Eric's cage build

So I've been working on my cage now for a couple months (off and on) and still am not completely done. In fact I've been on 3 wheeling trips since I started it and then trying to find time to work on the cage before the next trip comes up. But that's my fault, since this was supposed to be my winter/spring project that I procrastinated on.... shoulda done it then, I tell myself...

Anyway I've had so many people ask for pictures, I'm going to go ahead and start this thread, and later on when I'm all done I'll condense it down into a write-up for my website. And as a heads up I am posting this on both and JeepForum.

Some basic info:
- Its a "hybrid interior / exo cage" as that seems to be what people are calling these now.
- I'm using 1.5" x .120 wall DOM but I'm using some .095 wall for some of the crossbraces to save on weight. That also helps keep the cost down a little since the price of steel is high. I got most of this (.120 wall) for $3.81/ft.

The first bends:


I built most of the roof section off the Jeep. This made the welding much easier but it was a lot of test fitting after each section.



One would think doing it off the Jeep would be easy, but of course the roof isn't flat, and the perimeter of the roof isn't a perfect rectangle. The rear of the Jeep is slightly narrower than the front, so of course I had to take that into account and make adjustments as I went along.

Here's a feat that I wasn't sure we could pull off. We had to add a few bends to match the curvature of the roof.


Then it was time to drill some holes in the roof.


I decided to leave the headliner in, so after making 100% sure where I wanted the hole to be, I cut the headliner and got lucky. The holes for the B-pillar legs are right where the roof supports are. It would be nice show this without the headliner, but here it is. I then drilled the 1.5" hole from the inside out.


Here's the legs in place for a test fit. What was quite annoying is even with the garage door down I did not have enough room to fit the legs in from the top and they wouldn't go in from the bottom either. So each time I did a test fit I had to back the Jeep out of the garage to get them in or out.

The roof section finished and ready to go on:


I made some plates for the roof that will be bolted down later in the build. For my cage these are mainly just to help seal the roof. When it was time to bolt them in, I used silicone under each plate and around each leg.


The way I planned this was to raise the legs up, hense the blocks of wood, so I could fully weld the legs to the roof section. This would also be easier to paint the exterior part of the cage since I was going to use a different color than the body. The B-pillar legs actually have a bend in them but you can't see it from this angle.


Ready for welding and paint.


Here's the B-pillar legs (seats are moved forward for welding). I welded the legs to 3/16" plates bolted through the floor.


They are bolted to a piece of C-channel that is welded to the frame stiffeners. (Thanks Cruzin Illusion for the idea.)

Then it was time to add the A-pillar bars.


The bottom is welded to my rockers.


As with each of my projects that end up taking way longer than I originally planned, this one was no exception. I didn't have time to run some tube under the front fenders to the bumper so that will have to wait. I added one crossbar to the B-pillar legs for triangulation and then put the body panels back on just in time for a Rubicon Trip with guys from the SoCal Chapter of .

These first two pics are courtesy of XJohnnyC:




And two of my own:




Like I mentioned earlier, the cage was not done at this point, but it was at a point that I could take it on a trail ride hoping NOT to put it to the test in a roll or flop.

Tomorrow I will continue with more of the interior.

The top of the cage is great! I'll be copying it for mine.

Looks good! is that krylon desert tan?

Nicely done so far, and good looking. Glad to see this style of cage really catching on, very practical. Any plans for D pillar down bars?

Are you tieing into the body anywhere, besides the roof? On mine, I tied that A pillar down bar behind the fender to the side of the cowl, welded a plate to the tube and then both pop riveted and tack welded the plate to the body. Thinking about maximizing chassis rigidity as well as safety.

Nice work.

Thanks.

MPSlayer - yes that is Krylon Desert Tan (they label it now as "khaki").

Goatman - I was not planning to do D-pillar bars. I'd like to get your thoughts on that after you see the next post of how I did the interior. Of all the pictures of roll-overs, it seems the top corner of the A-pillar is what gets smashed the most so of course that was my number one focus. I was going to do a windshield bar connecting the A-pillar bars and then a vertical windshield bar up the center, but after a lot of staring at it I don't think it will work without sticking out way too far for my liking. I need to be able to remove not only the wipers but the whole grill for the cowl since that is where my air filter is. But back to the D-pillar.... My excuse for not doing one is I figure if I get in a rollover bad enough to smash up the rear corners, I would be chopping it similar to how you did yours. What do you think? Are the top rear corners that big a deal in rollovers?

As far as tying in to the body, yes. See the next post, but when I get to finish off the front I do plan on attaching the tubes that will run under the fenders to the body somehow.

Part 2: The interior.

So it was back in the garage to finish off the interior. First order of business was to finish the crossbraces for the B-pillar.


Then I wanted to add support to the XJ's B-pillar, since it seems this is one vulnerable spot even during a simple flop. Since I wheel doorless, it would be nice to be able to put the doors back on after a rollover or flop. Wishful thinking? I don't know, but I'm sure this will help reduce the damage.


Here's the B-pillar bars finished and the seats are all in place. I lost one or two clicks on how far back the seats go, but the seat is set for how I sit. There is still room for the rear passengers to sit. What I can no longer do is raise the bench up all the way to put the back down, but that is a minor annoyance.


Now for the C-pillar bars. They a little further back than where the actual C-pillar is, but I liked this mounting idea, modeled roughly after Cruzin Illusion's rig.


This plate is just bolted down to the fenderwell on two planes. Here's how I secured the back side.


Then I needed some more support for the legs so I started that by running a bar between them.

I wasn't planning on doing a D-pillar bar but to add support for the C-pillar legs, I decided to run a bar to the rear corners. This area shown below is right above where the rear shackle box is. The easiest way to tie into here is what most people do - just weld a plate to the floor and weld the tube to the plate. So that's what I did. I had to strip away the Herculiner to prep it for welding:


Here it is.


Here's a shot of the back finished for now. After adding these bars to the rear corners I was on another trail run and noticed that this reduced quite a bit of body flex in the rear. I have a pretty stiff rig as it is with the frame rail stiffeners and my rocker replacements, but I hadn't yet plated the rear portion of the frame rails. I'm glad this made a difference. The bar across the center is right up against the seat so I didn't really give up any cargo space unless I need to haul something big with the seat down.


Since I did this with the headliner in place I feel obligated to show what I did to anyone that might also attempt this, with a warning. I cut a piece of sheet metal to act as a shield when welding. I had plenty of room with at the top of the B-pillar bars, but back here was a little more tricky.


On the passenger side I used the same sheet but was a little less careful in how I placed it and the headliner caught fire. Right after putting the flames out I also touched the inside of my wrist against the tube and got a nasty burn. (Sorry no pictures of that).


These joints were also the only ones that I could not fully weld all the way around because there was just not enough room. I'm going to try and cover it up with gray primer spray paint. I think it will match the color of the headliner pretty good. We'll see.

Here's one more shot of the rear mounts with the trim back on and carpet in place.


So that is where I currently am in this project. The next thing to do is finish the front by running bars under the fenders to a stinger on the front bumper. I'll update this thread again when I get that done.

you think that 4 bolts thru sheet metal is strong enough?

You have a point about damage at the rear of the roof, most of the time the force of a roll will be to the A pillars, for a couple of reasons. However, if you roll at speed you can hit all four upper corners, but then there could easily be more damage to the rig, but either way the passengers would be protected. The other issue with a D pillar is chassis rigidity, but you handled that with the angled bars down to the rear.

If it was me, I'd add an angled piece to the floor inside of the wheel wells at the bottom of the C pillar mounts, it won't take up any room and will add some strength to that potentially weak mount on the wheel wells. The other thing you could do to help lines of force on the C hoop is tie it into the shoulder harness bolts.

The cross bar at the bottom of the windshield is less neccessary if you tie into the cowl. After cutting an XJ apart, the most layers of sheetmetal (thickest structure) is at the cowl, so tying into it can help cage strength and rigidity.

I like the tie in to the B pillar. Nicely done project.

Spanky88 said:

you think that 4 bolts thru sheet metal is strong enough?

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If that was the only mounting point I'd say its questionable, which is one reason I added additional bracing to the legs. But going back to those "4 bolts"... I first used standard washers and nuts on the back, and didn't like that. If you noticed in the other pic from inside the wheel well, I am using a small plate for each pair of bolts to sandwich the sheet metal to better spread the load and the bolts are on two different planes. You could bend a plate and weld it, but ultimately it is still just attached to sheet metal.

Also consider what forces are applied to that area during a rollover. It would be a downward force attempting to crush the wheel well, not anything pulling the bolts out. Either the wheel well will crush or it won't, but if it crushes it will have to bend the other support bars as well.

Goatman said:

If it was me, I'd add an angled piece to the floor inside of the wheel wells at the bottom of the C pillar mounts, it won't take up any room and will add some strength to that potentially weak mount on the wheel wells.

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I like that idea.

Yeah, even with the four bolts, it's still just one layer of sheetmetal. A brace to the floor would put downforce into the frame.

Looks like you been busy since the Rubicon. Looks Good.

I like it alot. I like the color scheme too.
Cage design looks Good.

Do you have a like to your Rocker panel replacement.
Looks good.

nevermind i found the rocker replacement.

s7tech said:

Looks like you been busy since the Rubicon. Looks Good.

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Thanks. I just figured I'd be done by now. Oh well... there's always more to do!

Ive sat in Erics back seat and had a lot more leg room then I initially thought I would have. Im 6'2'', so kids, or anyone shorter then me would have enough leg room for a day of wheeling.


Nice cage!

Starboard M said:

Ive sat in Erics back seat and had a lot more leg room then I initially thought I would have. Im 6'2'', so kids, or anyone shorter then me would have enough leg room for a day of wheeling.


Nice cage!

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So that was you at Deer Valley? I've been trying to place your screen name with the face. I've been eyeing your Boatside thread. That's quite the project!