My Exo Cage

[mattzj98]

this is what i have in mind for my exo cage build. simple and reliable

any thoughts?

[Aaron]

By no means an expert so take this more as a question than advice. But i see a lot of 4 and 5 sided figures which are much easier to bend than triangles, correct?

[mattzj98]

sounds like a Pete question.. but if its too square it's because it was in paint.. it's just the basic layout of the cage

[scout man]

I agree with Aaron. Those aren't very strong shapes. You can keep this as a good start, but needs more bracing.

[mattzj98]

straight tubes arent?? :confused:

like i said, the fender lines look weird cause its in paint.. it wont be the same shape once on there.. probably just 3 bends

[scout man]

You need bracing between the wheel well tube and the edge of the hood tube. You drop onto a rock with that wheel well tube and it will crumble. Same in the rear.

[mattzj98]

i see what you're saying...
between lower and upper tube on fenders.. got it!

thanks

[scout man]

Exactly

[Brody]

What Steve and Aaron both said. Triangulation is the key. The weakest part of that cage design, and this is something that is dictated by the doors themselves, is the center bar dividing the doors. with cross bracing between the fender tube and the upper tube in front and back, this is going to be strong. The only way to reinforce/brace/support the doors bars is to do some gussets wherever you can. I like to gusset each and very corner. An ungusseted roll cage is essentially a square box and any good hit is going to collapse it.

Even the basic roll cage in most Jeeps is designed to take one good hit. It will save your life, but due to the design of the factory cage and how it is anchored, the cage will probably be tweaked to the point where you not only have destroyed the front windshield, but have tweaked the tube to the point where it needs replacing.

This is due to a number of factors:

The stock cage has minimal gusseting
There is no cross bar over the top of the front windshield
The cage is simply sandwich plated through the floor board

The strongest tie in points are to the frame, either welded or bolted, but the frame is the strongest point. This is something that I have to do with Chris' CJ5. I also need to gusset the slightly modified cage on his CJ5 for the same reasons: it is simply a box right now.

Both of these pictures show decent cages. The red one having a slightly better design as far as some basic triangulation. Both of these cages could benefit by some gussets. The last flop of my heap....and I landed on rock....probably didn't move the cage more than 1/8" if at all. I still have gussets that I am going to add in a few spots... I gusseted almost all of the tube junctions, and gusseted everything on the top of the cab. Most of the tube junctions are gusseted every point where I could. I have done this with every roll cage I have had on every rig I have had since the early 80s.

You are going to have a slew of money in building your cage. If you want it to withstand a rollover, you need to add both cross bracing and gussets or it is pretty much a one time cage. I won't build one without spending the time to add gusseting. FYI, there is going to be about 140-160lf of tubing based off of the red or green Jeep pictures...so far...allowing for waste.

[glacierpaul]

Looks sweet, now build it!

[Cr33p3r]

Here is another thought to Matt, since your Cherokee is a unibody this cage will definitely stiffen it up and keep it from flexing the body so build it as strong as you can even if you do it in stages.

[Popsgarage]

X3 on what Pete and Sean say!

[mattzj98]

You are going to have a slew of money in building your cage. If you want it to withstand a rollover, you need to add both cross bracing and gussets or it is pretty much a one time cage. I won't build one without spending the time to add gusseting. FYI, there is going to be about 140-160lf of tubing based off of the red or green Jeep pictures...so far...allowing for waste.


slowly but surely it needs to be done..

[keith98]

that is so sick love it

[Brody]

Hey Keith

I noticed that you haven't introduced yourself in the introductions yet. Need to do that pretty soon to keep your account open!

[Brody]

Matt

Send me information on the exo cage design to:

peterbrody4@gmail.com

when you get to the point where you have decided what you want as a final design..

[jesse05lj]

I like the cage on the red XJ looks nice