TJ Cage

[MR EXTREME JEEP]

Originally Posted by Wooders

Those are not 2 extra bars...infact I'm trying to remember what the firetruck they are...

OK
When you remember could you let us know. Your not that old M8.

OH is your cargo barrier removable too?

[Wooders]

It was just some junk I had in the back...and I can't think what it might have been - probably straps etc....
The cargo barrier is removable too - it bolts to the factory cage main hoop.

[Gordo]

if you fancy a trip to Canberra (Hall, NSW, close enough )

Rod Kilby at Lochleigh Enterprises can put a CAMS spec cage together for you to your custom specs.

Maddog's TJ enjoyed one
Jumbo's TJ enjoys one
Nolte's TJ (who, where ?!? oldskool retired comp Jeeper enjoys one)
My 97 TJ Goatsack enjoys one.

He slapped mine together in no time before 04 OBC (I love to give him a challenge) and served for a season of XWC and other team comps.

Not CAMs spec as thats not what I wanted. But after four flops it's still in good shape.

In brief :

Front legs bolt to firewall torx head mounts beside dash (not to floor as legality was suspect if going thru the dash to floor). In hindsight - I would have gone thru dash to floor for more strength after seeing Doggie and Jumbo's which look great rego be-damned !

Harness brace is an unboltable bar and integrates with the bolt-out 2 piece cargo barrier.

Didn't specify for it to integrate to soft/hard top (+ given the 3 week OBC time factor) so I had to bodge a mounting for my softtop. works ok. Kilby did this properly for Dog, Jumbo and Nolte and they look sweeeet.

He used the existing main hoop and welded it up (its made of 3 pieces in case u didn't know !!)

I never got pinged at OBC or XWC which were meant to only allow CAMS spec cages so it's strength is more than ample for my needs.

Kilby (aka The Barwork Magician) does many cages for rally, Targa, Paris Dakar cars around Australia as well as major contracts for govt and private clients and knows his shid.

He's a one man band though so timing (and a booking !) is important.

If u get carryed away and for very reasonable coin you can get a front bar, side steps, shock mount mods, pretty much anything weldable done too !

Have a chat to him : Rod Kilby - Lochleigh Enterprises 02 6230 2234 or 0412 481 965

Alternatively another nice cage (Overkill fab) is in Mad Max Baerlocher's (aka Hublocker) OBC rig. Used to be the same as Coop's (Dorzun is the new daddy) TJ. And we all saw how well Dorzun's held up when Jeff the deestroyer walked away unscathed

Hope this braindump helps dude

[Wooders]

Errr Gordo - I think Max & Kent built theirs themselves - it was after many scotch discussion plans that I was inspired by Max as his is effectively 2 cages as well.
Dorzuns was a TBT at the time of Jeffs Lunar park ride - but now is Overkill's work.

[Gordo]

I stand corrected Wooden1.

But.. I thought Dorzzzzzun TJ had TBT sporty addon thing to an existing Overkill jobbie ? If not Sam who did their original ones ? Jnr Hublocker using Overkill gear perhaps ? Dunno... good conv for a campfire chat now anyway

[maddog]

Brad had Max's old cage that Max gave to Craig back when it was his car. That removable section was built by Rod if I remember right. When Max got serious about Outback Challenge the cage had to go and a complete 1 piece one was made up in Max's car.

As Gordo has pointed out, Rod's work is tops. He built the cage in my old TJ and I couldn't fault it on fabrication or price! Once you've nutted out your design, it's definitely worth talking to him about doing the job.

The first thing that concerns me about the 1st lot of pics posted, and some of the others is the distinct lack of triangulation. If you're building a roll cage it's presumably because you're going to wheel harder stuff and you want to protect yourself and your occupants in the event of a soft or hard rollover.

As an example (and I'm not badmouthing here, just constructive talk) when Brad's TJ rolled, the cage collapsed a scary amount as far as I was concerned. I would not want to have been in that vehicle in a roll over any harder than that, or onto rocks rather than grass and dirt. That was a factory cage with a TBT bolt in addition which looked the part, but had little to no triangulation. Triangulation will stop a cage collapsing in any particular direction on impact. Don't forget when you roll most of the time you're not being dropped directly upside down on your roof, you have a side impact first.

The next point to consider is if you're installing a cage for competition is if there is a requirement to have a CAMS spec cage. If your event is goverened by CCDA, you will need a CAMS spec cage in most cases. Out of all the cages mentioned or pictured in this thread, only Jumbo's, Maxes current one and the one in my old TJ are built to CAMS spec (schedule J).

Having a fully triangulated cage in a vehicle that you intend on having passengers is difficult, but not impossible. You just need to do some thinking about it.

[maddog]

Here's some pics of the cage build in my TJ.



















There are also minimum size and thickness requirements for a CAMS spec cage, and these are probably a good rule of thumb for any cage even if not using it for competition. The main hoop must be 44.45mm and all other members 38mm. I don't recall the minimum material thicknesses off the top of my head but they are available in the manual.