Lil flatie cage

[crash]

I always see post for guys looking for cages and cage ideas. Well I figured I would post the one on the current rig I am building for a buddy down south.

There is ALOT more to this prodject ( recieved it in boxes,lol) but I figured I wouldn't bore ya with that stuff

But in any case its a 45' and the tub--well lets just say it would never win a car show--and if ya hit ikt just right---you probably would get a rusty chunk on the foor

But here is how it sat when I first pulled it in...

[crash]

Here is what was there---thats poop pipe too and the flat platfroms that cover the whole top of the fenderwells where the poop pipe sits--is 1/4" steel





I didn't bother trying to pull it off in one chunck---I am only a lil guy

Cut it up and threw it out

[crash]

But I will start with the tube work on the front. The owner wanted some sort of tube fenders and radiator protection. So I went to work on the nose first... Just a typical hoop for the grill/hood which will let me mount it to the tube work...

[crash]

All attachment points to the frame will plated..



Tube fenders (not completed yet)





The main tube that goes from the front hoop hugs down along the tub with mounting points to the tub



And dives into the frame

[crash]

With the shape of the tub--there was no way it coluld hold the stress of a cage in any kind of hit to the cage....

So the A&B pillars needed something to land on--so I went and decided to give them something to land on and give the tub some protection at the same time..



I only had to remove one tub mount(which will be replaced later down the line)





So I had to trim some of the underside of the tub and bent some tube that followed the contour of the tub edge (as close as I could as the tub had some funky wavyness to it) and dove into the fender tube







I will be adding more stringers to the frame down the road..

[crash]

I threw the soft top on to get some measurements since the owner wanted to make sure he could still use it...

[crash]

I went an lopped a hole in the floor for the A pillar..



So I started bending tube---going from A-C pillar and making sure the soft top hardware fit along the way

[crash]

So went to town and was able to get some of the cage roughed in..





I wanted to roll the A-pillars a lil more verticle but due to the windshield mechanism I wasn't able to and I refuse to put anymore than one bend into an A pillar..

Here is where the A pilar dives into the tube under the tub...



Now the B-pillar was a toung one--due to having to notch the tub for the tube to go thru..

[crash]

I went and cut the C-pillar right above the top of the fenderwell. I bent a short section, sleeved it and plated the frame.

[crash]

Due to how tiny these things are--and the fact of where the column sits--I chose to bend the dash bar with the tached in location of the bar to possably change once the column is in...

[crash]

next I located how the seats would sit and bent up a B pillar cross bar---the seats will sit back against the bar (trying to give as much room as possable)



I am also going to notch the inner portion of the fender wells so the seat can sit back against the bar (Luckily its only a small portion of the fanderwell)

[crash]

I bent up a C pillar cross bar that will also aid in another frame mount along with aiding in mounting the fuel cell as I don't trust the tub to mount it to,lol...

[crash]

The upper B-pillar cross bar--I chose to rise it up about 1.75" to aid in head room and still retain strength... And then added front spreaders....

[crash]

Due to how I wanted to do some down bars for the C pillars--I chose to add one more mount to the frame.. So I lopped a hole in the floor above the C-pillar crossbar and ran a verticle tube thru the floor..



I went and plated where the cross support/cross member met and made a mount for the tube to land on..

[crash]

So I went and got the C pillar downbars done (you can ses why I added the middle mount) and the rear spreaders..







Added a spreader from the C to B pillar (also give a good spot for tie downs to retian items in the rig)



And started to get some of the stringers done... But this is how it sits as of tonight...

[noflyzone]

If you were worried about space up front why didn't you make the A-pillars hug the dash? I like the way you tied everything into the frame. I guess once you tie the cage into the frame there is no way to easily remove the tub anymore.

Oh yeah, is that frame already boxed? Do you think that tieing into the frame like that help strentheb the frame and stop all the frame flex?

[B.A.R.K]

Originally Posted by noflyzone

If you were worried about space up front why didn't you make the A-pillars hug the dash? I like the way you tied everything into the frame. I guess once you tie the cage into the frame there is no way to easily remove the tub anymore.

Originally Posted by crash

I wanted to roll the A-pillars a lil more verticle but due to the windshield mechanism I wasn't able to and I refuse to put anymore than one bend into an A pillar.

Reading helps.

Nice cage.
Even cooler lil Jeep.

[darioc]

Real nice cage, welding looks great too. Keep the pics coming!

[ROXROES]

Cool, I'll be doing something similar. But I'm whacking the windshield and lowering it and mounting seats lower. I like the diamond plate rust cover up on the tub, don't know if I'll do that or leave it exposed so its more rustic.

[noflyzone]

Let me rephrase to make the libriarian happy. This is really just a question. There's a reason I subscribe to crash's builds.
Why do you refuse to put more than one bend in an A pillar? Is it strength issue?

[crash]

Originally Posted by noflyzone

If you were worried about space up front why didn't you make the A-pillars hug the dash? I like the way you tied everything into the frame. I guess once you tie the cage into the frame there is no way to easily remove the tub anymore.

Oh yeah, is that frame already boxed? Do you think that tieing into the frame like that help strentheb the frame and stop all the frame flex?

Once the windhshield is up you will see why. I could have made them more verticle if I inboarded them to miss the assembly--but there are certain things the owner wanted. As for bends--it would have required more than one bend to really hug the front of the rig--and thats just wrong IMO. Take a piece if wire and bend it in an S shape and push down on it---collapse . But if it was my rig I would have stretched the tub so the A pillar would not have been an issue. But like I say once you see pics of the windshield up you will see why it is--where it is...

Ya if the tub needs replaced--well not an easy task lol---but if it came down to that point---time to throw more tube at it aka buggy.....

The frame is only boxed in spots----I boxed alot of it on the front when I set the motor in but the rest is still unboxed. I had talked with the owner and forwarned them about the isues that might arise due to it. But the cage will help to stiffin it up--but I don't think it will eliminate cracks in the frame(will help though) due to th current suspension on it...

[barillms]

Very nice work.

[Rooney77]

Not to argue but if the angle in the A-pillar isn't too extreme it doesn't weaken the downward forces, it just redirects it. An S-bend in a piece of wire isn't a fair comparison since the bends of the wire are at extreme angles. Anything less than 35 degrees from vertical would be ok. It's similar to a design problem from an undergrad class I had. Just my 2 cents. I do have to give it to ya on the welding, wish I could lay bead that well. You may want to box the frame all the way too, these old MB and CJ frames are notoriously weak and are very prone to cracking, even when caged. What other plans does the owner have for it? Keep us updated, it looks good and I'm stealing ideas for my build.

[lunchboxtbc]

Very very nice. After I replace my chassis I may lean heavily in this build for some inspiration on the tube fenders/grill hoop. I think that body may be in better shape than the one I am working on.

[river-rat]

SaWeeeet, lookin flatie

nice work...