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Sneak peak of my current project

What diameter is your tubing? 1.5" or 1.75"? And do you have a bender?


It wouldn't be hard to bend up two more a-pillar bars...
 
Emmettology 101 said:
What diameter is your tubing? 1.5" or 1.75"? And do you have a bender?


It wouldn't be hard to bend up two more a-pillar bars...
Click to expand...

1.5, and no I don't have a bender or I would have just made my own cage.:grin:

If you bend up different a pillar bars, the halo is too short to reach them, the door bars are probably too...and it snowballs from there.
 
Ya, I though about the snowball effect after I posted. Although you could bend it to the halo. But you may have to change the mounting plate and door bar. Of course it all depends on how you bend it too. And you want the least amount of bend for a stronger bar.
 
84_Chevy_K10 said:
False. If I had them the other way, it'd be even more intrusive. Farther inboard. The tube wasn't long enough the other way to go all the way outboard where it is right now, and still touch the halo.

It's actually positioned as un-intrusive as it can be as it was designed.

It's one of the few things I'm not so proud of about this cage, but it's a kit...and it's not going to be perfect.
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If they bent yours different than mine, then I believe you. Maybe they changed their design. But, if they are exactly the same, I would say youre definately wrong. Mine fit the A-Pillar much better, were not a knee-knocker as you say they would be and was less intrusive than your installation. I have pics of every angle if you want to compare. My A-pillar tube was all the way splayed out to the corner of the interior.

I would hate to have you tell others that this cage kit is complete crap, when most of it could be your installation. Actually, this cage could easily be adapted to go through the dash where the A-pillar bar would be a couple of inches from the A-pillar.

Another thing, I would not install the door bars the way they are designed. I would weld them in parallel to the floor at floor level to keep the feet of the cage from spreading in a rollover. I think they included these because it is an NHRA requirement.
 
I'm going to install the door bars, but not at that angle. I'm not too keen on parallel to the floor, but they'll be at a slight angle. They won't fit as designed anyway, the a pillar bars, as far outboard as they are won't allow them to fit without hitting the armrests on the doors.

As to why it fits my truck differently than yours--yours was a K5, this is not. The floors are completely different. This cage is designed for a K5, I would think from the looks of it.

It's not complete crap--it just doesn't fit the way I wanted it to. I'm not overly impressed with it, but it will do the job. I really have no room to complain. If I wanted it perfect I'd make it myself.
 
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Initially I didn't install the door bars, but decided to install them at an angle shown by S&W for protection when running without the doors. They are mounted on the A pillar as far down as possible while still allowing a full weld around them, and then angle up to the B pillar at the same height as the crossbar (few inches below shoulder height). After getting used to them it's not too bad getting in and out of the truck and I'm about 6-1, 230. It does help that my rockers are 3x3 tube that stick out past the body so I have a little platform to step up onto before sliding into the seat. I definitely feel more comfortable running no doors with these bars installed because of the idea of trees or rocks protruding through the door opening.
 
The halo bar style will always have that dristic bend issue. tRusty has a special bend in his. I have a similar set up on mine but a half cab will not allow that bend. If the halo gets longer it must come down to clear the windshield, then it a skull wacker. I spent days working on my cage (2 years ago when steel was cheap) it was one cmpromise after another. It is not as easy as you think. Even multi million dollar machine must adhere to physics and the dimensions of the vehicle the part will be put in.
 
hey tim, what size did you make you shackes in the front

?



I remember 7 inches I think, was the eye to eye, or the size of the piece of metal?

I made some today and cut them to 8 inches, I will use the drill press tom to finish them up.


:confused:
 
az-k5 said:
The halo bar style will always have that dristic bend issue. tRusty has a special bend in his. I have a similar set up on mine but a half cab will not allow that bend. If the halo gets longer it must come down to clear the windshield, then it a skull wacker. I spent days working on my cage (2 years ago when steel was cheap) it was one cmpromise after another. It is not as easy as you think. Even multi million dollar machine must adhere to physics and the dimensions of the vehicle the part will be put in.
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Yeah my Halo bar was by far the most head scratching, made it twice, still hated it, and modified it once more after that. The wider it is the lower it has to be to clear the hardtop, narrow it up and the 'A' pillar bars have to come too far inwards. I ended up increasing the width of the front of the halo by 3" to push the corners out, and left the width at the 'B' pillar so i could gain some head room. At that point I still had a brain basher, so I pulled the Halo out again and put two bends in so the front of the bar angled down. This finally gained me the headroom I needed at a reasonable seat height.

Here are a couple pic's that sort of show what I did.

1004cage_3.jpg


This one shows the downward bend in the halo to gain headroom.

Here is another view, sort of show the halo gets wider towards the windshield.

1004cage_1.jpg


The 'A' pillar bars are really close to the windshield frame. It windshield frame is not installed in this pic, those are the upper part of the doors. There is 1/2" or less to many places of the hardtop on the inside, as well as the windshield frame. The 'B' pillar area has less than 1/8" per side between the bars and the hardtop at it's closest.

My buddy and I spent close to 30 hours on this cage between the two of us...

Rene
 
beater_k20 said:
yeah, no point in door bars, nothing valuable inside anyways.
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Someday, you'll be flipped over in a ditch upside down and you'll remember every douchebag post you've ever made as you're enjoying the brisk water... and you've made a couple thousand between here and PBB.

Anyway, looks good Tim. If you have the time/ambition, I'd make the rear underbody part of the cage tie into the body mounts (plate sandwiched between the rubber and the cab). It's not too hard to do but it'll require you to drop the tank to build 'em.
 
CyberSniper said:
Someday, you'll be flipped over in a ditch upside down and you'll remember every douchebag post you've ever made as you're enjoying the brisk water... and you've made a couple thousand between here and PBB.

Anyway, looks good Tim. If you have the time/ambition, I'd make the rear underbody part of the cage tie into the body mounts (plate sandwiched between the rubber and the cab). It's not too hard to do but it'll require you to drop the tank to build 'em.
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Jeremy and I are friends, I just got off the phone with him about 45 minutes ago. No sense in flaming him, he's just being a pain in the ass.

The fuel tank is coming off and going in the box anyway, so I may consider your idea. This cage is getting interesting, but I'm getting tired of messing with it. once I finish the dash bar and the rear seat bar, I'm going to finish the welding, get the set in, install the door bars, and take a break. I'll add a few more gussets when I get the ambition to work on it I guess...it has taken a lot out of me.

Rene,

I think I just did something nasty in my pants looking at the pictures of your cage. I sure wish that *I* was a professional fab guy after seeing the pictures of your craftsmanship.

This has been a very intense learning experience for myself. The next cage will be sweet.

I really appreciate all y'allls encouragement. I work 14 hours a day, run Tim's Offroad, and only get one day off a week. I wish I had an unlimited amount of time to dedicate to this project but I just don't.

I'm going to run out to the garage and get some more fabbing/welding done tonight, I'd really like to get it done so I can get the seat in. I can't wait to sit in my seat and look around me and see how it all fits.
 
Thanks Tim.

I think I just did something nasty in my pants looking at the pictures of your cage.
Click to expand...

Tooooooo much information!!!!

:haha: :haha: :haha:

Rene
 
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