Rear seat with cage pics?

I have been lurking around and searching for quite a while, but I can't seem to find an answer. I am going to be starting a cage soon in my 88' and I can't decide how I want to do the C-pillar down bars. I'm going to be doing a hybrid cage, and I'd really like the bars to come up close enough to the factory pillars to be able to gusset them together. I'd like to retain my rear seat too. I was hoping you guys might be able to post some pictures of your setups. Thanks a lot!

I have the bolt-in Rock Hard 4x4 cage in my 01, and I know, not the best option, but it sure does fit AWESOME. (I got it at a HUGE discount) Tons of space up front, in back, and it helped the body a lot.

Front-


Rear
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This is how I did the C pillars on my hybrid cage.



I can't find a pic with my rear seat in, so let me explain:
I moved the rear seat brackets so that the seat is a little bit more upright. I did this so I could fit in the full size 33" spare in the rear cargo area.
When I put the C-pillars in for the cage, I found they also contacted the rear seat upright a bit. I ended up taking the foam off the seat and notching the rear seat pan to go around C pillars.
I did not put an angle brace on the c Pillars as I did not want to lose that much rear cargo space. It's still nice to fold the rear seat down and use the whole thing once in a while.

I'll get some more pics tonight and post them up.

Look up EricsXJ build.

Im 6'2'' and fit in the back of his XJ perfectly.

Eric's was a sweet build, and I looked a lot at his when I was building mine.

Here are two more pics:

Here is the B pillar. I had to modify the cross brace to fit the rear facing baby seat when I built it. Since then, she can sit front facing and this works out pretty well. The back seat is tight, but it's usually only the 2 year old and the dog anyway. It's OK for adults for short trips.



Here is one more from the rear with all the stuff in the back. If you look at the C pillar on the right, you can see how the seats kind of conforms around it.

jdbwrx said:

Eric's was a sweet build, and I looked a lot at his when I was building mine.

Here are two more pics:

Here is the B pillar. I had to modify the cross brace to fit the rear facing baby seat when I built it. Since then, she can sit front facing and this works out pretty well. The back seat is tight, but it's usually only the 2 year old and the dog anyway. It's OK for adults for short trips.

Here is one more from the rear with all the stuff in the back. If you look at the C pillar on the right, you can see how the seats kind of conforms around it.

Click to expand...

Do you happen to have anymore pics of this? I have a child seat in mine as well but am curious on how you did the top of the cage..

I did a build thread on it a while ago. More pics here: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1056308&highlight=hybrid&page=2

jdbwrx said:

I did a build thread on it a while ago. More pics here: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1056308&highlight=hybrid&page=2

Click to expand...

Thanks!

you can somewhat see how i did mine on here... I have a buddy who is about 6ft 3 and 230 lbs that sits in my back seat. I didnt tuck the cage real close to the roof so thats his only issue. I have my three daughters in the back with no issue. 2 are in car seats (front facing) and one in a booster seat.

Now looking at the back of the one jeep that had a pic posted. Man how do you find anything back there?

jdbwrx said:

This is how I did the C pillars on my hybrid cage.

Click to expand...

Nice cage, off topic, holy crap, thats a big inverter, can you power a small town with that haha, I have a 1000w inverter & it powers anything I could fit in the jeep.

how much would I be looking at to have a cage installed? How does an interior cage differ to an exterior cage?

cdrake261 said:

how much would I be looking at to have a cage installed? How does an interior cage differ to an exterior cage?

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Answer 1: It depends if you do the work or if someone else does the work. Because you're asking these questions I'm going to assume you won't be doing the work. Secondly, are you going to buy a pre-fab cage or start from scratch? In your case if you bought a pre-fab and had someone install it IMO you're going to start at approx $750 and up. If you choose to have a custom cage built from someone else entirely from scratch, that number can start at $1500 and go up. More on the UP side. Plus I forgot to mention what material (HREW, Chromoly) you're going to use. That def. influences the $$.

Answer 2: The answer here goes far beyond what I'm going to say. But here is a SIMPLE response. An exterior cage provides protection to the body during rollovers, etc. as well as supports the uni-body, and it's main function of keeping the drivers and passengers safe.

The interior cage obviously does not protect the exterior panels but does keep the people inside safe in the event of a roll-over, but at a cost of less headroom (interior room overall).

A third option would be a "hybrid" cage. This is where the cage is both inside and outside the Cherokee. Giving it protection outside the vehicle (where it counts) by tucking other tubing inside fenders and in the interior.