However bending 101 makes it look simple and it's basically doing the math/cutting/measuring.