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Something I would have done if I had built a cage in my old XJ would have been to do a rub bar just below the rear window going through the body and into the internal cage supports. I know some of you have chopped tops, but if you're running a full body, I think a rub rail would have worked out very nice in this area. I had body plating in this area as well, but a bar going through and welded to the body plating AND internal supports would have been very nice. Jeff
What do you all think of doing an exo on just the front half to prevent a pillar damage in a roll. I have tiped mine and i dont have a cage at all yet but with even a tip it smashed in pretty good. I dont think just an internal cage would prevent that, I could be wrong though.
What i was thinking is doing an internal cage and then tieing into my front bumper, wraping around the fenders and down to the rock rails and up on the outside of the a pillar and tie into my interior cage.
What I'll be doing with my cage is putting a bar from the front of the cage in the cab up to the front bumper. It'll be in between the fender and the engine bay sheet metal, so you won't see it.
What do you all think of doing an exo on just the front half to prevent a pillar damage in a roll. I have tiped mine and i dont have a cage at all yet but with even a tip it smashed in pretty good. I dont think just an internal cage would prevent that, I could be wrong though.
What i was thinking is doing an internal cage and then tieing into my front bumper, wraping around the fenders and down to the rock rails and up on the outside of the a pillar and tie into my interior cage.
A bad picture of the cage, but it's one I took so w/e. A hybrid cage is what us PNW guys call it. You have the A pillars covered and a halo over the top of the roof to not only protect in a roll, but also protect the side of the roof as the halo hangs over just enough.
Def. keeping an eye on this thread. A friend of mine owns a fab shop and specializes in cages. He said about $300 for the tubing and a couple cases of beer is all he would want.
I hate my cage!! :laugh: It's a pain in my ass pretty much all the time....but it's there to serve a purpose and for that I love it.
In this picture, if it was to be done again, I'd have the bars a LOT tighter to the dash, if not through the dash. I'm 6'4, and it is a f'n pain in the ass to get in and out of this for me, and my knee hits the damn bar constantly when wheelin. I would definitely do that different.
If you have tall passengers in the back, these bars and your friends will hate each other with a passion. My wife fits back there fine and she is 5'4, but someone taller is going to smack there knees a lot and have to sit sideways.
Find a way to be able to drop the cage down through the floor so A.) You can fully weld the tops of the joints without burning your headliner, and B.) So you can paint the F'n thing! It took forever to paint this damn thing. If I didn't care about my interior, I would have just spray painted it, but I ended up brushing it on.
This is one part of the cage I love...having the spare inside with enough room underneath for tools and such is nice.
Other than that, I would add a little more triangulation. I get crap all the time because of everyone's boner with "more triangulation". But honestly this cage was built for more of an everyday kind of cage, that could still be somewhat comfortable and function as a daily driver if need be. It'll survive a roll no doubt...but I have ZERO intentions of tossing this sucker on it's roof, so I'm not worried. My buddy built this cage to begin with, so granted there is things I would change.....but overall I'm very pleased with it!
Gotlift01 - I actually really like that cage! Just one question...is that the right way to mount the harnesses? Not being a dick just wondering because theres always different thoughts on that.
Gotlift01 - I actually really like that cage! Just one question...is that the right way to mount the harnesses? Not being a dick just wondering because theres always different thoughts on that.
Ya know, I haven't a clue if that's the right way or not. My buddy mounted them that way and I ran with it. I now have the straps running through the posts on the headrest, instead of on the side....they kept falling off my shoulder and were a pain in the ass. They work much better now.
I've seen harness mounted in so many different ways, it's so hard to tell what is correct and what's incorrect. These, when snugged down, will firmly plant my ass in the seat, so I think they are okay. When I yank down on the straps, it pulls me and the seat TIGHT against that bar and neither one of us budge.
They're not right, you don't want them mounted below 2" from your shoulders. On extreme4x4 they explained why fairly well. Has to do when you're in an accident, which way are the straps going to pull you? Down because that's where they're mounted, which compresses your vertebre, not what you want in an accident. Have them mounted around 1" below your shoulders and the straps and in an accident they'll pull backward, not down. Much better . ..
They're not right, you don't want them mounted below 2" from your shoulders. On extreme4x4 they explained why fairly well. Has to do when you're in an accident, which way are the straps going to pull you? Down because that's where they're mounted, which compresses your vertebre, not what you want in an accident. Have them mounted around 1" below your shoulders and the straps and in an accident they'll pull backward, not down. Much better . ..
They're not right, you don't want them mounted below 2" from your shoulders. On extreme4x4 they explained why fairly well. Has to do when you're in an accident, which way are the straps going to pull you? Down because that's where they're mounted, which compresses your vertebre, not what you want in an accident. Have them mounted around 1" below your shoulders and the straps and in an accident they'll pull backward, not down. Much better . ..
Actually, if you are talking about the picture I quoted, while not general practice, it is perfectly fine as long as his shoulders are close to where it goes over and around the cross bar. ONLY because it goes over this bar does it make the mounts ok, as that bar will be the point of the load force in event of a collision. If the harness did not go over that mount and just went to were they are bolted in, then yes it would be a problem.
I do see two issues with his setup. With his routing it is possible to have much more stretch in the belts due to the added length. It also appears as if the belts are not folded back on themselves for the third time through the three-bar slide.
As for the 2" (or 4") rule, IMO it is a bad one, really the harnesses are supposed to be mounted 0-10 degrees below the shoulder. Putting a vertical height limit on it doesn't do much as one could have them mounted different distances horizontally which can drastically change the angle and the downward force in the unfortunate event of an accident.
Ok, I didn't even think about the upper tube the straps go over. That makes complete sense about measuring strap height off degrees from the shoulders vs a one height fits all. I'd still want to mounts the upper straps higher vs using the upper tune to redirect the straps. Appreciate the correction.
Ok, I didn't even think about the upper tube the straps go over. That makes complete sense about measuring strap height off degrees from the shoulders vs a one height fits all. I'd still want to mounts the upper straps higher vs using the upper tune to redirect the straps.
Actually, if you are talking about the picture I quoted, while not general practice, it is perfectly fine as long as his shoulders are close to where it goes over and around the cross bar. ONLY because it goes over this bar does it make the mounts ok, as that bar will be the point of the load force in event of a collision. If the harness did not go over that mount and just went to were they are bolted in, then yes it would be a problem.
I do see two issues with his setup. With his routing it is possible to have much more stretch in the belts due to the added length. It also appears as if the belts are not folded back on themselves for the third time through the three-bar slide.
As for the 2" (or 4") rule, IMO it is a bad one, really the harnesses are supposed to be mounted 0-10 degrees below the shoulder. Putting a vertical height limit on it doesn't do much as one could have them mounted different distances horizontally which can drastically change the angle and the downward force in the unfortunate event of an accident.
Like I said before, I did not mount the harnesses, it was done by my friend ( the previous owner ) and I have not changed them. The pictures are well over 2 years old, and I have changed the way the harness itself is setup. The way they were routed through the slide was incorrect, and has been fixed so that is no longer an issue.
When I have some spare time I will fix the way they are mounted. But for right now, I honestly am not worried about them. And in all honesty...I rarely wear the shoulder harnesses anyways. I just wear the lap belt because I hate not being able to move and look out the window. I rarely take the Jeep on trails where I stand a chance of rolling ( mainly because my family is with me 90% of the time ), so as of right now they do just fine.... but will be fixed.
Matt, you asked about what we liked and what we didn't like. On mine, I really like what has now become popular with the roof halo and the external A pillar down bars. To me, no sense spending the time and money to build a cage and then still totally screw up the body with a simple roll over. It also moves the A pillar bars much further forward from where they are on an internal cage, helping the overall rigidity, and it makes it simple to run bars forward to the bumper.
I also really like the tube running forward under the front fenders. It still protects the body structure (fenders are cheap) without the ungainly look of a front exo cage, and it works. Mine has been over and that bar on one side took a good load, without it I would have had major fender, innerwell, and hood damage.....and still had minor fender damage. The grill hoop I also think is important, and I'm glad I did it. Besides protecting the radiator, it really helps to tie in the under fender tubes. As we know, structure adds strength and rigidity, so a few tubes does considerably more than adding thickness to the existing frame rails.
I like that all the hoops, A, B, and C, are tied into the body. The A down bars are attached to the cowl under the fenders, and the B and C bars are attached to the shoulder harness bolts. So the whole thing even forward to the bumper is tied together with the body. Adding rigidity and long life to the chassis was a goal as well as adding safety. Since it's possible to protect the vehicle and the people, so sense not to do it.
