Topic: Any one got experience with a full cage in a TJ?

[jcsanders79]

Picked this up (made verbal contract and should be picking it up in a few weeks) tonight.  I know I got to drill a few holes in the dash but I am pretty sure I can do that and not screw it up.  Any one got any tips on installation?

[oldjeep]

Are there floor plates on the front legs?  If it's through dash, I'm guessing he had to cut them off.  Do you have the ability to weld on new ones? 
Do you have a better picture of the welds, the closest junction looks a little turdy but that could just be the light.

[Jeffy]

Are there floor plates on the front legs?  If it's through dash, I'm guessing he had to cut them off.  Do you have the ability to weld on new ones? 
Do you have a better picture of the welds, the closest junction looks a little turdy but that could just be the light.

Not to mention the main hoop doesn't look welded together either.

[jcsanders79]

I know about the welding, while I can weld I will most likely let a friend or club member do it.  The cage has never been installed so the plates have not been attatched.  From what I can see in the original phot that weld is fine its just a triangular glare.  Its hard to see in the resized photo. If I don't like any of the welds I have no problem grinding them down and having my friend redo it.  For the price I paid I'm not going to complain.  Don't know what you mean by main hoop?  This is, like a lot of full TJ cages, uses part of the stock roll bar.  Could you be looking at where things like the seatbelts or sound bar bolts in? 

[Jeffy]

I know about the welding, while I can weld I will most likely let a friend or club member do it.  The cage has never been installed so the plates have not been attatched.  From what I can see in the original phot that weld is fine its just a triangular glare.  Its hard to see in the resized photo. If I don't like any of the welds I have no problem grinding them down and having my friend redo it.  For the price I paid I'm not going to complain.  Don't know what you mean by main hoop?  This is, like a lot of full TJ cages, uses part of the stock roll bar.  Could you be looking at where things like the seatbelts or sound bar bolts in? 

The 'main hoop' is the main part of the stock roll bar.  On TJ's they are bolted together but are otherwise three pieces.  This is a weak area that should be strengthened.  The proper way would be to make a spacer and weld it in where the tube is tapered and enters the other section then weld it all together.

Here are some picts of a friend of mine.  He's done hundred's of cages.  you can see the two bare metal patches on the main hoop.

[oldjeep]

Ah, And I thought you were talking about where the front side hoops attach to the main hoop.  Those appear to be bolted to some sort of flange rather than welded to the main hoop.

If you can get some welding done, I'd also add a dash bar while that cage is out of the jeep.

[oldjeep]

Ah, And I thought you were talking about where the front side hoops attach to the main hoop.  Those appear to be bolted to some sort of flange rather than welded to the main hoop.

If you can get some welding done, I'd also add a dash bar while that cage is out of the jeep.

One last question - are you planning on using the back seat?  If so, you may want to check head clearance on the back spreader.  Normally those will be installed with a couple bends to move them back a little so they are not right above the seatback.

[jcsanders79]

One last question - are you planning on using the back seat?  If so, you may want to check head clearance on the back spreader.  Normally those will be installed with a couple bends to move them back a little so they are not right above the seatback.

No back seat for me, sold it on Ebay a few years ago.  I had heard about the cross bar above the dash.  How neccessary is that and will it affect my defrost.  Can I get the steel shop to cut the ends so all I have to do is weld it in?  There is a lot of hummidity here and no defrost would be a bad idea.  Like I said before the price was right ($250) so I bought it and don't mind spending a little more to get it just right.  Welding the main hoop looks like a good idea Jeffy, when I get to my friend I'll see what he can do for me.

[oldjeep]

No back seat for me, sold it on Ebay a few years ago.  I had heard about the cross bar above the dash.  How neccessary is that and will it affect my defrost.  Can I get the steel shop to cut the ends so all I have to do is weld it in?  There is a lot of hummidity here and no defrost would be a bad idea.  Like I said before the price was right ($250) so I bought it and don't mind spending a little more to get it just right.  Welding the main hoop looks like a good idea Jeffy, when I get to my friend I'll see what he can do for me.

Does it effect the defrost - it depends.  Since the cage is not in the jeep I can't see how close the bars sit to the windsheild.   I doubt that a steel shop will be setup to notch tube.  You can notch with a grinder, which is how I built my first cage.  Now I've got a tube notcher which makes the work a lot faster and more precise.

You might also want to look at how they attached the front spreaders, it looks like they reused the bolt on brackets instead of welding the outter spreaders to the main hoop.

If it were me, I'd pay the money for a kit like this and skip trying to fix someone elses work.
http://www.kozoffroad.com/pages_catalog/rollcages/tj/tjrollcages.htm

[jcsanders79]

If it were me, I'd pay the money for a kit like this and skip trying to fix someone elses work. http://www.kozoffroad.com/pages_catalog/rollcages/tj/tjrollcages.htm

That looks nice and while I can get a buddy to help with a few welds I wouldn't want to ask him to put something together like that for me and the cost for welding would be outrageous around here.  Not to mention that I don't really want to spend that kind of $.  Criticise it all you want but it is a nice addition for me and this cage is already stronger in a few ways than what I got now.  As it stands it won't take much to get it up to par with most of the recomendations.  The steal I can grind a notch, so if I add a bar I will do that.
Also I forget to mention that the guy that I am buying it from didn't build it he had it built so its not just some garage heroes junk.
I was more interested in seeing how some of you guys that have one in your TJ went through the dash. 

[Jeffy]

If it were me, I'd pay the money for a kit like this and skip trying to fix someone elses work.
http://www.kozoffroad.com/pages_catalog/rollcages/tj/tjrollcages.htm

Or find someone who has a bender and make your own.  My friend builds on stock cages or he'll build from scratch.  The stock cages are cheaper but will hold up in a roll over. (been tested)

I agree that it's better to be building a new cage then to have to fix any issues with someone elses work.  They probably have very little invested in the cage if they have a bender.  It looks like you're only really buying it for the front legs and spreaders.  If you can weld then the rear would be easy to duplicate.   That cage could still use some more work.  Tying the legs together would be a good idea.  Then you have to figure out if you want to tie the cage to the frame or not.  If you do then you'll want to tie the seats into the cage as well.  You'll also probably want to have a \ , V or X behind the front seats to strengthen the main hoop.

I've only got front legs on my 6pt.  I bought a J&L kit years ago.  (It's the same as the MORE kit.)  It's a starter kit and will need a lot more work to get finished.  I might pull it all out though and start from scratch later on.  I think I'd like to go with a halo cage.

[oldjeep]

That looks nice and while I can get a buddy to help with a few welds I wouldn't want to ask him to put something together like that for me and the cost for welding would be outrageous around here.  Not to mention that I don't really want to spend that kind of $.  Criticise it all you want but it is a nice addition for me and this cage is already stronger in a few ways than what I got now.  As it stands it won't take much to get it up to par with most of the recomendations.  The steal I can grind a notch, so if I add a bar I will do that.
Also I forget to mention that the guy that I am buying it from didn't build it he had it built so its not just some garage heroes junk.
I was more interested in seeing how some of you guys that have one in your TJ went through the dash. 

There's a picture here of how some one trimmed out the hole in the dash.  Probabally a good idea to do it this way so that the dash can be removed if needed.
http://www.eoronline.com/store/jeeptj.shtml

[jcsanders79]

There's a picture here of how some one trimmed out the hole in the dash.  Probabally a good idea to do it this way so that the dash can be removed if needed.
http://www.eoronline.com/store/jeeptj.shtml

That looks real good, I think I will do it like that.  Thanks.

[jcsanders79]

Or find someone who has a bender and make your own.  My friend builds on stock cages or he'll build from scratch.  The stock cages are cheaper but will hold up in a roll over. (been tested)

I agree that it's better to be building a new cage then to have to fix any issues with someone elses work.  They probably have very little invested in the cage if they have a bender.  It looks like you're only really buying it for the front legs and spreaders.  If you can weld then the rear would be easy to duplicate.   That cage could still use some more work.  Tying the legs together would be a good idea.  Then you have to figure out if you want to tie the cage to the frame or not.  If you do then you'll want to tie the seats into the cage as well.  You'll also probably want to have a \ , V or X behind the front seats to strengthen the main hoop.

I've only got front legs on my 6pt.  I bought a J&L kit years ago.  (It's the same as the MORE kit.)  It's a starter kit and will need a lot more work to get finished.  I might pull it all out though and start from scratch later on.  I think I'd like to go with a halo cage.

Like I said before this isn't some hacks project that wasn't finished it was done by a shop.  The only spots that aren't welded are the two that you pointed out before.  If I add a cross bar above the dash (which I agree is a good addition) I will still be under $300.  That MORE kit is $180 and no where near the same.  As for the structure it looks very simular to many TJ cages I have seen (even better than a few that I know cost 3x as much).  Haven't seen the seats tied into the cage before, that would be more than any cage I have ever seen.

[oldjeep]

Like I said before this isn't some hacks project that wasn't finished it was done by a shop.  The only spots that aren't welded are the two that you pointed out before.  If I add a cross bar above the dash (which I agree is a good addition) I will still be under $300.  That MORE kit is $180 and no where near the same.  As for the structure it looks very simular to many TJ cages I have seen (even better than a few that I know cost 3x as much).  Haven't seen the seats tied into the cage before, that would be more than any cage I have ever seen.

Just 2 spots not welded?  I still think that they used the stock TJ bolt on brackets on the main hoop rather than welding the front hoops to the main hoop.   "It was done by a shop" always makes me laugh.  Depends on the shop doing the work. 

The red circles are the 2 spots Jeffy is talking about.   The yellow one is the one that concerns me, because it looks like a big shortcut by whoever built that front cage.