Tubing through sheetmetal

[karstic]

Planning out a cage and one design has the pillar legs going through the roof and tying into a halo/roofrack.

My Jeep is a semi-daily driver so I would like to keep the passenger compartment weather tight.

Anyone done it? How did you seal it?

 

[JeepFreak21]

This is discussed in one of the URF cage threads. CRASH suggests welding the tube directly to the roof.

I'll probably ask his wife to weld mine when the time comes

Billy

 

[beakie]

any thought of sandwiching the roof. weld plate to top of cage, plate to bottom of halo/roofrack. sandwich the roof with these two, 4 bolts, each at one corner.
should be strong and will keep it weather tight.

 

[mattyj]

any thought of sandwiching the roof. weld plate to top of cage, plate to bottom of halo/roofrack. sandwich the roof with these two, 4 bolts, each at one corner.
should be strong and will keep it weather tight.

This is what i did. They tie the exo into internal bars/hoops at the b & c pilar areas. Basically inside there is a matching plate that follows the contour of the roof and sandwiches it together.

here is a shot before the plates at the c pillar were added and it was all welded up.

 

[karstic]

Matt

Do you have a picture from inside?

 

[karstic]

This is discussed in one of the URF cage threads. CRASH suggests welding the tube directly to the roof.

I'll probably ask his wife to weld mine when the time comes

Billy

Yeah that was my initial idea, but how has that held up to flex of the cage/body?

 

[JeepFreak21]

This is what i did. They tie the exo into internal bars/hoops at the b & c pilar areas. Basically inside there is a matching plate that follows the contour of the roof and sandwiches it together.

here is a shot before the plates at the c pillar were added and it was all welded up.

Dayum! That is clean! More pics please!!

Also, did you use any 'gaskets'?

Billy

 

[Zebaru]

I made some sheet metal rings that I welded to the roof and the through bars - didn't get my holes precise enough to weld directly to the roof. I used a poly sealant of some sort afterwards because I had a hard time getting the area right under the tube welded...

The rings don't show, but you can see how close the bar is...

I have no idea if it is watertight, but so far flex, etc. has not been an issue.

 

[ruggedjeep]

Matt

Do you have a picture from inside?

Mattys rig.

 

[JeepFreak21]

Mattys rig.

So, the flanges must be under the headliner? What's with the other two flanges between the B & C Pillars?
Billy

 

[mattyj]

So, the flanges must be under the headliner? What's with the other two flanges between the B & C Pillars?
Billy

Yep it bolts in under the headiner. The other flanges were so after the intial mock up, the inner cage could be removed in two aparts to have full circumference welds at all joints. There are solid sleed slugs inside the tubes at the joint flanges, so side shear isnt a problem.

 

[mattyj]

Matt

Do you have a picture from inside?

Here is another from the back and side. I dont have a close up of the flange at the roof from the inside though....

 

[karstic]

Thanks for the pictures, Matt

So is it the diagonals that tie into the bracket on the roof?

Does the tubing go through the roof and are welded to the bracket for the halo? Or is the roof sandwiched between two plates?

Gonna be at JV?

 

[mattyj]

Thanks for the pictures, Matt

So is it the diagonals that tie into the bracket on the roof?

Does the tubing go through the roof and are welded to the bracket for the halo? Or is the roof sandwiched between two plates?

Gonna be at JV?

Correct, the diagonals at the B and C pillars tie into the roof halo. So 4 places in total.

The tubing doesnt go through the roof. The roof is sandwiched between 2 matching contoured plates.

Yep, i'll be at JV...... see ya there mate!

 

[corbinafly]

Matty's exo is probably the cleanest I've ever seen on an xj. It definitely saved him some serious sheetmetal carnage a couple weeks ago in JV. I can't say the same for my sheetmetal.:tears:

And since the cat's out of the bag. I'm gonna post this pic Matt. Hope you don't mind.:wave1:

 

[mattyj]

here are a couple more.....

the roof before the internal tie-ins were done.

lifting it back off to weld the underside of all joints

 

[87manche]

very clean.
the cage tie in plates are super trick.

 

[TheAlmightySam]

Wow, that is an impressive exo! Usually I don't dig how they look, but that's really impressive. Nice work!

 

[djblade311]

holy sheet eerr tube Matty! That is nice!

 

[rpraterxj]

I WANT ONE!!!!

So Matty, would your buddy be interested in making another one? I am extremely serious!

I can't wait to see it in JV next week!