Wow man, been a long time since I've been on the boards much. This thing is looking great. I didn't see anything as I was reading, but plans for a cage as well?
It's been on the list for awhile (for the safety factor), but it needs to become a priority now. I was planning on just going internal out of 1.5", but lately I've been leaning toward the more popular hybrid style (like yours). That way I'll at least have a chance of saving the Jeep if it goes tires up.
Moving on with the rear shocks mounts I needed to make the upper mounting tabs. Rough cut four pieces out of some .134" plate, welded them together, and drilled a .500" hole.
After some fine tuning I had them all trimmed and smoothed out. Used some of my old hole saw remnants to reinforce the mounting hole.
I then tacked the hoops into position above the floor, and tacked on the mounting tabs. I don't have a solid reason on mounting the upper bushing the way I did. I mostly went with this orientation for ease of getting the bolt in and out. We'll see how the bushings last over time.
With the hoop in position I then was able to position the stand off tubes into place. Double checked all my angles, and tacked them in place.
Cut a few tack welds, and was able to lower the hoop assembly to final weld the hoop to the frame tie-ins.
Glued to the frame.
Welded the top mounting tab, and welded the hoop itself to the floor as much as I could get. I didn't get all the way around the tubes because filling a large gap in sheet metal is beyond my patience level.
The hoops themselves really don't take up much cargo room. I made the executive decision to permanently ditch the back seat. I haven't ran one since my Rubicon trip last summer. The "temporary" cargo platform I made has worked out so well it's pretty much become a permanent addition. So I took the time to yank all the rear seatbelts as well. Carpet may go back in after the hoops get painted, haven't decided.
Painted the underside, in sub thirty degree weather with less than desirable results. Installed the shocks, this is almost near full droop.
Shock installed. I think I'm going to flip the bodies 180 degrees and mount the resi's on the rear tube vertically. I still need to paint the hoops, but it was just too cold today. Maybe I'll WD40 them, and get to that next summer.
I don't have any immediate plans of bracing the hoops. They are just shock hoops. If they were supporting the weight of the vehicle then I would do a lateral cross bar. However, the force is in compression/tension so there shouldn't be a lot of rotation going on. When the day comes when I add a cage I'll probably tie them into that.
Thanksgiving is in 12 days.