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Roll Cage design.

blazindorito

blazindorito

1/2 ton status
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Ok fellas, here's my question. I am having a hard time finding someone build me a roll cage. I have contacted a couple of people but it has not worked out. Money has not been a factor. I believe time and knowledge are key factors. I called one guy and he wanted me to pay him all the money upfront. I kept on asking him for pictures of cages he has done and has sent none. The other one has been a guy that wanted me to pay him all the money ASAP so he could order a new bender. Stuff like that. I have not been ANAL about anything just some things make me shake my head twice.


I am at the point were F**k it and just do it myself. I don't know how to weld but I will take a class at community college to learn how to.

Something like this:
http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/media/258377_1

My questions are:

How many places do I need to tie the cage into the frame?
Does every pillar that comes down need to be connected to frame?
Do I need to have a bushing at every pillar that connects to frame? (Vibrations and excess noise avoidance)
Minimum equipment to do this job?
How do you tie in cage to frame? When a pillar comes down to the plate do I drill a whole equal size and stick a smaller tube and connect with plate underneath?

Does anyone have a bend software that they would sell me?

This will be going in a 1983 k5 blazer. I would like it to tie into the dash.
 
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How far are you willing to go (drive) to have a quality cage built?
 
How far is this place? I woudl say 2 hours either way. I would have my wife follow me to drop off so I would not want to drive too far. How far is this place?

Fremont is far! 6 hours from me.
 
Try Tomcat fabrication it Torrance. This place was recamended to me for a cage before I had a bender. I decided to just buy one and do it myself. I did call them and enquire and it sounded like a good shop. They do race cars and all kinds of stuff. I dont have a number but just look them up.
 
blazindorito said:
Ok fellas, here's my question. I am having a hard time finding someone build me a roll cage. I have contacted a couple of people but it has not worked out. Money has not been a factor. I believe time and knowledge are key factors. I called one guy and he wanted me to pay him all the money upfront. I kept on asking him for pictures of cages he has done and has sent none. The other one has been a guy that wanted me to pay him all the money ASAP so he could order a new bender. Stuff like that. I have not been ANAL about anything just some things make me shake my head twice.


I am at the point were F**k it and just do it myself. I don't know how to weld but I will take a class at community college to learn how to.

Something like this:
http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/media/258377_1

My questions are:

How many places do I need to tie the cage into the frame?
Does every pillar that comes down need to be connected to frame?
Do I need to have a bushing at every pillar that connects to frame? (Vibrations and excess noise avoidance)
Minimum equipment to do this job?
How do you tie in cage to frame? When a pillar comes down to the plate do I drill a whole equal size and stick a smaller tube and connect with plate underneath?

Does anyone have a bend software that they would sell me?

This will be going in a 1983 k5 blazer. I would like it to tie into the dash.
Click to expand...


Ernesto
There is a place in Irvine, near the Irvine Spectrum, called Castle Fabrication. I have been by his shop to get possible additional support to my cage and his shop, although small, it seems very professional and the owner seemed very nice and helpful. IIRC, he does a lot of offroad type cages but general fabrication as well. Check the link to his site. he may not be too overbooked so the wait my not be too bad.

All he wanted me to do was a rough sketch of what I wanted and he would put pricing together and take it from there.

Like a remodel on your house, never use anyone that requires full payment up front. Hell, he has your truck if you don't pay. Your truck/car is worth more than the cage to be put in if you don't pay.

http://www.castlefab.net/index.htm

Hoby
 
It seems like in LA, it should be easy to find a shop.

What about ORU, or GM Truck Center? (I think that's the name?)

With so many fabrication shops around, you should be able to find one with a good reputation that can show you examples of previous work. I'd agree that someone who wants you to pay upfront so they can buy a bender is NOT the way to go.....you'll be his first cage build from the sounds of it.

If money is no object, finding a shop shouldn't be that hard. Sometimes, getting an appointment at a quality shop can be the hardest part.


:usaflag:
 
Yeah I didn't like the fact that he wanted me to pay ALL upfront.

Greg72, when I said Money was not the object I didn't mean "MONEY IS NO OBJECT."
What I meant that it wasn't the money part that made me not get it done. It was more like pay me all upfront, I need to buy a bender, Yeah I have done plenty of cages but I have no pictures sort of things. I don't want to pay an arm and a leg either. I would like to get something done for a reasonable amount of money. I hope I make sense.

I think that If I take it to a shop then I am going to pay more than I would like to. I was hoping more for someone that does it as a side business on weekends or someone that doesn't work and this is what he does sort of thing.
 
I hear ya....

The trouble with a rollcage project is that is DOES require some special tools that are expensive....it's almost impossible to justify buying everything you'd need just to build ONE cage. It would be cheaper to find someone to do it for you instead.

I have probably $1000 into a manual bender and dies, another $700 for a basic 220V welder, $1500 for the plasma cutter (not absolutely required) and another $275 for BendTech software.... the software seems like a waste of money except that nowadays, DOM is so expensive, you DON'T want to waste a single piece by bending it wrong.

Side-projects are great, except that the motivation isn't always there for the builder and you're project might end up collecting dust for a long time. Maybe it would be better to simply get someone to do the bending of the basic parts for you...then do the final fitment and welding yourself? :dunno: That's the most time-consuming part, and where most "sidejob" guys will probably lose interest in your project anyway....


:usaflag:
 
Greg72, You made a lot of sense. I was hoping that the tools needed would be not so expensive. I will see what I come up with then. My kids have been asking to go riding and I don't feel comfortable bringing them without some sort of protection.
 
blazindorito said:
Greg72, You made a lot of sense. I was hoping that the tools needed would be not so expensive. I will see what I come up with then. My kids have been asking to go riding and I don't feel comfortable bringing them without some sort of protection.
Click to expand...

IMHO the skills required to make a safe cage usually exceed those a beginner can do, so doing it yourself might not be the best idea for a first project either.

It might be worth it to talk to Henrick at GM Truck Center (I guess he still owns it), or check into 4x4Doctor; both are in Burbank. ORU is good but pricey compared to the other guys. Whoever you talk to should help with a good design too re: triangulation and placement.

I know there are lots of varying opinions on whether attaching to frame or body only is a "better" way to affix the cage; in the years I've watched the discussions, I don't know that there is a clear winner. Might be a good idea to get advice from guys that do it all the time and might help you a bit on the cost factor if one way is a lot cheaper than another and the benefits aren't significant.
 
One nice thing when I spoke to Castle Fab is that since the extra tubing I wanted to add was only for seat mounts and "less important" tubing, he had no problem with just doing the bends and fitment and taching the tubes in place so I could save some money and just finish the welding on my own. This part of my project got put on hold so I haven't used Castle yet but maybe give them a call and see what kinda feedback you get from them. I will go back to them if/when I need something done because I felt comfortable while speacking with them in their office.
 
BIG BLZN I emailed him earlier when I saw your first post. I called up 4xdoctor in Burbank and they quoted me $2500 for a simple roll cage, no seat attachments. Where is that smiley with the eyes popping out. I need 3 of them right now. I know that's the going rate at a shop but I can not spend that much money on a cage.
 
You better start learning how to weld then go start buying those expensive tools.

At least this way you'll have learned a thing or two and also have some tools that can make you money in the future.
 
Benders start at ~$400, a tubing notcher is ~$100 and the tubing to make a simple cage should run $3-400.

Welders are expensive. If you can find a welder to borrow or if you can find somebody to weld everything together you can save some $$.
 
blazindorito said:
How many places do I need to tie the cage into the frame?
Does every pillar that comes down need to be connected to frame?
Do I need to have a bushing at every pillar that connects to frame? (Vibrations and excess noise avoidance)
Click to expand...

How about tying into the frame?

I was watching the last couple of episodes of X-treme 4x4. The mounted the cage to the body and then tied a bushing mount from the body to the frame.

Will this keep the body from ripping at the mount plates?
 
The bushings are to prevent vibrations and rattling noise. If I'm wrong someone tell me and clarify this part, I don't think the bushing will prevent anything unless the cab is tied somewhere or installed tight to the body mounts where it won't allow any cab movemement. Same thing with tying into dash eventually the dash will roll with the body but the cage will remain still because it's tied to the frame. The dash will rub and move up against the pillars causing little wear til theres nothing left. This is what I came up with not sure just thinking out loud.
 
Give GM Truck Center a call (818) 846-0121. They might be able to give you a ball park figure on price. I've been in there a couple of times and the shop is crawling w/K5s. I wasn't there about a roll cage though.

I just Google'd them www.gmtruckcenter.com (go figure)
 
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