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exocage

YELLAHEEP said:
LOL - yeah, I was looking at the same thing...... maybe he just got a bit carried away with the chain straps? Stretched it backwards a bit? His rear leafs at the shackles look worn out - no arch to 'em. :laugh3:

Nice looking exo though. I've been eyeing some others and your's looks good particularly the front sides and bumper connections. I'd agree that it needs alot of gussetts yet since there isn't alot of triangulation. But it's certainly better than no protection at all. I like it!
Click to expand...


The rear is sitting that way because the leafs are wore out. Right now it sits at probably 2.5 to 3'' of lift in the rear. The lift was on the rig when I got it. It has a 1'' block, long shackles, and an AAL. It will get the short shackes and a full 4.5 to 5'' lift spring. The rear does not rub, it does not even come close at full compression. The rear is so wore out though, that I am almost riding on my bump stops.
 
For not being a big fan of exo's, I like what you did. Nice and simple. If you have to change it, it should be an easy exercise.

Oh, and IMHO, stay away from the gussets. :D

--ron
 
Captain Ron said:
For not being a big fan of exo's, I like what you did. Nice and simple. If you have to change it, it should be an easy exercise.

Oh, and IMHO, stay away from the gussets. :D

--ron
Click to expand...


Can you give me some sound advice as to why not gussets and what would you do about triangulation? Nice, I will agree with you. Simple, not really.
Thanks
 
afd516 said:
Can you give me some sound advice as to why not gussets and what would you do about triangulation? Nice, I will agree with you. Simple, not really.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I don't know about sound... :D

It may not have seemed simple while you were fabricating it, but you did end up with some basic, very sound, method of construction and layout above the bumper line. That given, you are working off of leveraged planes in areas susceptible to problems on a unibody...

Anyways, IMHO, gussets are a stress riser in 3D planes. There are alot of long winded engineering priciples involved, but to sum up a very basic, real life effect, think of this...

The gussets shown by Brett are .187" or .250" HRS steel. Your tube, I'm assuming, is .120 wall. So think .187", plus your weld base, and you end up with a non load bearing structure more than double your tube wall thickness. What is going to fail first? Do you really want that?

One of the most enlightening things I've seen is a kind of stress experiment. A piece of round tube was placed in enormous compression, around 80% of it's tensile. Tap it with an ice pick, and it fails completely, and totally. A gusset does the same thing in practice, but there are even more factors involved that lessen a gusset's effectiveness.

Triangulation. Vertical, port and starboard, (fore and aft should be a given...) the survival sheer plane. Horizontal above the passenger compartment is alot of hot air as far as I'm concerned, until some one can show me conclusively otherwise in an XJ that has the roof on it.

It's also an ineffective use of material. Putting an "X" on the roof is beyond stupid for the average homebuilder (Uh Oh...). :D

--ron

PS: "I" beams baby. :D
 
Captain Ron said:
It's also an ineffective use of material. Putting an "X" on the roof is beyond stupid for the average homebuilder (Uh Oh...). :D
Click to expand...
It sure would help if the house ever flopped, I know that much.:D
 
Alright, to be honest with you Captain, I understood about half of what you said. When I built the cage, I did what made sense. I built it peice by piece on the rig. The bumpers are there to stay. Needless to say.

If you look I tied the cage in at the roof in seven places, 3 down the middle and 2 on each side. The whole roof would have to twist off. If that ever happens I was doing something I did not need to be doing.
 
afd516 said:
Alright, to be honest with you Captain, I understood about half of what you said. When I built the cage, I did what made sense. I built it peice by piece on the rig. The bumpers are there to stay. Needless to say.

If you look I tied the cage in at the roof in seven places, 3 down the middle and 2 on each side. The whole roof would have to twist off. If that ever happens I was doing something I did not need to be doing.
Click to expand...
I saw his cage and, even though I don't prefer exos, it seemed to be an all-around very well made cage.
I really like how he tied the cage to the roof.
Even his tailpipe looks solid.
Got a pic of that?:D
 
overall it does look well build,
but i would think about running some 1.5"x1/4" flat bar along the roof line where the old roof racks bolted in and tie the exo into that to make the whole thing tie together with the uni-body and making it more rigid.
exocage010.jpg


i like it!
 
Captain Ron said:
I don't know about sound... :D



Anyways, IMHO, gussets are a stress riser in 3D planes. There are alot of long winded engineering priciples involved, but to sum up a very basic, real life effect, think of this...

The gussets shown by Brett are .187" or .250" HRS steel. Your tube, I'm assuming, is .120 wall. So think .187", plus your weld base, and you end up with a non load bearing structure more than double your tube wall thickness. What is going to fail first? Do you really want that?

One of the most enlightening things I've seen is a kind of stress experiment. A piece of round tube was placed in enormous compression, around 80% of it's tensile. Tap it with an ice pick, and it fails completely, and totally. A gusset does the same thing in practice, but there are even more factors involved that lessen a gusset's effectiveness.
Click to expand...

I just like the bottle opener!

I think the main application for that kind of gusset is to increase weld surface for welders who don't have 110% confidence in their welding on the actual tube joint.

This is a better way to go (bent tube):
 
Dan Turner said:
Just for future reference, it is usually a better idea to place the weld seam of a tube anywhere but the outside of the bend. Other than that, it looks good.
Click to expand...


As I was building it, I saw that the seam was on the outside. I did try to get most of them on the inside but I did not notice until the second or third day of working on it. I know next time.

If I would have used seamless.....

BrettM I am Very confident in my welding. That tube body is awsome. Now there is some triangulation.
 
So I was wondering what does it look like now? Any updates? I am going to start working on my jeep this spring and I love the way you have so many pictures and feedback for me to follow as to what to do and not to do so I can get a cool and fuctional exo in one package. I just can't believe this is your first cage. If I am able to I will do my own cage, I have welded farm stuff in the past couldn't be much different.

Have you started on the inside yet. If you have I would love to see some of that. If not have you thought of doing a tirangle instead of a h or b pillar? you could tie it in in the bottom floor frame rails and tie the top into the center of the top of your exo by sandwiching the cab between the exo and indo. It would give you more room the the B and be more functional than the h.

Just out of curiosity how much money do you have in pipe and welding consumables? Also what pipe bender do you use. Thansk alot I hope you come back to your thread.
 
I have not started the inside yet. I just got some 4'' BOR leafs that I am in the process of installing right now. I have the old ones out and I am going to box in the new ones with some plate and also run the plate on the bottom of the floor board around the box for the leafs. I am then going to have plate on the inside and bolt the two together to give the gage somewhere to sit. The basic idea is to tie the cage to the supension.

I will post pics as I get further along it may take a month or so but I at least hope to make some progress this weekend on the boxing in of the leafs.

I am just leavin the holes alone. It is mainly a trail rig so I do not care about the holes. By the time I am done there will be more holes than I will know what to do with.

If you have anymore ?'s, ask away.
 
jclaudii said:
So I was wondering what does it look like now? Any updates?
Click to expand...

Check out the links at the bottom of my posts. There has not been any updates but I am about to start on it again. Oh, the cage performed very well on the trip in the pics.
 
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