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exo-cages

looks like its time to take a saw to that 2k1 that rolled, thats a perfect excuse to go topless and build a cage
 
I'm not sure anyone rolls a jeep and does so little damage as to not at least think about starting over. The idea of having an exterior cage is to prevent from needing to start over again. So to that end, you need interior support as well. I don't think anyone who takes the initiative to build an Exo-gage would ever not take into account the nesc. interior work as well....
The point of an exo-cage is to save the exterior...
add interior work and your good to go (over and over again!)
 
The way I look at it, if I roll something, I'm going to start over no matter what, unless it's a rock buggy with only steel tubing all over the place. I want an internal cage to stiffen up the chassis in general and to protect me in the event of a rollover. If I were trying to save the Jeep, I agree with the others, I'd do interior AND exterior cage.
 
The 2k1 should porta power out the damage & keep on wheeling with plexi windows. I mean common there's still a roof! As to the exo cage thing, NO it simply isn't going to provide the support in the 2.75 roll being discussed. Fact is, it probably would have caused more damage due to the tubing cutting into the body & smashing the windshield. An exo-cage is like a piece of bread with the center removed.......just a crust & if you move it side to side it'll flex all over the place. SAME THING! If you're so hard-core that you need an exo-cage in the first place then why not cut a couple holes in the sides and triangulate it? Are you hard-core or not?
 
We cool?
Click to expand...

We are very cool. And as another pointed out, being a mechanic does not mean that you have the necessary fab/design skills to do this kind of stuff. I just wanted to point out that I didn't just start doin this stuff yesterday ;)



Hey - you could always get lucky twice in a row, right?
Click to expand...

OMG:rolleyes: almost 3 full revs violently down a VERY steep climb, with no doors...and I'm just "lucky". Whatever. Do you drive your XJ on the freeway? Counting on luck to save your life if you roll? Or, do you think that maybe all those high paid engineers were onto something:confused: Look at Archie & Marthie's XJ pic (BTW, What were they thinking trying Committed with their DD:eek: I'll have to have words with him ;) )...the roof failed because the obvious encounter with a large rock took away the all important "structure" by creasing the metal. What if he had a well thought out exo member along the roof line, attached to the body in numerous places (to spread the sharp impact and avoid sheet metal creasing)? I guarantee that an interior cage would have resulted in it staying more square, and still totalled. An exo would probably have kept it from being totalled.

As I said earlier, I think interior bracing is a good thing, just not mandatory first. I will be bracing my interior after I finish with the exo...but a lot of my reason is that I wheel/twist it up very often, and it has 240K on it, so the body is a bit fatigued. But...I feel that the exo, going against the commonly accepted rule that only the bumpers and rocker guards offer mounting points, and actually using the already fairly strong body for support (through the body, with spacers, to the interior sub-body) is a sound one.

So far this has been fairly flame free...let's keep it like that please. I have been cruising this board for 4 years now...I just don't make lots of comments, til now:)
 
Build a modest internal cage that is tied into the xjs body for you and your pasengers. After you roll the cherokee and it is totalled, then find anouther XJ with a blown motor :)you are only looking for a good XJ body:) and transfer all the good parts from the totalled XJ to the just bought one. Then junk the totalled XJ. The XJ is a throw away body :)some may not agree:). Once you roll the cherokee exo or no exo you will most likely have future problems :)wheel, door, etc.. alignment:).
 
Unless you are the fabricator, The used XJ will probably be cheaper then someone else building the exo :)unless he is you brother-in-law:). And if you are the fabricator of the exo; you can swap the parts from donner XJ to new XJ faster then you can built an exo :)That is build the exo correctly which means researching and studing the XJs unibody/body:).
 
So, in closing unless you are after the exo look :)added weight:) build the XJ, and wheel the XJ.
Just keep an eye out for the bargin XJ located in a field on the side of the road. Sooner or later you will need it.
 
vintagespeed said:
The 2k1 should porta power out the damage & keep on wheeling with plexi windows. I mean common there's still a roof! As to the exo cage thing, NO it simply isn't going to provide the support in the 2.75 roll being discussed. Fact is, it probably would have caused more damage due to the tubing cutting into the body & smashing the windshield. An exo-cage is like a piece of bread with the center removed.......just a crust & if you move it side to side it'll flex all over the place. SAME THING! If you're so hard-core that you need an exo-cage in the first place then why not cut a couple holes in the sides and triangulate it? Are you hard-core or not?
Click to expand...
Insurance totalled it...Archie and Martha sold it for the Buyback ($1500 with all mods removed)....Arch already has a built and caged CJ that sees extreme duty, they didn't need another that they were still makig payments on.

A fellow Jeeper bought it and we shall see where it ends up!!!
 
What amazes me, is when people start thinking about an exo-cage to protect their prize rig with zero thought about the safety of the occupants.

Side Note: This is not a flame toward anyone posting on this thread.

Flowers
 
Has anyone thought about a fully tubed frame XJ? You know the race buggies with fiberglass pannals. A tubed XJ with fiberglass pannals. Best of both worlds I guess?

---------------------------------------
Jereme
 
What amazes me, is when people start thinking about an exo-cage to protect their prize rig with zero thought about the safety of the occupants
Click to expand...

HMMM...like the egg concept.....if you protect the shell you protect the egg.....a very good exo cage will protect the occupants...if they have on their seatbelts.
 
xjnation said:
HMMM...like the egg concept.....if you protect the shell you protect the egg.....a very good exo cage will protect the occupants...if they have on their seatbelts.
Click to expand...

"Which came first the chicken or the egg? He was walkin' down the street and he broke his leg."
 
an egg shape works well because an egg is a geometrically efficient shape.....

a square requires triangulation.

no one is arguing wether or not an exo would be better than nothing....the point is, if you are going to all the trouble, why not design and build something that has the greatest chance of survival in a hard roll?

as far as fiberglass.....

you ever seen what happens to fiberglass when it recieves a hard impact? fiberglass would be the LAST material I'd choose for side panels.

My cj-6 had a glass tub, and I was very glad to get rid of it.
 
I just thought I would throw in a picture of an exo-caged XJ that I rode in recently. When he tipped it into this obstacle, it was nice to have it....it was like having sliders for the upper portion of the body.

I have no idea how it would fair in a roll over, but I do know that I won't be doing this trail anytime soon because I don't have an interior or exterior cage.

IMG_2936.jpg

IMG_2960.jpg
 
What doesn't seem to be taken in account here is basic engineering: make it strong enough for it's environment. What type of protection were you looking for, Kegcrawler? If you want protection for your person in respect to some standard mudding and wheeling, then the unibody is probably enough, just don't expect it to protect you agian after it's been tweaked (basic material properties). Once the steel has yeilded it will never function properly again, and unibody rigidity will be lost at least at some level (hint hint meangreenjeep). If you want a high level of impact safety, such as race-spec, then an internal cage is the only way to go, with 1.75" tube at .120" thickness. If you were looking at more of a jeep protector for low speed rollover events, an exo will probably do, even though it has little structural strength. It would still need to be tied in to the unibody somehow though, at least at the pinch seam and somewhere along the roof. Else it will just parallelogram and hit the body.

-Or you could just get an inclinometer!
 
well i am looking for enough protection that will keep me safe if i flop or roll my xj and i want something strong enough that if either one of those things do happen i can just get it back on all fours and continue to go, i don't have a crap load of money to spend in the first place but i do believe that if you are going to do something then you should do it right the first time. i am not the most hard core of offroaders but i like to do my share of wheelin and what i would love to do is to make an exo-cage and an internal if need be and just go out and have fun and then i don't have to be quite as worried about my safety or the xj, i mean i have no problem with rock rash i just don't have the time or money or skills to completely chop off the top put a new one on and no one would ever know like some people can. and working with a college budget it would be alot cheaper and easier to spend the money to protect what i got instead of screwing it up and then banking on just swapping everything to a new one, i don't have that luxury (heck i dont' even have another vehicle so if i total this one, i am going to have to take the nike express and walk every where, or bum rides). so that is my main goal for asking all of these questions. and if i do need an internal cage to do it right do i have to have a full 8 point cage or is there another way to do it?
thanks for all the help.
kregg
 
Good thread, I really dig the exo on that black XJ.

I think I agree with meangreen's line of thinking, a well designed exo doesn't necessarily need a fully triangulated internal cage to work well in most cases, but it would need to be tied into the roof of the XJ, so that both structures strengthened eachother.

BTW, how 'bout some folks with both internals and exo setups post their pics? :)
 
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