No top...no top at all.

Hey guys, Im new to the site and need some pics of topless XJ's. I saw the 2door one but thats not what Im looking for. I mean NO TOP, NO DOORS, NO WINDSHILD. Im thinking of buying a rolled XJ that is bone stock. I plan on choping off the whole top windshild ect... and building a full custom cage to keep the unibody from twisting. I need cage pics to get a rough idea of what I want to do. So far I think Im also going to add on a 3" lift, remove the front fenders, cut the hell out of the rear...heck maybe even chop the whole 1/4 panel off the rear, I dont know1 33's, and Lock-Rites front and rear. The whole point of this project is to keep it CHEAP!.

PM'd ya on a block if ya need one,

later,

eric

here is a pic of one, but its not very good. There is a much bigger pic of it hidden somewhere in jeepin.com, but I can't find it.

Damn...thats exactly what Im looking for....hmmm, I will e-mail Jason from Jeepn.com to see if he can help me find the picture. Thanks alot!!

Just an FYI:

The XJ is a unibody, and depends greatly on the top structure for chassis strength. you MUST either build a rollcage, or chop the unibody's "frame rails" off and mount the body on a real frame, if you intend on hacking the top off.

obviously, the cage is the better choice

That thing looks disturbingly good with zero sheetmetal up top! I can't wait until mine moves from daily driver to strictly trail rig.
The sawzall is burning a hole in my roll-away.

Just saayy nnooo, mmust reeessist!

That jeep was for sale about a year ago in Colorado. like 5500$ I think
very "earthy" type Jeep
He wouldnt sell me the dog though

First

Posted by Renegade Jpr:
"I plan on choping off the whole top windshild ect... and building a full custom cage to keep the unibody from twisting. I need cage pics to get a rough idea of what I want to do"

Then,

Posted buy CheapXJ
"The XJ is a unibody, and depends greatly on the top structure for chassis strength. you MUST either build a rollcage, or chop the unibody's "frame rails" off and mount the body on a real frame, if you intend on hacking the top off."


.... :twak:

Just reiterating the point.

and it's "by" not "buy" if you want to get picky.

hehehe ....I wasent trying to be a ass, just figured you dident see that or something

Well, anymore picks?

Whatever you do, don't copy the cage from that XJ in that picture......

That's hilarious! I didn't think that picture existed anymore. I bought that green, chop-top XJ a year ago. The guy claimed to have wheeled the thing on several occasions with that cage installed and it didn't flex the unibody at all. Well, lemme tell ya, that had to have been the biggest load of horse shiznit......

I had a buddy take me up to Bailey, Colorado where the thing was for sale and we put in on a tow dolly to get it home. Along the way, we hit a fairly big dip in the highway. I look back to make sure the Jeep was still there, and I see the two front doors are swinging open. We pull over and I try to close the doors, but they won't shut -- the unibody was bent right at the "B" pillar at the floor board, all the way across. I ended up parting the dang thing out.

The moral to my story is that the strength and design in a full cage like that is crucial to maintaining the integrity of your rig. DO NOT COPY ANY PART OF THE DESIGN OF THAT CAGE FROM THAT PHOTO'D RIG!!!!!!! Do, however, look up any of the past posts by "OneTon". His name is Sean Rose and he built a full cage, fully topless 4 door rig. THAT is the rig you want pics of. His cage is what you want to use as a guide.

That's my .2 cents worth.

Here's a pic of Sean's cage during construction. I'm not sure how much more was added or done after this picture. Sean has posted many pics of this rig in action, so you know it gets a workout. Only he could say how well it's holding up to the abuse.



This cage could be strengthened even more by running the diagonal members to corners and intersections rather than to the middle of another span. The diagonal tube crossing the drivers door attaches to the B pillar with no rearward support at that point. This significantly reduces the effectiveness of that diagonal. Likewise, the tube following the rear door opening provides little support. Although it would make rear entry difficult, a horizontal tube across the rear door opening, joining the B and C hoops (at the diagonal intersections) would help a great deal. Full diagonals or X's at the B and C hoops would help a great deal as well. I would also be sure to tie the A hoop into the front firewall/cowl and windshield frame. This is the strongest part of the original chassis. The old and the new can work together.

Ease of entry and passenger/cargo space vs strength. You have to make compromises towards one goal or the other.

You may be able to see them in this pic. I put small diagonals on the crossbars to tie into the A & B hoop repectively. This cage has been tested on every corner and then some and hasn't shown any signs of body flex that I know of. I was binding it up under almost full power on Upper Helldorado and was told that nothing moved at all. I've got more, but I'm on my way to a car show and thought I'd throw this up.

Sean

That cage looks great and very similar to what I had in mind. I have one problem though. The XJ Im looking into buying has been in a roll over. The windshild frame is gone, it seems to me that everybody keeps thiers because it a marjor factor in the unibody frame. How do you think I could over come this?

I think that while the windsheild may be a major part of the unibody frame, it is just that, a part. I can't see how it would offer any structural benefit at all without the rest of the roof that it ties into.

OneTon, anymore pics of your cage?

I'm sure everyone understands the concept of "unibody", so i won't go into any details other than to state that once you remove a single component from the "whole", everything else by itself, is a worthless, flimsy pc. of shit.

I love the XJ as a trailrig platform just as much as anyone else here, but let's face it, its fragile and weak, compared to a body-on-frame construction.

once you cut any leg of the "truss" for example, the d or c pillar, you might as well keep going. its not going to get any better, and once the damage has been done, things like wether or not the windshield remains is totally moot.

actually, without the roofline intact, I'd expect the windshiled frame to be as 'structural' as a fold-down CJ frame, and that's not saying a lot.

I have to agree with beezil here (oh god ). The windshield would do nothing more than keep the bugs out of your teeth and from your buddy goosing a couple pounds of mud in your lap as a joke. But oneton knows that and the is why he had new a pillars.

"Unibody" explains its strength and weaknesses in that one word. the body works together as a whole to devide as stresses to every portion of the chassis. If you remove even 1 point of stress you increase the stress somewhere else. That could cause that spot to fail which will transfer the sum of that stress to somewhere else which will now fail because it is looking at 300% more stress. The chain reaction will be your doors not closing after mearly hitting a dip in the road.

Natures strongest load bearing shape is a triangle. Natures strongest tortional shape in perfectly round. So use round tubing and incorporate triangles.

OK, Im starting to draw out a cage in AutoCad. I will post pics of it and you guys tell me what you think. Im not too sure what you mean by Piller "A" , "B", and "C". Im guessing "A" would be the door piller right behind the front doors, then "B" the one behind the rear doors, and "c" the piller behind the rear windows correct? If I got that strait then I will be incorperating "X's" into all 3 pillers, "X's" along the roof lines.

You're close. The windshield pillars are the "A" pillars, followed by the remaining structural pillars in alphabetic order; "B,C,D". A 2-door would only have "A,B,C".

The coresponding terms for the rollcage would be "A,B,C" hoops. An X in the "A" hoop will obstruct your view ahead, An X in the "B" hoop isn't practical unless the "B" hoop is moved rearward to allow for the front seats. If you do that, you encroach on the rear seat enough to render it useless.

An X in every panel is ideal for strength, but then ho9w would you get in and out?