The cage worked...

[Capt. Nemo]

Long story short - I was tired, it was late, it was dark, and I let my guard down in a spot I've driven across probably 10 times before. I took the ledge further to the right than normal, but I didn't know it until it was too late. There was a shelf under the right front tire, and the whole area is tilted to the driver's side about 15 degrees. The driver's side front tire dropped, the passenger side hit the shelf and the Jeep barrel rolled once and landed on the tires. This was just past the staging area on the Rubicon just before the trail hits dirt and turns right toward the Gatekeeper.

The driver's side front corner was pushed down almost all the way down to the tire. We jacked it back up, and pushed it back into position as best as possible. The radiator sprung a leak where the fan hit it, and the radiator hose sprung a leak where a sharp piece of the body tore and punctured it. I replaced the hose, and the radiator stop leak fixed the radiator (about and hour later). The biggest damage came to my winch, which I'm probably the most upset about. I haven't taken it apart yet, but it looks like it's done

The whole incident ended my weekend early, and I drove home about an hour after it happened. I weighed on that decision heavily, but it seemed like the best thing to do considering the circumstances and events surrounding this weekend up there. The cage probably saved me from bodily injury, and the new lap belts I installed definately saved some bumps and bruises. As it stands, I didn't have a scratch on me from the roll.

Letterman and crew were very helpful and sympathetic, and fortunately left their jabs and jokes till after I left

 

[BrettM]

man, that sucks, it was really getting pretty.

the granite bowl (and the similar terrain before gatekeeper) are dangerous at night!

 

[cracker]

Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Matt S.]

Wow, i am sooo glad your safe. Amazing you limped that home too! The damage doesnt look terribly severe, a big hammer and some love from CRASH will probably go a long ways.

 

[ccflexj]

Man im sorry to see that happen, the progress youve made to make that thing look pretty in the past few months was imaculant (sp?) but most of all im glad to see that you are safe and were not injured in the roll, this seriously makes me want to get a cage before i even drive my jeep again!

 

[LilRedRover]

man that sucks really bad... do you have any plans now? Another body and swap over all your stuff or start over fresh? If you keep it will you have to have a R title in your state since it has roof damage?

 

[nickangus]

that sucks glad to hear your ok
rolling is some scary shit
friend and i rolled his land rover discovery at hollister it went over twice and totaled it

chop the top?

 

[88poohxj]

Sorry to hear about your rig. Good thing you're okay. I have the glass you need, and the hood. I might have two decent fenders, wrong color, but if you need them i have them. Good luck.

 

[Captain Ron]

Damn, it was looking great.

Have you decided what's next for it Eric?

--ron

 

[AzRick]

What kind of dummy builds a cage for his XJ and then rolls it right away??

Rookie!

Rick

 

[David Taylor]

I say start cutting. You have 5 mounths till JV.

Glad your O.K.

 

[BrettM]

I say start cutting. You have 5 mounths till JV.

Glad your O.K.

yeah, gas is too expensive to keep that as your DD anyway

 

[Bryan C.]

Wow, glad you are OK. Sorry about the rig.

At least your beadlock bolts were tight. :angel:

 

[FarmerMatt]

Wow, glad you are OK. Sorry about the rig.

X2

Everybody chant with me... Bug-gy Bug-gy Bug-gy...:yelclap: There are no limits except your imagination.

 

[Capt. Nemo]

Thanks for all the sympathy...

I got a good look at it today. The radiator needs to be replaced, and I swear that the Warn 8274 winches are the toughest SOB's out there. It'll need some TLC, but it survived (the front end basically pivoted on it).

After replacing the radiator I'll just need to order up a set of URF Racing training wheels, an ego repair kit, and I think I'm good to go. The doors and glass are going, and I'm buying a cheap import to DD. I'm going to ease into the buggy thing and try to keep it street leagl, but not daily driveable. Ideas welcome

We recently moved into a new townhouse, so I now have a two car garage that I can leave an open rig in without it getting broken into every night.

Once again, thanks for all the uplifting comments. I feel like a moron and like a made a rookie mistake. It sure is keeping my ego in check... My wife's response was "Hey, you didn't break a tail light this time!"

 

[Matt S.]

I find rolling other peoples rigs to be more effective, have that horrible feeling but still have a straight jeep when you wake up the next day!:shhh:


I say go AZ style with it. Your half way there. I bet you could even convice Rickboy to come up for a week long vacation!

 

[BrettM]

imports are cheap for DD duties, tow-rigs for trailer-queen duties are not. I say buggy it as much as possible that you can still drive it to the trails. A little more tube-work and some boat-sides would be at the top of my list.

I've always liked the idea of a tube coming under the fender and up the a-pillar like Goatman, then welded to the length of the pinch seam/rain gutter, and in your case into the internal cage a little. I think it is fairly inconspicuous and would have prevented almost all of the damage from the windshield back.

 

[CRASH]

I say leave it as is and roll it a few more times to round off some of the sharp edges.

That was a pretty rig, though.

 

[Letterman]

It was sad to see, I was 20 feet behind Eric as he went over, I was going to take the same line.

A few shots just after he went over he landed on all 4's

And we did not have to pick up all the glass, he was able to drop the rear window back into the rig

The line we where on was on the very right of this photo:

There was a ledge that did not drop the front right passenger tire, so only the drivers tire took the 3-4 foot drop, back passenger went up and put him over. Full barrel roll, that cage saved a midnight run to the hospital, or maybe worse! You can see how hard a hit the top of the roof right at the drivers side doors took, without a cage it would have been flat!:

Eric if I can help you in anyway to get you back on the trail again let me know.

 

[BrettM]

I've seen pictures of XJs rolled without a cage and they seem to hold up fairly well (single roll), so I'm curious how much your cage actually helped. Is the unibody over the driver's door or the rear window actually pushed all the way in to the cage?