What you are talking about is quite similar to what I did with mounting my FB tub on my home built frame on my '7. Because of tying the cage in so many spots to the tube frame with sandwich plates, I decided to forgo the rubber mounts and go solid too. No worries here on my end. The frame, body and cage all tied in together make for a very rigid combo. You won't have anything to worry about.
Fiberglass body with full cage.... solid mount or rubber isolation?
In the process of a Willys flatfender build, with a fiberglass tub....
Looking at how I mount the cage and body, wondering some peoples experience/thoughts on this...
The cage will be mounted with traditional foot plates, bolts through the body, with frame supports. Mounting points will be at the bottom of the A pillar (windshield/dash) , B pillar (front of wheel tub), and C pillar (rear of wheel tub).There will also be Grill hoop with two stringers running back to the dash bar, so the cage mounts in 8 points.
The frame is scratch built from rectangular tube. The seats will be mounted to the rool bar.
With a fiberglass tub and a scratch built frame, there aren't any body mounts anyway, so I have control over what I do, and with 6 mount points already for the cage, I don't think I need a lot else to support the body.
The shocks will also likely use the cage as upper mounts. Front shocks would mount to the stringers running from the grill hoop, rear shocks will mount through a hole in the fenderwell tops to a horizontal tube running between the B and C pillar bars.
I don't think there will be much frame flex, but I don't want the body to crack, either. I'm not really worried about road vibes. (my present truck has the t-case solid mounted to the crossmember, with bushings at the frame, so it vibes like crazy anyway. I've gotten used to it..)
So... all that said, do you think I should stick some 1/2" thick rubber sheet in between the sandwich plates, or just solid mount the thing? With a steel tub, I'd feel better about it, but not sure with the glass tub. (And living here in the rust belt, the corrosion resistance is worth it to have a fiberglass tub).
Looking at how I mount the cage and body, wondering some peoples experience/thoughts on this...
The cage will be mounted with traditional foot plates, bolts through the body, with frame supports. Mounting points will be at the bottom of the A pillar (windshield/dash) , B pillar (front of wheel tub), and C pillar (rear of wheel tub).There will also be Grill hoop with two stringers running back to the dash bar, so the cage mounts in 8 points.
The frame is scratch built from rectangular tube. The seats will be mounted to the rool bar.
With a fiberglass tub and a scratch built frame, there aren't any body mounts anyway, so I have control over what I do, and with 6 mount points already for the cage, I don't think I need a lot else to support the body.
The shocks will also likely use the cage as upper mounts. Front shocks would mount to the stringers running from the grill hoop, rear shocks will mount through a hole in the fenderwell tops to a horizontal tube running between the B and C pillar bars.
I don't think there will be much frame flex, but I don't want the body to crack, either. I'm not really worried about road vibes. (my present truck has the t-case solid mounted to the crossmember, with bushings at the frame, so it vibes like crazy anyway. I've gotten used to it..)
So... all that said, do you think I should stick some 1/2" thick rubber sheet in between the sandwich plates, or just solid mount the thing? With a steel tub, I'd feel better about it, but not sure with the glass tub. (And living here in the rust belt, the corrosion resistance is worth it to have a fiberglass tub).
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
Ontario, eh? We do a good bit of wheeling each year north of Sault Ste. Marie..
Never been wheeling there...I'm in Niagara region so that is around an 18 hour drive for me...but I can imagine there must be some awesome wheeling there. We spend most of our time in and around the Parry Sound area. Sadly, most of the good wheeling in Ontario is farther away than several of the offroad parks in the Eastern US for me.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
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