Totally agree, not a scientific study or controlled impact example. Plus, they rolled the Dodge so you couldn't see the front of the roof and how it impacted. Neat concept for a pickup. The Ex spreads the forces of a rollover across a larger surface area with an additional pillar for support. Life comes with risks...meh

 

That sounds like it would be a slick design. Not sure if the body penetrations could be kept clean and squeak free since the body is mounted on rubber.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...roll-cage.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...roll-cage.htmlhttps://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...roll-cage.html

Outside links:
Excursion Roll Cage - TDR Roundtable

SRS Ford Excursion: Off-Road.com

 

I've thought about this before and I have a tube bender, but without diagonal support (roof to floor) the roll bar will likely fold over as much as the body allows. You see, a symbiotic relationship is created when an basic internal roll prevention device is added. The bar helps keep the body from folding in and the body helps the bar keep it's structure. When I say basic, I mean a simple bolt in bar as you would see in the old Blazers, Broncos, and 4Runners. To maintain a structural force to withstand the body from pushing the bar out of position, the roll bar/cage has to be not only attached to the frame but braced diagonally and has to have enough triangulation through the entire design. This is not conducive to a comfortable ride for passengers.

In short, the roll bar/cage would be most intrusive to the passengers to be effective. Would a basic roll bar be better than nothing? Maybe. It really depends on if the bars can be placed close enough to the passengers without causing a safety issue. Even padded, a 1 3/4 stick of DOM is not going to feel pleasant when a head strikes it. I've bumped my head getting out of my old truck and it hurt like hell. I can't even imagine what a full rollover with inertia and an 8lb melon would feel like.

 

Could have one custom fabbed up however you like with the exception of the fabricator also doing what he needs to make it safe. Now if only we knew a fabricator... Hmmmmm.

 

I think he's callin' you out to actually do it. You guys aren't more than a few hours apart

 

Evasive ? I'd just drive over whatever was in front of me

Rovers had some exterior cages, not really roll cages, more for a little body protection & hanging stuff from

To build a rollcage for the Ex you'd have to gut the interior 1st, thats A LOT of work

 

the easiest solution IMHO would be to make an external roll cage....proly not the prettiest option but if safety is your biggest concern......

 

I've seen plenty of external cages fail on much lighter vehicles like grand cherokees. The problem with exo cages is where do you tie the bottom in to??? You have to make your hoops go over the body and then they come out at the rocker panels, which is a few feet away from your frame. So you weld an outrigger18" off the frame and expect it to take the force coming off the main hoop, which intersects it at a 90 degree angle. Its inherently weak. furthermore, if you roll into a rock or something with a sharp edge it can easily fold the tubing. Tubing is only strong if it can keep its shape, once it deforms it will bend relatively easily. I think thats one of the things locknload was saying.

also lets not overlook that on a vehicle that is already giant like the excursion, an exo cage like some pictured would be very close to pushing you over DOT limits for width, kill your gas mileage, as well as adding another 600-1000 lbs to the top of the vehicle, ironically making it even more likely to roll over!!

Personally, I think if you are that worried about rolling over, you should consider adding a wider track to the excursion through lower offset wheels, lowering the excursion (which isn't really possible on a 4wd with the factory suspension design), lightening the roof (taking out all the ceiling mounted consoles and HVAC and DVD), and maybe spending some of the time and money that you guys must all be flush with signing up at a local driving school with your truck and learning some advanced driving techniques. I live a few minutes from summit point race track in Charles Town, WV, and they have classes you can sign up for with your truck and the instructors will tailor their driving lessons to you. I took one once and learned a few things (and had some fun). They also have like old crown vics and stuff they will let you hoon around in, which is a blast. But the instructors teach things about defensive driving and accident avoidance and high speed lane change maneuvers that might just save your life some day. They teach all the feds driving techniques for their big black suburbans.

and to those who say your "instinct" will be to swerve... so what? your instinct is wrong. Your instinct is to lock up the brakes on a non ABS car. Your instinct is to steer further into the skid on a RWD car. But you learn around those instincts so you can drive safely... growing up in WV I have had so many friends and family swerve to miss deer and end up flipping their cars, so I've burned it into my mind that you have to evaluate your options, and hitting the deer is a perfectly valid option. In rally driving school, they teach you to hit the brakes, and as your vehicle is slowing down, make a decision about which direction you are going to steer, and when you have slowed down as much as you can, you let off the brakes and make the turn. That goes completely against instinct, but if you continue to hold the brakes you are probably going to understeer right into whatever it is you wish to swerve around. And if you just swerve without using the brakes, its likely you will lose control or enter a skid, and possible end up shiny side down.

When it comes to driving, you have to teach yourself technique over instinct.

 

My brother in law is an Army Ranger and convoy trainer with 4 tours in Iraq, including Sadr City during the busy time. He trains all his convoy charges to never swerve unless the object you're about to hit is larger than your 5+ ton Humvee. So training them in Northern Wisconsin, the rule is hit the deer, save a life, period.

 

I didn't swerve.

 

Outside links:
Excursion Roll Cage - TDR Roundtable

Thanks for the reply


I wasn't able to go beyond the 1st page without being a member.
Was heputting round tubing all around his X like a rock crawler vehicle?

 

Thanks for the replys.
There are alot of things I didn't consider, thanks to your replys, it is a much bigger undertaking then I intially thought.

There is a chassie builder in the Joliet area ,who has put together several of the race cars that run at the RT 66 drag strip. I plan on meeting up with him to discuss.

Lord Fusor made a product at one time, (1908 Structural Foam) that the OE's were using in the D pillars of the Expedition.When it dried it was like concrete. It made the D pillar very strong. They no longer make that product. (maybe it didn't really work).
3m(# 8458) makes a Structural pillar foam but not intended for strength.
With the advancement in epoxy's etc. you would thing there would be something that could be sprayed into the pillar,expand and create a solid pillar.

Anyone have any ideas on such a product.

 

I will be your first customer......I need it as unobtrusive as possible....... and it needs to be a full family bar....all the way to the rear hatch ........can you do it? I think you will have a market.....

 

Are the kids really gonna wanna wear helmets on the daily commute? Makes every day a bad hair day.