exo cage, hit or miss

[Chero-King]

did you skip my reply? he needs bars going through the roof to an internal cage to survive a multiple roll end over end or side to side down a good size hill climb. sure his design is great for small slow flops but not a bad roll , and yes i have built an exo cage and im about to start my third one.

Yes, actually I didn't see your reply, sorry.

 

[badron]

What do you mean by "survive a multiple roll end over end or side to side down a good size hill climb."
Drive it away or passenger come out of it alive.
I did 1 1/2 end-over-end and walked with just a bar (4 point) but the Ford was poop.
One word. DON'T kiss the rollbar or no one will sleep in you tent that night.

 

[motorcityxj]

did you skip my reply? he needs bars going through the roof to an internal cage to survive a multiple roll end over end or side to side down a good size hill climb. sure his design is great for small slow flops but not a bad roll , and yes i have built an exo cage and im about to start my third one.

When you say an internal cage you mean interan supports or are you basically saying he needs a whole cage inside, with an exo cage outside the two tied together. I have seen this seems odd. seems like a X behind the fold down seat, and something V or X shaped behind the front seats would be enough. I know the shape of a unit body is decent itself, the exo helps but i never thought it was such a great idea for an inner cage alone you have to junk the XJ. I like the XJ with minimal interior cageing to brace up the exo.

Any pics on what you did 88rockxj?

now i havent built one so that doesnt make me a tard any more than a guy who built a half dozen shitty ones is an expert so dont take this as me dissing you. One triangulated cage seems to be enough to me

 

[93xjmark]

I agree with those that say that an exo will help keep your rig from being heavily messed up in a rollover. Unless you roll over in a smooth parking lot, you should still excpect some cosmetic sheetmetal damage. I also agree with those that say that an internal cage, or at least some type of structure to tie the exo into is needed.

I built a full interior cage from the B-pillar back to keep the driver's area open. The exo ties into the internal through the roof, and then the roof sheetmetal welds to it to seal it back up. I still have a few pieces to add to the exo to finish it up.

This hybrid cage was put to the test earlier this year when it went over hard on a steep rock face. No glass was broken, and everything stayed where it was supposed to. I had a few dents to pop out, but that was it. The roof defiately would have crushed in like a soda can without it.

(These pics are from back when I was still building it.)

 

[BrettM]

excellent inner/exo combo. plus, you won't hesitate to slide on the a-pillar or roof.

 

[88rockxj]

When you say an internal cage you mean interan supports or are you basically saying he needs a whole cage inside, with an exo cage outside the two tied together. I have seen this seems odd. seems like a X behind the fold down seat, and something V or X shaped behind the front seats would be enough. I know the shape of a unit body is decent itself, the exo helps but i never thought it was such a great idea for an inner cage alone you have to junk the XJ. I like the XJ with minimal interior cageing to brace up the exo.

Any pics on what you did 88rockxj?

now i havent built one so that doesnt make me a tard any more than a guy who built a half dozen shitty ones is an expert so dont take this as me dissing you. One triangulated cage seems to be enough to me

no i dont mean an entire internal cage, i just mean some diagnol/vertical bracing through the roof to the inside so the exo doesnt just fold and bend. i rolled my on the street at about 45 and did a end over end flip and then 1 1/2 side rolls , it held up great but it slightly folded and the jeep got tweaked. any harder/faster roll it probably would have been worse, if i would of had internal cross bracing it would stop that, besides slightly folding it held up great and even tacoed a rim. i put the spare on after someone flipped me onto my tires and drove home, bent the axle flange so my tire whobbled though.

i have pics of my first exo on my xj but not my second(much better) exo on my 82 toy pick up. let me dig em up, its not a very good exo though as it was my first real fab work ever.

 

[alek21]

nice cage!

 

[slcpunk74]

I love that combo cage. Best of both worlds plus you could make a roof rack bed strong enough for an orgy with it all tied into the cage.

 

[stumpXJ]

I agree with those that say that an exo will help keep your rig from being heavily messed up in a rollover. Unless you roll over in a smooth parking lot, you should still excpect some cosmetic sheetmetal damage. I also agree with those that say that an internal cage, or at least some type of structure to tie the exo into is needed.

I built a full interior cage from the B-pillar back to keep the driver's area open. The exo ties into the internal through the roof, and then the roof sheetmetal welds to it to seal it back up. I still have a few pieces to add to the exo to finish it up.

This hybrid cage was put to the test earlier this year when it went over hard on a steep rock face. No glass was broken, and everything stayed where it was supposed to. I had a few dents to pop out, but that was it. The roof defiately would have crushed in like a soda can without it.

(These pics are from back when I was still building it.)

Thats probably the slickest combo cage I have seen yet, very nice work. Do you have a build thread or more pictures? Also, is that the Clayton rear coil conversion?

 

[5spd_xj]

I don't think Mark is on much anymore, but I have pictures on my computer at home (at work currently) and yes, that is the clayton rear suspension in that jeep... I've seen him flop that thing and it is definitely solid. Awesome quality work on everything in his build, super nice jeep. :thumbup:

 

[bigjeepman]

Does no one see a need to put a bar right behind the drivers door on a 4 door. Seems like you are leavinga lot of space open to hit, and leaving you pillars to fold. Maybe my thinking is wrong

 

[blue95xj]

It will get in the way of the rear door opening. There is a guy on here (don't remember who, but he let some kids climb on it as a jungle gym [maybe ring a bell for someone]) and he had nice tubing shaped dents on the bottom of his rear doors.

 

[dave92cherokee]

Saw this on craigslist for sale a while back and proof that an exo isn't all that protective, but I'm sure damage would've been worse if the exo hadn't been there.

 

[5spd_xj]

Doesn't exactly look like a super well designed cage...uke:

and by poorly designed, I of course simply mean it isn't pretty :laugh3: