...the uni-body is plenty strong (structure over material),
I think I beat
you to it. Structure beats material almost every time. But, maybe we should do something about keeping that form, or structure for more than one roll. Look again at the pic I posted...there's NO cage in there, and it's still square. Make no mistake, this was a violent 2 3/4 revolutions roll, from the top of a very large rock face, with lots of rocks to hit on the way down.
Beezil has forgotten more about the XJ unibody than you or I will ever know.
As much as I respect and admire Beezil's experience and work, I have to point out...did you actually go to my sight and look around? I have spent the last 18 years as a professional mechanic, as well as avid off road enthusiast. I was ASE cert in auto for 10 years (5 as master tech), and am currently an ASE cert master school bus tech. I don't normally tout crap like this (blahblahblah), but I just want you to realize that I'm not just some ninny who just bought his first set of Craftsman tools
and decided to play with an XJ.
My "argument" here is that an exo isn't "useless" without the interior re-enforcements. Are interior re-enfocements a good thing? Yes. Do they need to be built in a smart way, so as to triangulate the overall design? Yes. Do you need them before considering an EXO? No. But, I also don't believe in the normal school of thought for exo's (at least as far as XJ's, and other uni-body rigs are concerned). A smaller diameter tubed exo, with lots of exo to body attachment points, would make for a very strong XJ indeed. Add in the interior bracing, or triangulation of strategic points, and you have yourself a winner.