[5ierra]

Evening fellow zookers.

Looking at getting a cage for my sierra (lwb) in the near future and was wondering if you kind gentlemen would assist in a few queries/comment on some of my ideas.

Basically, I'm thinking i want a 6 point cage. At this point in time I'm not competing in any events but i hope to in the coming year. As well as this I'm thinking safety, lets face it, a stock soft top zook isn't something you would want to roll.

Anyways, the first thing I'd like advise on is should it be bolt in or weld in? I realise there is a vast different in connections between four 10mm bolts at each point, and welding it, but is it something i should factor for?

Secondly, in terms of design, I'm thinking something like this:



I like the design of this bar, mainly because it leave room open in the back for gear, is simple, and looks effective. Another point, raised by gwagensteve in another roll cage thread, is that internal cages can cause issues in an accident when you hit your head on the bar running up the inside of the b-pillar. That bar on this cage is behind the b-pillar.

So with this cage in mind, would it hold up to a roll over? I guess using the hypothetical of a roll over on a trail in the bush? Worst case scenario a car accident?

Moving away from this there are the alternative, those being should i avoid a roll-cage and just have an exo instead?

Any help you guys can provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, 5ierra.

[alien]

its almost an exo-cage... which would be far easier to build and maintain interior space, all you need is a ladder on it somewhere so you can justify having it (legally) by calling it a 'roof rack'.

Personally i'd do it bolt on, but by welding brackets to the chassis etc, so if you do trash the bar or part of it its easily replaced, and doing a good job of bolting on can be just as strong as welding.

[5ierra]

Awesome, in regards to the above bar too, a little cross bracing behind the seats would probably stiffen it up aswell. And how cool would a ladder look

[alien]

yeah needs a diagonal brace - it does have a horizontal one for the harnesses already... it also doesnt appear to have any gusseting.

[5ierra]

I'm sure though if i got the right bloke to do it it'd be up to par though?

[Red89]

5ierra wrote:

Basically, I'm thinking i want a 6 point cage. At this point in time I'm not competing in any events but i hope to in the coming year. As well as this I'm thinking safety, lets face it, a stock soft top zook isn't something you would want to roll.

Have you ever rolled a zook, they are surprisingly robust and will hold up to a fair bit of abuse. I have rolled mine several times neither my a or b pillar have been pushed in from a roll.

5ierra wrote:

Secondly, in terms of design, I'm thinking something like this:



I like the design of this bar, mainly because it leave room open in the back for gear, is simple, and looks effective. Another point, raised by gwagensteve in another roll cage thread, is that internal cages can cause issues in an accident when you hit your head on the bar running up the inside of the b-pillar. That bar on this cage is behind the b-pillar.

Most proper 6 point cages will have a crossbrace on the b pillar and so will be required to go behind the front seats anyway.

5ierra wrote:

So with this cage in mind, would it hold up to a roll over? I guess using the hypothetical of a roll over on a trail in the bush? Worst case scenario a car accident?

Moving away from this there are the alternative, those being should i avoid a roll-cage and just have an exo instead?

Any help you guys can provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, 5ierra.

That needs the crossbrace behind the front seats. Below is a link to the CCDA rollover protection guidelines that alot of comps run to.

CCDA Rollover Protection

[royce]

www.camsmanualonline.com.au

they know a thing or 2

I would go 6 point inside to protect from rolls, using decent 350mpa pipe/tube, bolted through the floor is fine if you take note of the correct mounting options

then the brush bar external sections can be made from lighter and cheaper CHS, which if you beat up is easy to chop the section out and weld a new bit in

[madmacca]

found this at adrenalin4x4 http://www.adrenalin4x4.net/mudgutsglory.htm

ccda roll cage drawings pdf http://photos.imageevent.com/evlhilux/r ... 060428.pdf

hope this helps
Macca

which is the same as reds post above oops haha

[5ierra]

Cheers for the link macca, that was rally help full.

Re89, yeh, i'd always intended to put the cross bar in... triangulation ftw

[5ierra]

So i dicked around in cad for 10min this morning and came up with this:



Please note its not to scale, just a reference ofe the time being.

[Fatzook]

I'd change the diagonal brace in the 'B' hoop to start at the node above drivers head, where the two roof diagonals terminate.

And if you can shift the lower end of the 'B' hoop diag. brace down as low as possible it would give better strength.

Otherwise it looks pretty good.

[Highway-Star]

alien wrote:

its almost an exo-cage... which would be far easier to build and maintain interior space, all you need is a ladder on it somewhere so you can justify having it (legally) by calling it a 'roof rack'.

If, you go exo, don't stress about this. Can be plated as an exo if built right. Wayne's LJ50 is approved now

[5ierra]

Easy fix

The main section i was worried about was the rear but hey, i'm not going to argue

[5ierra]

Highway-Star wrote:

alien wrote:

its almost an exo-cage... which would be far easier to build and maintain interior space, all you need is a ladder on it somewhere so you can justify having it (legally) by calling it a 'roof rack'.

If, you go exo, don't stress about this. Can be plated as an exo if built right. Wayne's LJ50 is approved now

not so keen on the exo dealio at the moment. If i can get sliders and rear bar on i'll be content for the time being.

[Fatzook]

5ierra wrote:

Easy fix

The main section i was worried about was the rear but hey, i'm not going to argue

The rear stays aren't ideal, but like you said the other day; you're not going to have rear seat passengers, so if the rear section of the cage deforms during a heavy roll, then it won't matter so much.

[5ierra]

Fatzook wrote:

5ierra wrote:

Easy fix

The main section i was worried about was the rear but hey, i'm not going to argue

The rear stays aren't ideal, but like you said the other day; you're not going to have rear seat passengers, so if the rear section of the cage deforms during a heavy roll, then it won't matter so much.

They would hold up to a light roll over wouldnt they though?

[Fatzook]

5ierra wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

5ierra wrote:

Easy fix

The main section i was worried about was the rear but hey, i'm not going to argue

The rear stays aren't ideal, but like you said the other day; you're not going to have rear seat passengers, so if the rear section of the cage deforms during a heavy roll, then it won't matter so much.

They would hold up to a light roll over wouldnt they though?

Absolutely. They would hold up in a fairly decent roll, but end on end backwards they would fail.

Your design looks good john.

[Red89]

My opinion

[Fatzook]

Red89 wrote:

My opinion

I thought about that, but it makes the rest of the rear section fairly redundant

[5ierra]

Red89 wrote:

My opinion

I thought about the bars there aswell but went with the other design.

[5ierra]

Had some ideas for my rear bar too, only thing i;m worried about is that being a long wheel base, the returns may be abit long and deform with a big hit, so i may tak it back to the chasis there too



Also unsure on number plate mounting, but who needs one of them anyway

[tombutt]

I'd be mounting them to the chassis I'd think they would bend otherwise my mate had a patrol with a similar style they bent and dent the side panel. Y not mount ur number plate on the back door then you can't hit it agin either

[5ierra]

Back door is always an option BAHAHAHAHAHA

I just realised that the fuel filler pipe doo dad is in the way on the drivers side if i take the returns back to the chasis...

Back to the drawing board.

[tanshi]

add an extra tube to the returns, like i have on mine, you wont bend them then. shouldnt need to go back to chassis as long as the mounts on the rear are strong

[5ierra]

yeh, was thinking that, OR was going to dick arounf with it in cad abit more and put a cage edge sorta thing on it like the back section, leave it with me

[tombutt]

Just cut the fuel filler pipe putting fuel in ur car is over rated.

[5ierra]

was bored, so i added bits... because i can

[BlueSuzy]

some one is good at plumbing !

[5ierra]

I'm king at pipe dream!