Roll Cages... multiple threads merged

[sydude]

Chase, I was just kidding about slaving away at the computer. It's amazing how quickly you can do it with this program and how much wasted time and material it will save. Anytime you guys want to give it a shot, I'll gladly let you log into one of my PC's to try it out.

Philo, I do agree that door bars like the one you drew above are very effective, but I'm really worried about them getting in the way of access to the rear seats, which are factory configuration. What if I make the bar come from the middle of the main hoop and terminate right before the door opening?

Here's a pic of the redesigned cage as you guys suggested, and with a shorter set of door bars (I estimated where the door opening is).

[ChaseTruck754]

What were you doing behind the driver and passenger seats ? i was thinking a bar off b pillar acrossthe back of the front seats down too a dubble floor plate mount for sholder straps. The kids would just needs too climb on seats to get in back.

Something like this is what I will do in the supercab. Would work well for a bronco too.

[ChaseTruck754]

Sydude - are the front seats factory or suspension? Will you go to suspension at some point if they are factory?

Here's one of the ranger with eh door bars & how they tuck behind a suspension seat. Pics are from early on in the build, & seats weren't totally set, but you get the idea. The door bars don't block any more than an aftermarket seat. You don't have to do the front one obviously, but it is stronger that way.

[philofab]

Sydude, I think that is your best bet for the way you will be using your truck.

I access my rear seats through the center of the front seats.

[sydude]

Sydude - are the front seats factory or suspension? Will you go to suspension at some point if they are factory?

Here's one of the ranger with eh door bars & how they tuck behind a suspension seat. Pics are from early on in the build, & seats weren't totally set, but you get the idea. The door bars don't block any more than an aftermarket seat. You don't have to do the front one obviously, but it is stronger that way.

Sydude, I think that is your best bet for the way you will be using your truck.

I access my rear seats through the center of the front seats.

Yes, I agree that's the right way to go, especially if I don't make a significant change to my seats and center console. Currently I have a pair of Corbeau Moab seats in the front, which are flat and narrow, and so it's really easy for my kids to get in and out of the back from between the front seats.

However, I probably will be getting wider seats (either a suspension seat like a Baja XRS or a non-suspension racing seat like a CR1, and I'm also probably building a new wider center console that goes from the back of the front seats to the dash, so I'm worried that the door bars will make it very difficult to access the rear seats. So maybe I'll just hold off on them until I've got everything put in, and re-evaluate then?

--

Also, my Autofab cage mounts just arrived. Here are pictures of the brackets only, the bushing assemblies and hardware are still in the bag. I'm a bit surprised that they provided Grade 5 bolts and nylock nuts for the bushings, not Grade 8. I guess Grade 5 is strong enough, but I may change to Grade 8 (zinc) just for NY rust issues.



Autofab Bronco Cage Mount - Large Picture



Autofab Bronco Cage Mount - Large Picture



Autofab Bronco Cage Mount - Large Picture

[philofab]

Be aware that high back suspension seats are so tall they will hit the roof before flipping forward enough to get in the back.

[tcm glx]

I'm thinking something like this for princess.... the A and B pillar connecting underneath the body, in a pontoon fashion. A few changes I could not really draw:

I would add a bar running behind the front seats, with tube clamps so I can remove for around town driving.

Also, the roof bars between the b and c pillar would be a V coming off the front two bars, not an X.

Thoughts.....

[ChaseTruck754]

I like the "outrigger" style cages.

Previous though was solid mounted (plats that bolt to frame) outrigger style cage. Currently I'm thinking more & more about bushings & how to make an outrigger style setup work with them.

[tcm glx]

I like the "outrigger" style cages.

Previous though was solid mounted (plats that bolt to frame) outrigger style cage. Currently I'm thinking more & more about bushings & how to make an outrigger style setup work with them.

Outrigger? What is that Steve..... im still learning here... Is that like a pontoon underneath the body? If so, thats what I am leaning towards, with Poly mounts.

[ChaseTruck754]

Outrigger/pontoon = same thing T. I've just never heard it called a pontoon before your post a minute ago. But yes, an outrigger is the main, outside tube under the body. I did a 3x3 sq. tube in the ranger to stiffen up the rockers and it was working really well for what I wanted it to be. Pics below. This would be tough to incorporate with bushings, but with a bit of thought it could be done. The plan is for a 2" round tube here on the supercab as the 3" square deal doesn't work as well if it's going in a truck where you are keeping the frame.

I just ran back through my Baja250 pic file to see what Tom did & using his truck as an example to see if I could figure out a good setup. I've got an idea but it will take the frame & cab here for me to really see if it would work. That's a ways down the road for me.


Here's the setup in the ranger. These "outriggers" run under the rockers & had the main portions of the cage land on them & the tubes that were pierced into them. The outriggers were tied to the 1.75" round main tubes that ran the length of the chassis by 3 tubes each side that were punched through & welded. The A, B & C pillars landed at these 3 cross tubes. In the 2nd pic you can see the main hoop (B pillar hoop) landing on the "cross tube" right at where it would tie into the main tube of the "frame".

[tcm glx]

Got it....

For a poly mount, my thought was
1) you could mount the outrigger solid to the frame, and then the a, b and c pillar come down on a bushing
2) mount the outrigger to the frame with bushings...

preferably #1

[Polarcub]

Be aware that high back suspension seats are so tall they will hit the roof before flipping forward enough to get in the back.

This is a great point, I have the front flip mount from beard and hate it. The seat height does not allow the seat to come far enough forward to make it user friendly and the latch mechnism rattles when the seat is empty. I access between the center console as well.

[ChaseTruck754]

Got it....

For a poly mount, my thought was
1) you could mount the outrigger solid to the frame, and then the a, b and c pillar come down on a bushing
2) mount the outrigger to the frame with bushings...

preferably #1

Same as my thoughts T. Problem is - thinking it can be done while sitting at work (or wherever = not in front of the vehicle) & then actually pulling it off are 2 separate deals. While I'm sure it can be done I'm guessing it's gonna be harder than I initially think.


My 1st choice would be your option #2 above. It MIGHT be slightly easier to pull off, but I'm not sure.

For option #1 above you'd have a hard time tucking the outrigger tube as far up in the body as I would like from what I can tell. Also the higher up you tuck the tube the harder it gets to unbolt the bushings. Sure it's not something you will do very often, but if I go bolt on I want to actually physically be able to unbolt the things.

My issue with #2 is I'd like a bit of downward angle in the tube connecting the outrigger to the frame. From what I can tell in pics, etc. it seems the outrigger would be level with the frame. Not horrible, but not my best choice for way of doing it.

Another thing I am trying to consider in all of this is access to the tops of the tubes to weld. I like to tuck my cages REALLY tight to the body & therefore getting to the tubes to weld 360* can be TOUGH. My thought was do an outrigger type setup, tack the cage & then lower it through the floor a bit so as to get to the top of the cage to weld. This is how they did it on the DR link I posted yesterday & what I was planning on doing. Once the top tubes in the cage are welded you raise the cage back up into the cab & then plate the cage to the body. I takes a LOT of planning to pull off without any hiccups and figuring out adding bushings is only making my planning harder. Oh well.


Of course your build and priorities will vary from mine, but these are the issues I see myself facing when I get to doing this stuff.

Be aware that high back suspension seats are so tall they will hit the roof before flipping forward enough to get in the back.

This is a great point, I have the front flip mount from beard and hate it. The seat height does not allow the seat to come far enough forward to make it user friendly and the latch mechnism rattles when the seat is empty. I access between the center console as well.

Yeah - I tried the whole flip forward thing in my Ranger years ago and got away from it. Even in a full size with a lowback seat this doesn't work very well. Access to my rear seat(s) in the supercab will be through the middle of the front 2 seats. I will just have to keep my center console a bit shortened to keep this doable.

[Dust]

Curious if there is a SCORE(or=) spec in the engine cage for something like a Bronco/PU.
Not going to go racing, just curious if the 2" is carried through the Firewall.

[tcm glx]

Another thing I am trying to consider in all of this is access to the tops of the tubes to weld. I like to tuck my cages REALLY tight to the body & therefore getting to the tubes to weld 360* can be TOUGH. My thought was do an outrigger type setup, tack the cage & then lower it through the floor a bit so as to get to the top of the cage to weld. This is how they did it on the DR link I posted yesterday & what I was planning on doing. Once the top tubes in the cage are welded you raise the cage back up into the cab & then plate the cage to the body. I takes a LOT of planning to pull off without any hiccups and figuring out adding bushings is only making my planning harder. Oh well.

Cool to see this thread come back up... basically did this for Vics ride...

[Dezertbronco]

I love this thread, Good work being done here, each of us has saved hundreds in material and countless hours in labor.

[shockseals.com]

The red AtoC is how my cage is. If you dont take the time and stuff it in the sheetmetal and carve out the cab and notch the shell it will not fit tight and you will hit your head on the tube and it will look bad in general.

[Silverslk]

Chris Wilson has his stuffed up in the sheetmetal too...if I remember correctly.

[damon1272]

Kris,
Do you mind showing some shots of how and where you tucked your cage?

[bajascott]

Kris's cage is top secret