Exo cage tube size?

Hey, I have been searching for a couple nights now and still cant find the common size that everyone is using to build an exo cage. I know some people dont like them but here in oregon we like to slide into tress..ALot. :roll: All i need to know is what size and thickness to use. Im not going to be rolling down cliffs and stuff so it doesn't need to be real heavy duty but still stong enought to kiss a couple trees. Thank you everyone who posts.

1.75" or 1.5" .120 wall. Its really personal preference. I use 1.75" and like it.

swbooking said:

1.75" or 1.5" .120 wall. Its really personal preference. I use 1.75" and like it.

Click to expand...

x2 sliders or tube fenders are usually 1.5 but i prefer 1.75 for all my main stuff - i have seen 1.5 and it can work fine... oh and most will say DOM but i have seen some bad ass work with HREW if you engineer it right!

I doing all of my cage tubing from 1.75" 0.120wall DOM, which seems to be the most popular size and wall thickness. Although, it won't be much of an exo, sorta a combo of both that and an interior one. I'm going to try to maintain a slim profile as much as I can.

Exo cages suck in the PNW, you will get hung up on trees unless you can tuck the tube tight against the body. A hybrid cage will work much better, mine uses 1.5 and 1.75 inch tube for different parts.





-Alex

Yeah I was gunna have my front bumper molded into the tube fenders with the rock sliders as well. This maybe a dumb question but what is the diffrence between DOM and HREW? What are the advantages. BA-Riedo, do you have a link of where i can see a build of a cage like that? Where does it connect inside the fender?

DOM is drawn over mandral.

HREW is hot rolled electric welded.

DOM is supposed to stronger, and there is now seam in the tube.

-Alex

Alright sounds like I got all my questions answered in the matter of 5 mins. Once I start the build I will post pics. Thank you everyone for the help.

1.5" .120 wall HREW is strong enough for what you want to do. The issue of strength between DOM and HREW is mostly the tube getting dented in when beat against rocks, trees won't be a problem. The quasi-exo cage on my XJ is 1.5" .120 HREW, the buggy is built from 1.5" .120 and .188 DOM.

I also agree about the full exo cage getting caught on stuff. Seems that the best XJ cages run the vertical tubes inside and then do a roof halo. Even better is the A pillar down bars running outside and into the fenders, this moves the A pillar hoop further forward for added strength and rigidity and protects the windshield and A pillars. The exo roof halo keeps the roof from getting caved in when a roll happens and gives something to rub against trees and rocks.

Something like this:

For the most part that's how I did mine as well:



although I used 1.75 x .120 for all of it. DOM, but I got it for $3.05/ft, so the price difference to HREW was negligible.

There's a few guys up here that have built some cages & chassis using 1-5/8" x .120 DOM...I really like that as a compromise.