Varg In Jeep's Clothing

That's a good question. I'm not even sure if I ever transferred it.

 

Ah you got me there... well played sir, well played.

 

Everytime I look at a pic of this work, I smile.

 

Ditto on that. Your progress is outstanding and the level of detail is incredible.

 

Thanks guys. Your encouragement really does help. I just need to steer clear of the parts I'm not sure about and trust that the answers will come to me in time.

On a progressive note, I'm working on the under-dash cage connections at the moment. This is going to be the most complex and demanding part of the cage build, and it'll never be seen by anyone but the most curious. Four disconnects in about a square foot of space. I'll be glad when this part is done. More to follow at some point.

 

I find myself staring and thinking quite a bit on my project too. I get a kick out of when the solutions come. I told my wife the other day "If I didn't enjoy doing this, it would be torture"... Progress is kindof slow because I'm figuring it out as I go.

 

Tea and biscuits? also try coffee and bacon, Results may vary.

 

Note the plates in the corners of the dash.



Trying to keep as much foot room as possible, I'll be running the front hoop into these plates.



They'll tie into a "T" shaped brace behind the dash that goes between the dash and firewall, and down to the frame tie-in plate on the floor. I'll get more into the complexity of this if I get time tomorrow.

 

This is getting good can’t wait to see the finished product

 

You should really consider donating it to a good cause.

 

But how would I drive it home?

 

I got the under-dash cage pieces done on the pass side. The driver's side is ready to tack; I ran out of time. I spent half my day on my back with my welding helmet on my head and head stuck/wedged under the dash while trying to get the MIG gun in a position where I wanted it. I'm glad I'm not easily claustrophobic, because I would have been freaking out.

Here are all the pieces as they fit together.



The floor plate needed to be seperate from the under-dash stuff because I'm going to run tubes along the floor that connect the A-pillars and B-pillars for seat mounts and such, and they will get welded to the short section of tube between this interlocking disconnect and the floor plate.

The "T" section needs to be removable seperate from the rest, because without a center break, the whole mess would be sandwiched in there and stuck.

Installed:



Another line of thinking with this...
I worry about a hard front-end collision shoving the cage work into the occupants' bodies. It's hard to tell in the above pictures, but I made the break in the center at a 40° angle, and I plan on using low-grade bolts at those connections. My theory is, the bolts would shear in a collision and push the front sections outward while folding the rear (dash) sections inward. Sort of a crumple zone.



No idea if it would actually work... it's not like I'm going to test it willingly.

 

I wondered why the offset. Any crash in an early wont be fun at speed. I have avoided dozens with great power brakes. My jeep will easily keep up with city traffic below 55mph, but stopping safely and controlled is more important that going. I love how you're documenting this cage build and the different ideas. I will someday build one probably and this is not the average cage. Makes me think.

 

It feels kind of strange putting so much thought and effort into something you hope you never need, BTDT. The structural rigidity will be nice, but hopefully it lives a long life never having been crash tested. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

Outstanding work as usual

 

Something tells me Ryan's design ideas come from previous "crash testing" AKA Jeep racing.

 

I’d think so. Ryan was kind enough to share his 3B cage and it had the same failsafe built in but designed a hair differently.

 

I didn't have to go to 90° on the bottom bends, but since I had to bend the leading edge of one and the trailing edge of the other (because it is too wide to fit below the bender; only above), it made my math a lot easier. I was willing to burn 2 feet of tubing to save 12 redoing it.