Do-anything LJ build advice
- Thread starter Marklar1983
- Start date
maybe consider moving it
The windshield frame was gutted completely and the only part left was the single layer outer skin that weighed maybe 8 lbs. It was purely for looks, nothing else. Odd thing about the original cage, when they ran in the stock class and even though it was done properly with a firewall X tied into the legs of the A pillar and then the door bars going through the A pillar out under the front fenders to tie into the front of the frame, I never worried about them at the stock class speeds. When they stepped up in class and started going a whole bunch faster, I wasn't sure the cage would hold up if they rolled it at speed.
All that tells me is an exoskeleton isn't enough of a hindrance in that environment to seek alternatives to protecting the body.
I can think of many other scenarios where the Jeep not being in the way of itself are far more desirable to keep moving forward.
You can make that argument. That is until the first major chunk of body damage. When there is poor traction and line repeatability is low, I don’t think that’s always the case.
There are trails here that in just a few weeks as the rains come in, I will no longer be able to do, though I could probably make them on my 35s/TT and lots of winching. I care about preventing major body damage, even with corners/sliders etc.
Thus I’ll accept the compromise with my build, and will do what I can to get stuff out of the way. The things I mentioned earlier were a good first step. Tucking the GTS is next.
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Blaine can give an idea of how much weight was removed from the body and frame. It was way more than I could conceive.
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Didn’t the whole car weigh something like 4200 lbs when it was finished? That was after big axles and lots of tube work
The mini truck guys like making birdcage exocages for their cab and front clip. I think thats what you mean
Not that I have much experience with cages but I've not seen a cage built quite like that. Do you have anything that would show the changes?
I do not. I mostly recall that it arrived back to them and John wasn't exactly happy with the way it was laid out.
As for how it was done, that's a pretty standard level of cage work. I would have liked it to have a better X in the B pillar. The harness bars are problematic and mess up that lay-out though. I'm not a fan of tubes that don't land at or on nodes. The B pillar to C pillar braces are an example. They land on the inner fender on a base plate and they should be closer together if one was to nit pick. It never failed so what do I know?
You mentioned a few things I was seeing and wondering about. It looked like it wasn't doing a great job of transferring the load where it needed to go.
You say it didn't fail but then I have to ask if it was truly tested?
It passed the tech inspection, no one ever got hurt that was riding in the rig so I don't really know that anything else matters and I didn't pay attention to any of the changes they made so we are debating points that may not matter.
Oddly, that thing has 5 times more cage than recreational folks justify as necessary and we're still picking on it like we'll actually use it to do something better? Doubtful.
Almost everything to do with this stuff is an educated guess. The reason I say that is due to an accident that really messed up a co-driver. The course made a sharpish turn from desert to a road along the top of a narrow draw/arroyo/ditch. A lot of dust on the course confused a driver who missed the turn and went straight into the opposite side which stopped the rig dead like running into a wall. The rig was still in race condition, but the passenger had to be airlifted out due to broken legs below the knee because the foot wells were not spacious enough to keep him safe.
So, did the cage work, or not?
See that's why I asked. I didn't know if it rolled or had a collision with anything.
And to your question of work or not, it depends on what you want the cage to accomplish before you can claim success or failure.
Presumption would be ultimately to live to wheel another day.
If it's a cage design issue that says 6 months healing your broken legs before you can wheel again, then maybe it met the function standard but not to the performance level that would be preferred.
But, I only know what you've said and you specifically mentioned no room for feet, no idea why there was no room. Was it the cage? Was it the seat location, harnesses not properly cinched down. I don't know what I don't know. Nor am I versed in the offroad racing world or anything with cages.
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