Roll Cages... multiple threads merged

[SuperSixAxis]

Kiefer has some good pics of his work.

I will have some soon showing how to position the tubes behind the dash....

[ChaseTruck754]

Does it have to be a bronco???

How about a long neglected project ranger???

[tcm glx]

Crazy pics Steve, cant believe you went that far with a RANGER!!

[AussieRod]

Crazy pics Steve, cant believe you went that far with a RANGER!!

AND didnt finish it........ do I detect a common thread here? Hmmmmmmm

[ESHALLBETTER]

I'll play, heres some stuff I've built. I'll get more bronco specific ones when I get home from vacation.

[ChaseTruck754]

Crazy pics Steve, cant believe you went that far with a RANGER!!

I always swore I'd never give up on that ranger, but I'm over it now. It will be an UNREAL truck for whoever finishes it - but I don't think it will be me as I've realized mini trucks are just too small...

Oh and I don't want to jinx it - but the ranger might be leaving my shop sometime soon. If it does that means superbad has a nest-egg type fund

Crazy pics Steve, cant believe you went that far with a RANGER!!

AND didnt finish it........ do I detect a common thread here? Hmmmmmmm

Depends on what you consider "finished"... My stuff is NEVER finished, so yup - I have a theme
I keep tinkering with my stuff & changing over & over.
That thing was "finished" before & then got torn to what you see below (less actually - the whole floor went away) & started over.



On a side note - if you want to fly over here & work on my stuff so you can actually see something "finished" feel free. I can't afford to pay you, but if I could afford to pay someone I would have multiple play toys done by now...

[BajaBronco13]

Steve, no takers or even tire kickers on that Ranger? Would make for some decent coin to help you finish the crew cab.

Chris

[ChaseTruck754]

I haven't been pushing the sale or advertising it at all Chris. It's buried in my shop so I wasn't going to even list it until the crew was rolling since the crew is one of the major things blocking getting it out. BUT a guy who has watched the build and always liked it has expressed interest & given an offer. If we can work something out it will have a new home somewhat soon.

If it does the $$ gets put aside for superbad - not the crew. I'm weird in that I have set budgets & $$ set aside for each build & I don't mix them if I can avoid it.

[sydude]

Hi guys. I'm in the middle of putting together my design for a full cage, and I'm trying to decide whether it's practical in my circumstance to have the A-pillar legs go through the back of the dash. I definitely prefer the legs behind the back of the dash for ergonomic reasons, a better leg base to frame mounting position, as well as the ability to remove the dash if necessary. But my primary concern with putting the legs through the dash is losing heat and A/C functionality - I really need to keep the heating system working well up here in NY. I'm also unsure if there will be other compromise.

What am I looking at in regards to putting the legs through/behind the dash other than removing the dash and cutting out where the tubes will go? Will I need to modify or move anything to keep the heat, a/c and all of the other dash equipment working? Any pictures of this stuff would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks!

S

[PaulW]

If the requirement is to have the cross tube on the driver/passenger side of the firewall then it is very difficult to keep the defrost ducts. It can be done. A better solution for a non race setup is to just use a tube under the cowl. This is a comprimise as the tube would connect to the tube from the "A" tube to the front of the frame. This comprimise also eliminates the "V" bars inside the windshield. The concequenmce of these comprimises requires heavier wall thinckess for the cowl tube & the over the windshield tube for prudent safety reasons.
So if yo are not going racing then keep it simple.
PaulW

[Deleted Account]

check out my photo bucket Sy. there are a few in there with stock dashes.

[philofab]

If you put the cross bar above the dash and just run the a-pillars downward through it you can keep A/C and heat. The defrost doesn't work as well but it's still functional.

On a street truck the cross tube really isn't required and I'd bet V-bars would get you in trouble quickly in NY.

I hate all the bends you have to have if you don't run it through the dash.

[baja-chris]

I was able to keep a fully functioning defroster and hvac ducts with cage tight against the a-pilllars, behind the dash and the cross tube and windshield V inside the firewall under the dash. It was some extra work. The plastic defroster duct was notched just enough to wrap around the cage tubes but not so much so as to cut off it's flow. Then I cut out rubber sheet and riveted it over these cutouts so when you pushed the defroster duct onto the cage, the cage would depress into the rubber leaving the defroster channel sealed and open enough to be fully functional. Sorry, I lost the hard drive that had all the photos. I had the dash in and out several times to test fit to get it right without removing extra material from the defrost duct.

[sydude]

Awesome, guys, thank you very much. So now I'm definitively putting the legs through the dash, but I'm not sure if the crosstube is going to go under or over the dash. I think I'll decide that when I take everything apart. If I was to add an engine cage at some point, can the crosstube be either under or over the dash? And can it be on either side of the firewall?

Meanwhile, I just ordered all of bushed frame mounts for the cage from John at Autofab, and holy crap they were expensive. Four of the six mounts (A- and B- pillar locations) are the all-in-one bushed body mount / cage mount brackets, which I know are pretty custom, but at $500 for the four the price still seems hefty. I pulled the trigger anyway, figuring that this is one area where you get what you pay for. I got a pair of bushing assemblies with flat tabs to attach the rear legs to the frame - not sure exactly where they'll go, but I'll figure it out when I get there as well.

My buddy at my shop and I are designing the cage using Bend-Tech Pro, which we just got - so far we're nearly done with the rear half from the B pillar to the C pillar, and we're hoping to finish the front tomorrow night. I'll post the draft cage design up, hopefully you guys can help me improve it.

Thanks again for all of your help.

S

[ChaseTruck754]

Post pics of the autofab parts when you get them - or a link to them online if they are up. I don't remember seeing these before & I'd like to see what they are.

[sydude]

Here's the full set right out of Autofab's catalog - it includes the front cage/body mount bracket, the middle cage/body mount bracket, and then a pair of more conventional bushings/brackets that's used for mounting rear legs of cages to the frame terminating under the middle of the bed lengthwise:

mounting brackets.jpg (61.2 KiB) Viewed 2706 times

Here's a regular picture of one of the cage/body mount brackets, but I think this is from a Ranger. Maybe slightly different?



You can also do one of these bushings/tabs for the main hoop on the front leaf spring hanger, but John told me it's really intended for part of the rear through the bed shock towers.

[ChaseTruck754]

D'oh - I forgot I have one of the new catalogs sitting here that I could have flipped through to look. But thanks for posting pics. I like those!

[sydude]

I pulled the dash last night. What a nightmare! It took 3.5 hours... Yikes. But I am pretty happy with condition of the firewall, and all of the mechanical stuff that was in and behind the dash. Here are some quick shots, for posterity:









The last one is a shot of my EEC, with the USB cable from the installed Moates Quarterhorse.

[tcm glx]

Wow, awesome shots of the dash out.... its pretty darn clean back there too!!

[hobbyturnedobsession]

I think I'm goin to go with philosophy thought and go right above the dash.