critique my cage before i paint (kinda long)

[boz42]

these are pics of the cage me & a friend built in my 75 k5. i would like yall to gimme some input on my design, i borrowed some of the design from pics of other cages i have seen here & on other sites. i am ready to paint butu before i do i am going to add some oh-sh@t handles made out of 1" tube & weld them to the cage out of the way of knees & heads. also going to add some corner braces were the frt & rear halos tie into the "B" post. already added bracing from "c" post to rear halo. since i am going to be working on the cage again i figured i would ask what u thought about it.

i am thinking it may need more lateral bracing for the "A" or "B" post. maybe remove the 90 degree bars behind the frt seats & add a cross brace there, the only thing is i would like to be able to get into the rear seats w/ the top on. i could put a "V" in the middle of the frt windshield. what do yall think, is my design sound or does it need some tweeking to be safe?

cage is made of 1.75" .120 wall dom. except dash bar which is 1.25" dom
if u need some more pics to make an educated decision i can post them.

 

[Orange Crush]

No critique . Damn thats some nice work.--Eric

 

[noahrob]

I cannot speak intelligently about the structural integrity of your cage. However, from a purely aesthetic perspective...it is purdy!

 

[johnathan]

Thats nice!!! spacially the top

 

[Chaddy]

I would put some gussets in it but other than that its pretty sick

 

[BranndonC]

in a roll over where the impact was where the black arrow is, it seems the cage might fold to the side... I see the X in the rear, do you think the red lines I drew in might be over kill or not needed?

 

[jekbrown]

looks good. I'd gusset the bends on the b-hoop though, especially since that is where its tied into the rest of the cage...

j

 

[GotBoykins]

Looks great! The gussets sound good for safeties sake though.

 

[garlicbreath]

I would try to triangulate the seat belt hoops somehow.

 

[yoshisv]

The only thing wrong with it is its not in my blazer, Nice job!

 

[boz42]

thanks for the compliments, i am planning on small gussets on both sides frt & back on the "B" hoop to both halos.

branndon i like your idea, i've been thinking it needed something else there, but couldn't come up w/ any good idea on how to brace it w/out killing entry to the rear, we do a lot of winter riding here & it gets cold enough that u need a top.

any other ideas on how to "X" brace the "B" hoop.


side note, branndon, i love to hear u ranting & raving about your 514, i am almost finished w/ a 547 stroker. i am almost running an identical d-train to yours, 400/203/205 with d60f/d70hd 5.13's & detroits both ends, with 42's on h-1's

 

[BranndonC]

awesome! If i had to do it again, i'd stroke it, forge it, and leave the possibility of blowing it open, lol Just to see what I could get out of it. I cant wait to see your truck when its done too. The reason I suggested the bracing there was because of a thread on pirate about failed cages, and most bent sideways from no x bracing in the b pillar area

 

[81jimmyslt]

Right where brandon posted the black arrow gusset on all sides or at least one toward the center. Looks great otherwise.

 

[Cmoe]

in a roll over where the impact was where the black arrow is, it seems the cage might fold to the side... I see the X in the rear, do you think the red lines I drew in might be over kill or not needed?

also need to support that upper 5 point harness mouning point. you may want to tie it into you front front seat mount bar....

 

[73k5blazer]

What's it tied to.The frameI hope. Looks pretty good to me.

 

[mtnman210]

very cool design...I just might have to steal it

 

[colbystephens]

i'd like to see a side pic where you can view the whole truck to check out the aesthetics - i can't decide if i like the partial cages or the full cages better.. i like it tho.

 

[hawkeye649]

Purdy metal work. Quality fabrication is something I aspire too and love to look at.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think attaching a roll cage to the frame isn't, uhh... optimal?
My thought is that, if you were to sit in your seat in your cage and it wasn't part of the truck, and it was pushed off a cliff, it should protect you. Like if the roll/crash was bad enough that your frame and cage decided to part ways (this especially applies to full verts). And one that uses the frame as part of the structure would not. But then again a cage is a long way away for my truck, so I haven't read word 1 about cage theory.
P.S. Half cage is the only way to roll, right down to the bed behind the passengers, bad asssssssssssssssssssssssss And if you don't put people in the back (I haven't had that seat in in about 9 months, without missing it 1 iota) then right before the rar fender wells would be even more bad ass. It's just like skirts, the shorter the cooler.

 

[boz42]

thanks for the input u have all said what i was thinking, i just wanted to see if anyone would catch something i might have missed.

anyone else?

 

[garlicbreath]

I hope that dash crossbar is just a mock up piece right? Looks like a long matchstick!! Why so small? Also, if I was a back seat passenger, I would like something to hold onto, some grab handles etc.