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Another Cage Thread


Bull Bar Cowboy

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Cages seem to be a very evocative subject :rolleyes:

During the last few (12) months my research into what I want, and don’t want, has finally arrived here (if that makes sense). :lol:

1) It needed to be of proven design

2) The cage-to-mount needed to be bolted for easy removal.

3) The mounts must be substantial

4) I wanted to do the profiling, fitting and welding myself.

To be honest this forum has been a wealth of info …… mainly thanks go out to HFH for sharing his build B) , DD for posting some very informative pictures from the shows :blink: , & NorthernChris for his pics ;)

So, looking at the above list, the design is met by the QT cage (and they are local) …….. X braces on both roof and rear hoops …… the mounts are OK ……… it is bolted using 12.9 Hexagon Setscrews. However, I wanted the fit and welding to be down to me, so I got on the blower to Dave Marsh and arranged for him to supply a load of pre-bent 48mm CDS pipe (tube) to BS what ever it is. Under normal circumstances I would have done the bending as well but one cage does not justify the cost of a decent mandrel tube bender.

2 weeks ago the work started ……… perhaps I should have cleaned the motor be before the pics !

First the main hoop mounts,

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These are then carefully fitted across the A frame X member and fully welded together with chassis bridge plates.

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Then the pre-bent main hoop is cut to size and fitted together with the diagonal brace.

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Trying to keep the welding as ‘nice’ as possible

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The final X tubes are profiled and added at this stage

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Front hoop mounts are fitted. I will fully weld these as the last job, in conjunction with some fabrication work on the Rocksliders.

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Front hoop in and horizontal bar fitted.

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Side bars profiled and fitted to join front and main hoops. I wanted these at a slight angle and profiling the tube for compound angles caused some head scratching…….but got it right by using some old scaffold tube to provide a template. Notice every thing is welded as much as possible on the vehicle to over come the distortion (shrinkage) problems sometimes (esp when you could do without it) encountered.

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Rear stay corner mount. I wanted the rear stays to the rear corners so as not to encroach too much on the load bay.

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And finally the first of the rear stays in place.

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So far that is 1 weekend and 1 ½ weeks of evenings <_< . Are you really serious that people do this for a living ………..keep on taking the tablets :P

To be continued……………………

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Has the quality of the pre bent tubes improved?

Nige and I ordered their front hoops, but the quality was so appauling we sent them back. Not only were they not symmetrical the tube was distorted on the bends with visible rippling on the insides of the bends.

Thats why we made our own.

Have to say I'm also concerned about the strength of the mounts at the corners of the rear crossmember. Have you beefed up the crossmember at all??? The ends of these bend very easily and will simply twist if put under any load.

Cheers

Jon

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Jon,

Ian did say QT have had a "Quality" moment :blink: and bends are ok -

guess either Ians (A.) Big or (B.) standing over him with heavy blunt instument may have had an effect ? :blink:

Take your point re rear cross member, .....thought that too,.... but Ians not as mad adventurous as us off road .....,or maybe theres more to come. ??

talking about more to come having spoken to Ian about his cage, I know he won't mind me saying this, but as he has now done one, he is looking for some more to do as he really has enjoyed it..........

Looks nice so far, nice work and welds (White .....don't even think about it).....

Coat on and running for cover :lol:

Nige

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Take your point re rear cross member, .....thought that too,.... but Ians not as mad adventurous as us off road .....,or maybe theres more to come. ??

The rear X member is an aftermarket heavy duty replacement that I put on 2 years ago .... it is considerably heavier than OEM, however, I am also slightly concerned , so I aim to weld in some extra cross braces from the chassis to rear x member. A couple of bitsof 6mm angle should do the trick

talking about more to come having spoken to Ian about his cage, I know he won't mind me saying this, but as he has now done one, he is looking for some more to do as he really has enjoyed it..........

Now which part of F*** Off do you not understand :lol::lol::lol:

Nige and I ordered their front hoops, but the quality was so appauling we sent them back. Not only were they not symmetrical the tube was distorted on the bends with visible rippling on the insides of the bends.

Like nige says to quality seems to have improved somewhat from your experiences (unless I was just lucky) ……… and I think he knows I am a fussy Bas***d :P

if you don't mind answering a PM will suffice

what doid he charge for the cage pre bent/delivered?

Tony......PM sent ;)

The only thing in my opinion (for what its worth) i would have made the rear stays straight i know you wanted to save the load space but they WILL bend if it all duz go T*TS up.

Yes, that was a concern, however, if it went that badly wrong, bent rear stays are gonna be the least of my problems ........ the flat bit at the top of the tube is for resting my gun when we are shooting ........ you get a bit unsteady freehand when you get to my age :rolleyes:

Ian

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I am undergoing the same ******* torture myself at pres with the added greif of chopping a 110 hicap tub to fit a 90. I agree anyone who does cage fitting for a living deserves to charge wot they like. It is so time consuming!!! If anyone is interested i chose a tomcat flat pack cage and i am very pleased with the quality and i beleive it is value for money. :D:D:D

Dave

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Lookin good mate ;);) The only thing in my opinion (for what its worth) i would have made the rear stays straight i know you wanted to save the load space but they WILL bend if it all duz go T*TS up.

Chris

Ian,

You can remedy this, should you feel the need, by adding another stay from the hoop foot up to the inside of the bend on the rear stay..... but I am sure you already know that. :ph34r:

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Ian,

You can remedy this, should you feel the need, by adding another stay from the hoop foot up to the inside of the bend on the rear stay..... but I am sure you already know that. :ph34r:

Ohhhhhh ………I didn’t think of that ……. I get the tape measure out and see if it fits in with ‘the plans’ ;)

Ian

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Well, it’s almost finished now apart from fitting the light brackets to the top of the front hoop, the snorkel bracket, and the load bay light brackets to the top of the rear hoop.

At the weekend it will be taken off and my son will spray it with Black Hammerite smooth…….. although he is wanting to use to use 2 pack :rolleyes:

Both rear stays on and fully welded …….. when I take it off for painting, some additional bracing will go into the rear X member ……. but the main cage has a lot of triangulation so any movement in an ‘off’ moment should be very limited :unsure: .

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A couple of pictures of the roof diagonal braces ………. It was bl00dy cold last night perched on the icy roof welding those in.

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Just waiting for the mill services rocksliders to arrive now.

Ian

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The cage is finally finished, but not without added complications :rolleyes: .

My son won the day and the final decision was to paint it black in a one hit 2 pack that is used in engine bays etc …… very, very tough (and expensive) but also flexible and has the added advantage of being very high density. The final decider was that this paint is not quite satin, but also not a high gloss …… anybody would think I was fussy :lol::lol::lol: .

At the body shop the fun started ……. one on each corner and lift……………..

………………ohhhhhhhhh ……………… bu55er………………….damn………… :angry:

Not only is a cage bl0ddy heavy but my fitting was a little toooooo tight and the main hoop feet would not clear the rear bulkhead. To be fair the foreman was quite helpful to get the job done and suggested removing the front wings for more clearance ….. but I had other ideas………………….

half an hour later I had removed 5mm from the front edge of the feet and the cage cleared everything nicely…….............then 30 minutes of rubbing down followed by 1.5L of paint ……. and then 30 minutes at gas mark 6 ………… ;)

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Just gotta fit the rock sliders, sort the front end and then we will give it a nice new coat of Arles Blue :)

Ian

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