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thought about the situation and how to resolve it, ive thought how i could replce the strength into the roof and sides from losing it when i did the chop so me n a mate have come up with this
what do yas reckon? i thinks brilliant cos the tubular bar (2inch in diameter and 3mm thick) will cost me $70 for 6m which is more than enough. hire a mig welder and borrow a mates pipebender and i'll do the fab work
soft top tub ! you have the bonnet and everything all prepared, it is going to cost you a mint in panel work and then hundreds more dollars for the custom soft top not to mention the price of bar work.
would be cheap to get a soft top and weld your front roof section on if you really want it
grimbo wrote:the first hard hit you take the rollbar will just punch through the wheel tubs. A roll bar needs to be attached to the chassis for the most strength.
Just get a soft top tub, you are over capitalising on silly mods just because you want to.
people say this but I am yet to see a sierra actually do that and that includes some serious backflips
Even if you regain some good strength through your new proposal, you will still have nasty jagged edges everywhere.
If you are actually planing on tying the "rollbar thing" into the bodywork, it will be a bloody nightmare to weld. Welding coke can steel is challenging enough however welding it to thick structural steel is near impossible!
Unless you can get "mates rates" from a good panel beater, listen to the advice being given and pick up a softop tub. You only need the rear 2/3rds of the body, as you can transfer all your front end over (not sure on 1L interchangability), so this may open up some more options here.
Wheeling on completely wicked angles, without even looking stable.
I havent seen plates punch threw wheel arches. Ive never mounted my rollbar threw to the chassie and I have rolled it more than a few times. but you will not find a pipe bender that will bend the radius on the targa bar. or the compound bends rund the rear of the cab. I love doing stuff that ppl say will not work but I would not bother for this project.
Good luck
i cut mine longer in the roof as i wanted better sun protection and will be getting my strength back with an EXO
I gotta say the high top is one of the uglyest thigs ever made, any thing you do has to make it better!!!
Cut down Sierra cab on extended LWB chasie running, Hilux front and Bundy back, with a 4AGZE should be finished about umm soon. A 60 Series work truck and some go fast toys too.
Rhett wrote:but you will not find a pipe bender that will bend the radius on the targa bar. or the compound bends rund the rear of the cab.
This is the main problem with your plan.
It will take you a while to work it all out, then build it, then mount it, then fix any errors you made along the way. The first roll bar I built was a 4 point in the back of a 40. It took me about a week to get it right and that was working on it about 4-6hours a day.
All that time would be soooo much better spent in a $300 body swap that will put you alot closer to where you want to be and could be done easily over a weekend.
grimbo wrote:the first hard hit you take the rollbar will just punch through the wheel tubs. A roll bar needs to be attached to the chassis for the most strength.
Wrong
In this application DO NOT mount it to the chassis. Rule number 53253: Never hard mount a something welded to the body to the chassis. Body is rubber mounted.
Personaly I think this is a very workable solution and will provide more strength then standard. Ok first big hit and there could be dollars and effort down the drain but every vehicle is like that whether it be custom panel or paint. He's a young lad and he's thinking outside the square, so what, at least he's doing it and not just web wheeling like most on here.
Rather then bag what he's done come up with possible solutions, members make themselves out to be the gods of all things Zook now is the time to man up and provide something for this fella to think about.
grimbo wrote:Just get a soft top tub, you are over capitalising on silly mods just because you want to.
Isn't that how our sport got to where it is, guys doing what others thought was silly because they wanted to.
Rhett wrote:but you will not find a pipe bender that will bend the radius on the targa bar. or the compound bends rund the rear of the cab.
Doesn't have to, don't worry about the corners with the bar. Yes get the tightest bend you can and then worry about the corners later. Yes it may no look quite right but it's a Sierra, they're not the best looking vehicle anyways. For the rear come from the corner with one 90 degree bend down on an angle and just trim the panel to follow. That way you can do what ever you want or just stay horizontal across to the other side and back to the main hoop in a big 'U' and don't have a tail gate.
Grimbo go and work in a Harley custom shop
thats thinking out of the square
Let him build the zook he wants,
and help not hinder him. I
say good on him for thinking
out of the square
regards
b59
slugs are just snails that sold their belongings for drug money
Dream as if you'll live forever, live like you'll die today.
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Can you grab a measurement from the body mounts to the rear of the cab, by the looks of it very similar length to what mine's worked out to be.
I think mine might come just past the unbolted body support on the chassis, I plan to try and pick this up with the holes that were for the rear seats.
grimbo wrote:the first hard hit you take the rollbar will just punch through the wheel tubs. A roll bar needs to be attached to the chassis for the most strength.
Wrong
In this application DO NOT mount it to the chassis. Rule number 53253: Never hard mount a something welded to the body to the chassis. Body is rubber mounted.
Personaly I think this is a very workable solution and will provide more strength then standard. Ok first big hit and there could be dollars and effort down the drain but every vehicle is like that whether it be custom panel or paint. He's a young lad and he's thinking outside the square, so what, at least he's doing it and not just web wheeling like most on here.
Rather then bag what he's done come up with possible solutions, members make themselves out to be the gods of all things Zook now is the time to man up and provide something for this fella to think about.
grimbo wrote:Just get a soft top tub, you are over capitalising on silly mods just because you want to.
Isn't that how our sport got to where it is, guys doing what others thought was silly because they wanted to.
a rollbar needs to be solidly mounted and with the body of the his Sierra structurally compromised by the cutting it will need to be. usually the rollbar will go to the wheel wells where is is mounted using a rubber block sandwiched between two plates. The bottom plate then attaches to a tubbe attached to the chassis.
I can't believe some of you guys this is not a good idea, he is going to pour a lot of money into something which he has said elesehwere is a budget wheeler. It is all well and good to think outside the square and to promotoe creative thinking but this is not a projxct to do that. If he could do all the work himself then yes go for it but to pay a workshop to do it is going to be a very costly exercise with no real benefit other than lining their pockets.
It is not adding any sort of performance gains, it is n't adding any sort of good looks , it is purely an exercie in "I just want to do it" . Sometimes because you can do something doesn't mean it is a good idea.
There's a 1.0ltr Ute in Vic that has had a "recreational" cahe welded to the body to simply add some degree of protection using cast bends for tight radiuses. Looks like it will do the job it was intended to.
As far as the amount of work involved and legalities behind the scenes a soft top body would be the easier, more legal and probably cheaper in the long run option.
PS Grimbo, wasn't your roll/exo cage made out of exhaust pipe and wedled up exhaust pipe bends??
[quote="Harb"]Well I'm guessing that they didn't think everyone would carry on like a big bunch of sooky girls over it like they have........[/quote]
he wont be able to mount the seat belt to the roll bar if it sits that far back and if he tries to put it where the targa bar is he will have no head room as you need to allow a certain amount of space. Fitting an internal cage to a Sierra is very tricky to do with a roof on and still allow head room.
My external cage wasn't exhaust tube and was more made to protect the wind screen surround from damage than to act as a roll cage or to mount seat belts too. The section around the windscreen was made from a Sierra LWB roll bar and te rest was from steel tube not exhaust pipe. But what my exo cage was or wasn't has no bearing on this as it wasn't required to be engineered it wasn't intended to be anything more than what it was .
i love how he asks for pinions yay or nay so I say nay and give some valid reasons for it and I get screamed down, "Just let him build what he wants blah blah blah" and yet others can say "Yeah do it that's ace, real cool, something different" and provide next to no actual helpful info other than pumping his ego.
No wonder I a grumpy bastard you people a unbelievable sometimes, constructive criticisim isn't just agreeing with people all the time.
grimbo wrote:he wont be able to mount the seat belt to the roll bar if it sits that far back and if he tries to put it where the targa bar is he will have no head room as you need to allow a certain amount of space. Fitting an internal cage to a Sierra is very tricky to do with a roof on and still allow head room.
My external cage wasn't exhaust tube and was more made to protect the wind screen surround from damage than to act as a roll cage or to mount seat belts too. The section around the windscreen was made from a Sierra LWB roll bar and te rest was from steel tube not exhaust pipe. But what my exo cage was or wasn't has no bearing on this as it wasn't required to be engineered it wasn't intended to be anything more than what it was .
i love how he asks for pinions yay or nay so I say nay and give some valid reasons for it and I get screamed down, "Just let him build what he wants blah blah blah" and yet others can say "Yeah do it that's ace, real cool, something different" and provide next to no actual helpful info other than pumping his ego.
No wonder I a grumpy bastard you people a unbelievable sometimes, constructive criticisim isn't just agreeing with people all the time.
Im not saying do it i said its good to see someone thinking outside the square . as their is not of free thinking out there as everyone toes the
"party line" if it don't work he will learn the hard way and next time he will do it different . So let him find out for himself as it is his zook .I'm sure that you learnt the hard way as i did .
regards
boner
slugs are just snails that sold their belongings for drug money
Dream as if you'll live forever, live like you'll die today.
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I thought the value of a forum was to avoid everyone having to learn the hard way like we did.
Islandvitara - you have come up with a reasonable solution but it's going to be hard to implement. Suzuki body panel doesn't like being welded and distorts VERY badly. Also, it's not practical to run the bends as tightly and neatly as you imagine and as for lowering the roof line? unless you're a magician with the tig, oxy torch etc it's going to look like its' already been rolled.
As a paddock bomb - yeah fine. As a road car? Go and find a soft top tub.
Steve.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
want33s wrote:
Whats with the slabs of chequer plater on the sides?
they are spot welded in about a dozen spots each. this way i didn't have to grind back the main body weld to a point were it would start cracking over time.
I think he has the flexibility of not dropping the roof right down to the factory hieght, he can leave enough room for the cage and still have head room. Mounting the seat belt to the rollbar will need to be engineered, yes.
He didn't ask for opinions he asked for advise on finding a solution. Yes you are entitled to your opinion but other will have an opinion on yours.
Grimbo, I have re-read the entire post and found very little constructive criticism from yourself other then telling him he's done the wrong thing and to start again and that isn't constructive. You are a grump old bastard because you are a grumpy old bastard, but we've learned to love you for it.
not so much that it will need engineering for the seat belt to the roll bar but if it is positioned back where he indicated it wont be safe as the top of the seat belt will wrap around his neck being unsafe.
I think saying it will be unsafe, it will be expensive, it will be compromised is constructive and not just back patting him and saying go for it when in my opinion it is just not a good idea is being constructive. If he or anyone else doesn't want differing opinions to their own then don't post it on the internet. Just look at yourself in the mirror and have a nice little conversation with yourself. You'll probably get the answer you want then
Just Cruzin', Unfotunately, I think the only possible constructive comment to be made in this thread is to get a soft top tub.
I think if Islandvitara had asked about what he wanted to do before he started, the answer would have been source a soft top body.
The whole problem here is that he cut first and then asked what to do. Now he has to learn from his own mistakes rather than everyone elses, and that's likely to mean the car is never completed, from my experience of others who have done the same thing.
I think it's fair to say if he needed to ask (after he cut) he shouldn't have cut in the first place.
Sorry if this isn't "constructive" but it's the best advice I can offer.
Steve.
[quote="greg"] some say he is a man without happy dreams, or that he sees silver linings on clouds and wonders why they are not platinum... all we know, is he's called the stevie.[/quote]
