Exo VS Inner cage

I

IronSmiles

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Diego, CA
Here is the vehicle I'm working with..

1998 Four Door 4x4 XJ Classic

It is mostly a DD (will also be able to run trails with the best of them when I'm done), but I'm safety paranoid and want to cage it regardless.. I've seen a few arguments on here before for the pro's vs cons and I like exo because it does free up that interior room (especially since me and the wife want to camp on the inside for trips) but here's the biggest problem..

I can't fab at all, and am either going to have to throw together a working party or get a shop to put it in.

THAT being said, I've pretty much narrowed it down to one inner cage and one exo cage I'm interested in..

Inner --> http://www.rockhard4x4parts.com/xj-96.html

Exo --> http://www.c-rok.com/ec.html

MY problems with the inner cage: Honestly It looks like crap and not that strong. Granted it doesn't block much on the inside, it still would take up alot of room for camping. And obviously if it ever rolled it would still tear the crap out of the outside, while possibly saving my life, the jeep's skin would be toast.

MY problems with the exo cage: I was planning on using the c rok rear bumper/tire carrier anyway, and their rock rails, so it makes completing their cage fairly simply, but I really want to use the TnT front bumper.. I'm just trying to figure out how hard it would be to tie those two peices together in a non ultra red neck fashion. I also was kinda wanting a snorkel (I know, I know, I live in san diego what do I need a snorkel for? Just because :laugh3: .. So I'm wondering if that makes it impossible.. And the big third is gas mileage.. I'm wondering just how much.. if at all really that would affect it? Other than the cage, and front and rear bumpers, nothing else would be going on the outside, so hrm.

Thoughts? Oh and every person that responds gets a free beer through pay pal :cheers: :laugh3:
 
Exo, whover intsalls it will be able to weld/or mount the crok to the TNT front bumper
 
At speed an exo cage will hurt your gas milage. How much? Well, how fast do you drive? You also have to look at the aerodynamics of a cherokee, er, lack thereof.


Provinding you aren't one of those guys that figures 90+ is the ideal speed for all types of driving, I'd probably say you'll see a negible difference.
 
Given that internal space is a premium for you for camping, I'd say you should go with the exo-cage. Unless you absolutely hate the looks of them, which I do. The ex0-cage kit you linked is about the best looking one I've seen.
 
fubar XJ said:
Given that internal space is a premium for you for camping, I'd say you should go with the exo-cage. Unless you absolutely hate the looks of them, which I do. The ex0-cage kit you linked is about the best looking one I've seen.
Click to expand...

I USED to hate the way exo cages looked.. and that's because the first one I ever saw was that yellow bird cage thing that the one retard was sporting in the pic with a blank caption.. it looked horrendous!

The C-Rok stuff actually looks pretty good to me over all. And ya.. the aerodynamics of the XJ isnt very forgiving anyway so I guess the exo, being that close to the body, shouldnt really matter, lol. :angel:
 
IronSmiles said:
but I'm safety paranoid and want to cage it regardless..
Click to expand...

If it's off road safety your going for, go internal. An exo IMO will help with the protection of the body lines in the event of a flop or tree/rock encounter, but an real roll cage will provide the best protection for the occupants when you most need it, that's when the seat fabric is missing due to pucker factor.
 
Iam a bigger guy and needed all the space inside as i could get. My exo handled a good roll on to the roof with no ill effects. Its tied on the a post b post back door drip rail and at the rear hatch. I have tube doors and its mostly just for dirt. I would do exo again.
 
DAMN! Damn damn damn!

"Hello Glenn and thank you for the interest.

Firstly, unfortunately we are no longer offering an external cage kit for XJs. Although we always received great interest in it, actual sales proved insufficient to justify continuing the product line."




:gonnablow
 
I've thought about getting an exo cage too, but I heard that it's bad for a unibody. Is that true (if so, how so)?

(I personally need to trim a little so the extra weight doesn't make my fenders eat my tires).
 
personally i would lean towards an exo just because all it takes is ONE tree or a light side flop to totally wreck an XJ without one. Look at some of the door or A pillar carnage on XJDB for many examples. Yes some serious carnage is unpreventable, but glass and door fixes on a cherokee are not cheap and in my mind i want something that will do a decent job on a full out roll over and will protect my vehicle from all the other stuff along the way.
 
Any competant fabricator with access to a decent bender can build an exo that will fit as good as the C-ROK. Definitely do internal first in my opinion. Then you can safely run harnesses without compression injuries being as likely ....
 
It's my understanding that to be truely functional an Exo cage should be tied into an Internal cage.... Internal cages really help siffen up the unibody. Yeah if you lightly roll the jeep its going to cause some sheetmetal damage. But with a well fit Internal cage that's all you should have, probably wont even break the front windshield...
 
Starscream said:
Posting for beer. You've got 24 hours...




:D
Click to expand...

Haha! here in a couple weeks I'm thinkin bout hosting a build party to throw some stuff on my jeep since I have little experiance and need to learn.. and anybody who comes and helps me out is gonna get all you can drink miller light and lots of BBQ :D
 
Starscream said:
L-i-t-e? And BBQ? Jeeps? If only I didn't live on the other coast. :)
Click to expand...

LoL! Damn skippy.. I'm always up for throwing a great BBQ & Beer party.. and jeeps just seems to be the natural missing link, lol.

And excuse my mispell.. I think I wrote l-i-g-h-t because I want to light my hair on fire after all of this.. everytime I think I find a good product for the jeep they either stop selling it.. or I don't have enough experiance to make what I want. And this exo cage isn't just it.. I want a peiced together lift (somewhere between 5.5 and 6.5 inches of net lift) using TnT y-link for the front and wanted the clayton rear coil conversion for the rear.. too bad they wont sell it seperate from the kit.. so I'm screwed, again. :fuse:
 
DesertYJ said:
Internal and weld your seat mounts to it. If you are worried about dents, keep it on the pavement.
Click to expand...
x2 and i personally would have one custom made not order one espeically if you gonna have someone weld it in place they might as well build one custom fit to your jeep
 
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