Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBeast
I have driven several vehicles with cages over the years, I want to share some thoughts.
I am worried about how far inboard your side bars come in, they are almost directly overhead, if you wind up in the situation you need the roll bar, this could be fatal because it would be like having a baseball bat dropped right on top of your noggin!
It would be better to tie the bars in at the corner of the bend (shown in green) keeping the bars as close to the edge of the shell as possible! (orange)
I know it would probably mean having to buy more material at this point, but a couple of sticks of tubing are a lot cheaper than a serious injury or even loss of life! Especially if it is someone you love and you are left holding the regret bag.
Tying into the corner of the bend is pretty easy, you make a kicker bend that is at a 45° angle to the side tube, then make the notch perpendicular to that, and it will fit right in!
Also I strongly suggest putting an offset bend in the post going to the floor show in orange here, the reason for this is, when getting in and out of the truck it will make it a lot easier with your feet, get your foot wrapped around that bar as you are getting out and go Alpha Sierra Sierra over tea-kettle face first onto the pavement and you will understand why! 
Also do install grab handles up at the front corner of the cage, but make sure that handle is inboard enough in its arc that if the truck were laying on its side and the cab crushed in, that who ever's hand is holding that handle will not be crushed! Because if the truck goes over the first thing someone is going to do is grab that handle!
And don't forget if you install 5 point harnesses, make sure the shoulder bar is above the shoulders because if you have an accident and they are below the shoulders it can cause compression injuries to the spine!
I don't want to sound like a downer, I just have some experience with this and know someone who got killed when his jeep flipped and the cage dimpled his noggin.
That being said I have high hopes you never need to use the cage because it would be a shame to mess up a truck you have done such nice work on, but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!
P.S. and by the way, PVC pipe is great for mocking up cages as it is a lot cheaper than steel, heat it up and bend it in your bender just as you would the steel tube. if you are unhappy with how a piece came out, get a butt connection, cut off the bad part, stick a fresh piece of pipe on, and keep mocking up! |
First off, thanks for the feedback. I really do appreciate it. That's one of the reasons I'm sharing every detail of my builds on this board.
As for the concerns you have, I completely understand and had already given all of those some thought. The side bars coming inward are not as far as the pictures make it look. I can sit in the driver seat and bounce up and down without any contact with the bar. I may be able to shift it outboard as it is cut now by another inch or so. Or I could add a slight bend in that upper part to get it over more into the turn of the middle hoop.
There are a couple advantages though with having it above the bend. First, it's higher than if I put it in that bend by and inch or 2. Second, the tube is stronger on the straight. Adding heat into the thinner outer radius of the tube bend to weld the junction won't help the strength there at all and the bend is already a moment point, which is why the triangulation is so critical. Also, having the front side tubes aligned with the rear side tubes further strengthens that junction compared to an offset junction.
All that being said, having a couple more inches of room by my head would be good. Initial thoughts putting it in were pretty much spot on with your comments.
The other way I planned to get head room was with the seating. The factory seats are getting replaced with something more appropriate. They will sit an inch or more lower. As it is my line of sight straight forward is about 4" from the top of the windshield. I'm not real tall, but tall enough to need some adjustment there.
On the lower end of that tube, I could kick it forward a bit but honestly I don't think it will matter because I'll be adding tubes from the center hoop down towards the lower end of that anyway. So remove one issue and add another. I need a stool to get in the truck now and I believe it is pretty close to the eventual ride height. I plan to add some nerf bars, probably with a built in step or I'll have to lift the wife in manually. Not that I mind doing that.
Grab handles will be required. No doubt. I'll be adding a bar across the dash, and probably between the 2 cross bars there. Adding a couple from the middle hoop to the front cross bar. Triangulating the middle hoop and some in the rear also. That rear part won't get figured out until the rear suspension is sorted out.
I need to build a seat mount platform and add the tubing needed for harnesses. There is definitely room for improvement and time to make those adjustments. If I had designed it the side tubes would have been bent to mount more outboard for sure. I need to get the 2" dies back so I can make some bends.
Again, thanks for the input. Sometimes I just need that second or third opinion to bump me along the right path.