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My rollbar is in!

P

Pete M

NAXJA Forum User
Location
S/E Michigan
Just wanted to share some pics of my newly completed rollbar. I am SOOO geeked about it! :D
Everyone sporting those tacky double-tube over-glorified chrome lightbars can now officially bite me. :moon:
It's made of 2" DOM .120 tube and is welded/bolted directly to the frame. A local fab guy did the bending/welding for me (it's mostly my design and I made the mounts and did the painting) and he did an excellent job! I have more shots and detailed info at: http://www.picturetrail.com/petermontie in the "current state" folder.
I really, really, really, really, really, really, like it! :D
Jeep on!
--Pete

48553760.jpg

48553744.jpg

48554063.jpg


The plate on the bumper will soon be bolted down and will strengthen both significantly. Cool ain't it? I can't take credit for it though, it was the fab guy's idea (I originally wanted to just bolt it to the bed).
48553790.jpg
 
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Looks great man!! Good job. Gotta get my cage done now. Did you tie it into the frame? Looks killer :D judd
 
MUDTRUK said:
Looks great man!! Good job. Gotta get my cage done now. Did you tie it into the frame? Looks killer :D judd
Click to expand...

This is the front mount. It's kinda hard to tell, but it consists of an angle-cut section of 1/4" wall 2x4" tube that's welded to a 4x4" plate which is welded to the frame.
48553734.jpg


This is the rear mount. Same setup as the front with the cut section of 1/4" wall 2x4" tube welded to a 4x4" plate, but I used a 5/8" bolt instead of welding the plate to the truck (it's not grade 8, but that'll change soon). The rear bumper bracket uses that bolt too.
48553738.jpg

Jeep on!
--Pete
 
Oh, and this is my new favorite paint. It dries to the touch in 15 minutes and looks almost like powdercoating. And I don't know how I ever got by without the trigger sprayer. It makes painting SOOOO much easier! :D
Jeep on!
--Pete

48629123.jpg
 
Man that looks sweeeet!! Its exactly what I am planning on doing.
did you have to take the bed off to get to the front mounts? How did you do it by the gas tank on the front drivers side?

Thanks

Wade
 
The bed was in place the whole time. We welded the mounts to the plate, then tacked the bar to the mounts, then we dropped the bar down to the ground and welded the bar to the mounts. (i.e. the bar was still in the bed and the ends were down through the holes) Then the bar was lifted back up and held in place while the plates were tacked in place, then once everything was situated, the plates were welded to the frame. (does that make any sense?) Welding the plates to the frame was a bit of a challange concidering the tight space, but the fab guy is a wiz at getting stuff done. :D A similar procedure was used for the rear bars (before they were final-welded to the main hoop).
I don't understand your question about the gas tank. The bars are on the outside of the frame.
Jeep on!
--Pete
 
Pete M said:
Oh, and this is my new favorite paint. It dries to the touch in 15 minutes and looks almost like powdercoating. And I don't know how I ever got by without the trigger sprayer. It makes painting SOOOO much easier! :D
Jeep on!
--Pete

48629123.jpg
Click to expand...

I've been using that paint for a while now and love it. I have noticed that on things like bumpers though you can never again get the bumper completely clean with that paint.
 
mad maXJ said:
are you planning on adding any triangulation to the main hoop? it would help immensly in a roll.
Click to expand...

That's coming in the next stage. Lots of stuff coming in the next stage. :D

commanche_man said:
Dude what year is that I have a 91 with a Dana 44 and want a lift similar to yours. And I like the rollbar, how much did it cost?
Click to expand...

The truck is an 88, but a Comanche is a Comanche is a Comanche when it comes to lifts. You'll need at least 4.5" to fit 33s.
The guy who did the bending/welding said that he can reproduce the entire thing for about $270. (I paid less cause I did all the prep work to the truck, made the mounts, and did the painting) A black single grizzly bar costs $266. But a well built custom bar would actually protect you in a roll and can be built however you like. :D I used 2" .120wall DOM tube. HREW is also acceptable. Just don't use any pipe. Pipe is for water, not protection.
Jeep on!
--Pete
 
Is the lift you have for it from a Cherokee? I was looking for maybe a 6 inch lift. I have a Dana 44 rear end so I do know if a Cherokee lift will work. I talked with some people and they said that I would need to get some custom parts. My Commanche has a Superlift on it but I'm not sure how much it is. I guess maybe it's about a 2 or 3 inch cause I 5'9" and I have to step up to get into it. Plus where do you live anyway, I live in Maine. Does the guy that built your rollbar put them right into the Jeep and cam one be mailed? I'm asking alot of questions cause this is my first 4X4, I've owned three cars before this one. I want to build my first Jeep up nice.
 
I'll feild this one. Our MJs use the exact same front lift as a Cherokee, but the factory put our leafs under the axle tube out back. Cherokees come with the springs on top of the axle. I'f you've got like a 2-3" lift, you've got an add-a-leaf in your stock pack. So what you do is, find the parts for a Cherokee front lift or go ahead and get an MJ-specific lift. It's the Cherokee front, but no rear springs, and most likely it'll have new shock mounts and spring perches for you to have welded on to your rear axle. I've got a Rubicon Express 5.5" MJ kit, and my rear sits a little lower than my front, with stock leaf packs, so you'll do well with the AAL. You may even get to use the coil spacers they send if you get RE - I couldn't, so I traded them. You don't need anything custom other than welding the new perches and shock mounts on.
I'm happy with my RE kit so far. There is also a Rusty's kit that I believe does a springover in the rear, but on his website I think it's called a 4.5" kit. I decided I'd prefer the 5.5" to the 4.5", but RE and Rusty's both have their supporters, and that's a whole nother discussion.
 
Yeah, what Phil said. :D My lift is a custom job, but that was only because I used Ford axles with the stupid Ford radius arms. Stick with Jeep-type stuff and you're on easy street compared to what I went through.
I'm in Michigan and it would be impractical to ship anything that far. Your best bet is to find a local 4wd shop/store and start tracking down a nearby fabrication shop. Check out some of the previous projects they've done and get a quote for the work you want. Fee free to take in pictures of my bar if that's what you are looking for. Make sure you ask for .120 DOM tube (HREW tube is also acceptable, but not as strong) and mandrel bends (meaning there are no kinks in the bends in the tube). Feel free to ask any questions that arise. There are plenty of guys here that know fab stuff. :D
Jeep on!
--Pete
 
i see that you have several inches of space between the bar and the bed sides, do you know how much that is? looks like about 4 inches on each side.

i'm thinking of doing the same thing on my MJ, but I would want it pushed all the way to the corners.
 
All 4 ends of my tube came down to about 1 inch off the frame. This was to make use of the mounts I had and keep it as strong as possible (the farther from the frame, the more leverage is placed on the frame attachment point). If you're just attaching it to the bed or if you have the where-with-all to fab up the required mounts, then the choices are wide open.
48553734.jpg

Jeep on!
--Pete
 
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