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Built my exo cage this weekend... Opinions please!

truck7575

truck7575

NAXJA Forum User
Location
georgetown
My buddy Jay Nikolai and I built my exocage this weekend and I wanted to see what everyone thought.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1099970&id=1623891907&ref=fbx_album

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1099971&id=1623891907&ref=fbx_album

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1099982&id=1623891907&ref=fbx_album

Future plans include bars to connect front hoop to front bumper along with a bar to connect cowel hoop to top of cage and four supports to go through the roof down to the unibody. The top is your basic pattern three tubes one front one back and one half way in the middle and braces going from corners to center to triangulate.

Please give me some good feedback. Oh and did I mention Jay is a helluva welder
 
I like what you did with the tube on the rear fenders. I have been wanting to do something like that for a while now. I like what you did except I dont like how the roof looks. but thats just my oppinion. I guess its just too high or something. That could also be used as a roof rack tho so whatever. All in all I think it looks good.
 
Hello,

Looks pretty good, just a few comments (Since you asked)
You obviously had a bender of some sort, Why did you not bend the roof bars and uprights to match the contour of the body ?

Nitro
 
Here ya go...

45438_1463117710956_1623891907_1096557_190773_n.jpg


41144_1464595987912_1623891907_1099970_6558802_n.jpg


41016_1464596747931_1623891907_1099971_264801_n.jpg


45220_1464604628128_1623891907_1099982_2724783_n.jpg
 
Not knocking your work, but the roof does not look like it would hold up to a flop or roll. It would be much stronger if the roof hoops were bent rather than just welded together at the joints.
 
jeeperjohn said:
Not knocking your work, but the roof does not look like it would hold up to a flop or roll. It would be much stronger if the roof hoops were bent rather than just welded together at the joints.
Click to expand...

Bending a tube does not add strength to it.

I would say what the cage needs is more gussets and when you add internal bracing make sure you add lots of triangulation.
 
my plans are to gusset almost every joint on the cage, atleast the major ones. About bending it to the curvature of the body, well the reasoning on that was more for protection than anything, if I tip into a tree or rock i thought the space would help. I plan to run four support pipes from the roof structure through the roof and weld them into the unibody. I basically had to get as much of this done as I could in 2 days and thats what you see. I dont think Ill need a bender to complete the rest of the project. Please more feedback if anyone has anymore, ill try to take a pic of the top of the roof and some more close up pics to post, these pics were done with my cell phone.
 
9T3XJ said:
Bending a tube does not add strength to it.

I would say what the cage needs is more gussets and when you add internal bracing make sure you add lots of triangulation.
Click to expand...

I would argue a one piece bent hoop would have more strength than those welded together nodes that have the heat effected zones at the welds, but either works with enough bracing like you mention.
 
oh, and just to throw this out there, this is my first cage. I have 24 foot of tube left would I benefit more from adding lots of triangulation and gussets or from running support beams to the unibody because I think I have enough for one or the other but not both.
 
I would have built the rear of the cage a lttle further out, and maybe a B-pillar bar as well. that fiberglass hatch and tail light lenses aint cheap. and a b-pillar bar would add alot of strength to the roof. but that aside, not bad for your first try. I gauranee the second time around will ahve all the fanciness these boys round here ask for! lol
 
yeah, I had to air mine down but they went around twice. About the B-pillar post, I wasn't sure if I should do that or not because it had to stick out so far for the doors to be able to open but I figured I would just run a post inside through roof at b pillar to unibody instead so I don't need to bend the tube. I figured this would be even stronger since it would be a straight pipe instead of a bent up one around the edge.
 
I am not a cage expert by any means, I do like exo-cages though; and I have one on my Jeep. Some here like them and some don't, so you will get lots of opinions on this. The argument against is often "waste of time", "waste of money", "won't protect you in a roll", "going to hang up on everything on the planet", "going to fold like a taco", blah, blah, blah. Everyone's needs are different. If your intention is to protect the body from damage by trees and rocks it looks like this work. If your intention is to protect the body AND occupants in a roll or flop, it looks like you've got some work to do. It would be difficult (or impossible) to protect in a roll without some internal triangulation. With that said, I like what you did with the rear quarter and the front fender. I do not like the boxy look of the rest of it though. I prefer an exo that is tight on the body. Its just my opinion on the looks, if you like it then it's OK.
 
So what if I run two tubes down by the b-pillar then attach them by an oh shit handle for the rear seat then run two tubes down the c-pillar about where the back of the rear seat would sit then attach them with two tubes forming an x would this make the cage strong enough to survive a rollover?
 
Go on advance fabrication, there are some good builds on their. Check out ericsxj cage. They take a lotta time and work. Dont try and get it all done in a weekend.
 
luvherinmyjeep32 said:
I would argue a one piece bent hoop would have more strength than those welded together nodes that have the heat effected zones at the welds, but either works with enough bracing like you mention.
Click to expand...

jeeperjohn said:
Granted but it is stronger than 3 or more tubes welded together in that fashion.
Click to expand...

I would disagree with both these statements. A bend, whether at a node or not, doesn't add anything in terms of strength (assuming proper welding techniques were used). A good example of this is desert racing, the majority of new cars are built with mostly straight tubing.

I don't think its really worth arguing in this case though, I think the main thing to focus on with this cage is adding internal bracing and triangulation to make sure it's safe. If it were me I would have bent the roof bars simply because it makes it easier to slide over rocks and trees. Square corners don't slide very well when they're dug into a rock :)
 
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