JoshC's chopped top with a roll cage

[JoshC]

Well, here she is. Almost finished up. I still need to add some gussets, need to weld a handle on the tire carrier nut, some latches for my doors and then hopefully next weekend i can paint it.


Anyways, here are the pics. I'd like your input on my final gussets and any more triangles i need to add.

I bought an 1-1/4" bolt and a 4x2 weld reducer for pipe from work and made this carrier, this is where the handle needs welded that i mentioned.

 

[nissanboy]

Love it... i would have leaned the windshield back some though, but thats just me

 

[RockRanger]

Maybe a bar going across the the B pillar behind the seats to where it bows out on each side. Other then that it looks good. Get a few more pics of the tire carrier I need to do something like that to my truck.

 

[JoshC]

Draw a line on that pic to show me where you are talking about??

I'll get some more of the tire carrier for you sometime

 

[SoBeLover]

How do you drive that in the rain with no protection?

 

[JoshC]

I don't, i drive this baby

 

[RockRanger]

Blue line is what I was talking about before. It could serve two purposes. One if you flip and land on teh roof teh force could cause this bend to want to buckle out and collapse teh roof down. Hopefully a bar across welded on will help keep this from happening. The second is depending on teh exact height it ends up which is hard to tell from a picture is you could later on mount a 4/5 point harness to it.

The Red bars might not be a bad idea as well to add down to teh frame assuming the rest of it is tied to the frame.

I am not a pro cage builder dont play one on Tv and hopefully will be building my first cage for my truck in a month or two so take it for what its worth.

 

[RockRanger]

Also more details on how you did the windshield. When my truck goes belly up one of these days I think I will be using some of the ways you did yours.

 

[bmxking5]

Looks badass. Now you need some new seats and harnesses.

 

[JoshC]

Okay, i see what you are saying now. I'll do that, i like it. I would have had more things like that done, but my bushing for my tubing nothcer stripped out yesterday so i've got to pick one up from work.

The windshield--well he made the bar that goes right along the bottom on the dash a 3 piece deal, he didn't think he could make the correct bends on both ends and make it come out right, so he sluged the connections before he welded it. The two inner bars that are upright are a smaller diameter tube, not sure what size, but since it's the main load bearing suppors, he used those to weld the tabs for the windshield.

 

[JoshC]

Looks badass. Now you need some new seats and harnesses.

Should i give you my pay pal address so i can go ahead and order those? lol Thanks though!

 

[Rick]

That looks very cool Definately unique. The windshield came out great.

 

[JDraper]

Looks good Josh...you gonna canvas the top so you can wheel it in foul weather or the cold?

 

[JoshC]

Thanks fellas. Yes i am going to do a canvas top, just enough material to cover the top, like a roof. I'm going to try to call this week to get an estimate from a boat shop or an uposltry (spelling?) shop.

 

[rookieshooter]

Blue line is what I was talking about before. It could serve two purposes. One if you flip and land on teh roof teh force could cause this bend to want to buckle out and collapse teh roof down. Hopefully a bar across welded on will help keep this from happening. The second is depending on teh exact height it ends up which is hard to tell from a picture is you could later on mount a 4/5 point harness to it.

The Red bars might not be a bad idea as well to add down to teh frame assuming the rest of it is tied to the frame.

I am not a pro cage builder dont play one on Tv and hopefully will be building my first cage for my truck in a month or two so take it for what its worth.

Nice work indeed. Like to hook up one day and do some rideing with ya, if I ever get done. LOL. I'm a little concerned about that area that RockRanger pointed out also. That pillar has a built in crumple zone with that bowed out area that is very close to your head. If I can find the articles I have on cage building and how important it is to have those pillars as straight as possible for strengthining the whole cage. If you imagine a very very hard hit up high on the pass. side. The lines of force are going to go down the angled pipe and then transfer energy to that horizontal pipe and then wanting to push out that pillar on oppisite side.

IMHO, I would without dought do one of several things. 1 I would add on where the red lines are. I would either connect them to the bottom of the main pillars coming down, as long if they were connected to frame. Or if not connected to frame then take those red lined pipes and connect to frame. It dosent take too much imagination now to see how the energy would be redirected to the oppesite lower corner to frame. Stopping for the most part the spreading out of those main pillars. And protecting the all imortant head area Another approach would be to completly remove the angled pipes and that horzontal one. Then take take your new pipe and run one full length from oppisite high corner to main pillar at floor level which is somehow connected to frame. Then do the same on other side of course you would have to make this one in two pieces.

Another senerio is that lets say it flips and does not come down on that corner but directly on the top in the middle above your head. There is nothing structurally sound that going to stop that inverted V from collapsing that horizontal pipe going across from side to side. You most likly will never haves such an accident and if you did what you have may just work. But what if?

 

[slravene]

nice Josh....I was waiting on you to show everyone else these pics

 

[410Fortune]

thats ugly as hell! Nice work!

Seriously I love it! Can't wait to see it with some canvas.

Looks like an African safari tourist contraption thing!

 

[JoshC]

I know what you are saying rookie. Heres why it's like it is. The guy that built it has done alot of cages, 3 of his own vehicles. Well, he started drawing this up for me and it looked good on paper because he drew it up complete. When time came to work on it, it's another story. He had it made up to where he was incorparating some exo in it, well from the looks of the b pillar, that's as far as it went. It pisses me off the more i think about it because he half way finished his job. So now i have to take up the slack. But anyways, yes the mods will be done by myself. It is tied into the frame.

 

[section525]

At your leisure can we get pics of how it's tied into the frame?!

 

[rookieshooter]

Thanks Josh, am so glad you did not think I was saying something to piss you off. I admire your work, ideas and more then anything, the way you ask for advice from others. More people should be like you, including me, because it could have saved me some grife. Keep up the good work.