i want to build a full exo roll cage, what size tubing should i use? and how should i connect the cage to the frame on the front of the truck? thanks

 

i know that the nhra uses 1-5/8"x.134 wall mild steel tubing. check out jegs.com

 

OK, i am filling you in on something that took me over 3 months to do and many, many, many man hours to accomplish. I made my entire rollcage by myself from scratch. Of course, it wasn't on a ford!!lol. Anyway, If you choose to do this project yourself, the first phase is design. You need a fairly good idea on paper of what you want your final outcome to be. I mean sketch until you are happy with the results, at this point you are only limited to your imagination. After you consider what you are wanting in a rollcage, consider your budget. Do you own a welder?? how powerful?? Are you good enough to trust your welds to your own life?? Do you have a pipe bender?? Do you have a big enough shop?? Do you have the time?? Do you have another vehicle to get around in while this one is tied up?? Also, and be honest, is your truck worth it?? The spots the rollcage will attach to your frame must be able to withstand at least the impact of a hammer. Look your truck over good, especially the frame, you dont' want to spend a month getting things prepped to find out you have to patch your frame for 6 months first. Rust hides under the body. OK, after you answered all the questions above, and are confident and determined, begin.

I got my steel from a salvage yard. It was 1/4" thick 3" diameter pipe. It was taken out of a school, used as steam pipe. I suggest finding something like this, ordering a lot of pipe gets expensive fast, especially brand new. I paid $1 a foot!! REMEMBER- a rollcage must be fabricated to SAVE YOUR LIFE...don't skimp on quality, or design it just for "looks". I am not trying to sound like mom, but a friend was killed because he flipped his truck and his "homemade rollcage" didn't do what it was designed to do. It was mounted to the body, ie- wheelwells, etc. He landed 22 feet away from his rollcage.

This is a good, but basic start. I could write pages on things to watch for, and things to consider. Any more help and you can email me at liljpy_1999(No Email Addresses In Posts!). There is nothing like a well built, good looking, FUNCTIONAL rollcage.

 

thanks for all the info liljpy! ill probably give you an email sometime. im building the cage for my manufactoring class at school and we wont go into the shop untill after christmas because of renovations. so ive still got a lot of time to think it over.

 

A good way to make templates or calculate your bends is with some thin wall conduit. That way you won't make bowling trophies out of the good stuff.

 

Another thing to consider is some of the software that is available that helps calculate the bend points on the tube. The software in this link is kind of trick at first but give it a few minutes and it all starts to make sense. You have to enter the material specifications and the radius of the dies you are using. Once it has that you tell the software the measurements and bend angles and it calculates the amount of material and where to mark the tube to start the bends. It will even tell you to rotate the tube if your bends are all fancy like.

I'll post a link if anyone is interested.

Jeff @ PLC

 

yes, please post the web site, id like to give it a shot.

 

a buddy of mine is currently putting a full exo skeleton on his 69 bronco. hes got all the goodies , pipe bender mig and arc welders etc., and he built his cage on auto cads. it is a drafing program once you figuer it out you can doo anything with the program and see a three dementional drawing of it its awsome. ooh yeah and do the conduet thing so u know what it will look like.
'75 F-100 4x4, 4" lift
16x38.5x15 super swamper TSL
mini-spooled 9" rear end
390 w/ cam,headers,
and 4 barrell edelbrock

TRIED TRUE and FORD BLUE

 

i have access to auto cad through my dads buisness. i just dont know how to use it and ive heard its really complicated to learn.

 

Yeah, i own the full blown version of autocad 2002. It is pretty complicated, i took three classes in college to learn the basics. Plus there are a lot of tutorials located on the internet. Don't forget that if you go to autodesk.com you can get a 30 day trial. By setting back your time clock on your computer BIOS screen the trial will never expire....but i don't recommend that, it is illegal....... Anyway, Autocad is an expensive drafting table. Basically the models you make on it are only as accurate as the dimensioning you took off of your truck and put onto autocad...For example if you just use a tape measure and measure point A to point B, trying to take into consideration pointA is higher and to the left of point B, you will never make good use of your time spent on autocad, becaue nothing will be accurate. You will get as accurate a picture as if you drew it on paper. To be honest, i played with the autocad scenario, since i own the software. It wasn't much help, i did get some neat designs, but it wasn't worth it. The way i did it, after i found the pipe, was to go to the lumber store and buy some 2X4's. I had my truck down to the frame, which is what you will need to do. After the basic design if found by drafting, cut and nail some 2x4's together until you have a wood rollcage. This helped me get a 3d visual look on it. Plus, i got a good idea of what the angles are going to be. If you don't know how to use autocad or any other software, it isn't worth your time learning it for just your rollcage. Your time is better spent doing it with a rough sketch on paper.

joe

 

thanks joe, ill put that into consideration.