Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Getting the plans sorted out for my exo and talking to my welder mate who will be helping build it. What I want to know is a couple of simle things about mounting it to the lux.

If I weld the whole thing up, integral with bullbar, I cant then remove the bullbar for any reason, and/or the sliders etc. Those that have them, do you use joinery at the ends so that your bullbar etc can be removed seperate to the exo or do you weld the whole thing up?

If it aint welded, will it be weakend dramatically?

I hope someone understands what I am getting at here..

IMO id prefer to drill holes in my chassis than weld to it, i believe the bolts are stronger than welding, and also easily removed if you need to get to stuff.

In general terms bolts are stronger than welding if you use the correct bolts for the application. Welding creates week points and areas for stress to develop. That being said bolts are not always an option.

I would not be welding it togeather cause then when you bend it you will have to cut and reweld stuff all over the place.

So those that have exos, can you tell/show me the joins you made?

I am not talking the actual cage itself, but the places where the cage joins the sliders and Bullbar....



I will have sliders that at the moment are going to be removeable (clamped around chassis as per designs that were displayed on here a while back, they will have 3 mounts to the chassis to make sure they dont move)

Now the exo will be built off these sliders and will follow a pretty simple cover the cab and a bar running along top of front guard to bull bar either side. Like POS's for instance.

Now where the exo joins the sliders, if I weld, the exo is not removeable, even if the sliders are, as you cant slide the thing off and around the cab, same goes for the two bars that run towards the bull bar.


Can some one give me some ideas on the best way of doing these things.....

Cheers

wrap the car in bubblewrap... heap easier!!!!

can you make it in a few sections? like left, right and roof, and have them bolt together, that way not too many bolts joints, and you can just fit it together?

Well I aint going to be making it, someone who knows how to bend pipe and weld is. I just want to throw ideas at him, and hence at you on the forum.

Was thinkinh if I could make all the mounts to the vehicle bolted with sleaves I could always remove the cage. Seems like a good idea to me, just want to know if it wil be structurally sound that way.

A lot of kit cages we do , connect that way , with spiggots(sleaves) !!
we have just done/doing cages for the BA brute utes !!
they are done that way !!!

or a more common style is "t"pieces !! with 2 bolts !!!

Ok, did a very quick play in Paint and this is just like every other exo, but wanted some input.

Wanted to keep it simple with its main aim to protect the cab and window pillars more than the guards etc.

Want to keep weight down.

Do i need to cross brace the rear hoop at the back of the cab?
Or will will the two down stays that will go into the tray be enough?


The roof halo will have a V shape to brace it.

If I were to run this minimalist bar set up, where would it be best to have bends, and what whould be joins. Wondering if I should run the bar from the top of the window pillar down to the slider, or down to the bullbar.

And like wise for the other bars....

hey tonka that pink suits ya rig

Tri-angulation is the most important part!!

This is where the strength is achieved!

A perfect example is BJ's Rockrail, even though it looks simple and weak its braced and cross brassed in all the right spots!

A bar running from passenger side up to the top above the driver on the back hoop is a must!

The front brush gaurds on the drawings are to high, they will not protect the front gaurds in the event of a flop!

I welded everything and its super strong however if i streeted it i would weld plates to the barwork and bolt it on!!!

The bar in front of the windscreen is a great idea and is the only thing i didn't do!

Try and keep bends to a bare minimum! The more bends there are then the weaker it will be!

Also the V on the roof should go out to the corners!

(hope that makes sense)

Yep all makes sense, except the first bit about running bar from passenger side up to the top above the driver on the back hoop.

You meaning cross brace the rear hoop?

If you are, the problem I have is the style side tray which gives me no room behind the cab. The rear hoop was not going to sit behind the cab, but a couple of inches forwards to protect the small amount of cab bewteen the doors and the tray. If this needs to be braced, can the rear stays that go into the tray be designed in such a way that they do the job of a cross brace...

If that makes sense.

hole through the floor of your style side

ToNkA wrote:Yep all makes sense, except the first bit about running bar from passenger side up to the top above the driver on the back hoop.

You meaning cross brace the rear hoop?

If you are, the problem I have is the style side tray which gives me no room behind the cab. The rear hoop was not going to sit behind the cab, but a couple of inches forwards to protect the small amount of cab bewteen the doors and the tray. If this needs to be braced, can the rear stays that go into the tray be designed in such a way that they do the job of a cross brace...

If that makes sense.

so the back hoop with actually run up the side of the car and over the roof right?

if so, something like this would be the go i reckon

Just wondering is there any legal problems having the bar across the bottom of the windscreen. Obscuring vision maybe?
Just wondering caus I might do an exo to my lux one day.
Paul.

POS summed it up rather well!

Traingulation and STRAIGHT tubes.

check out mine, nothing fancy, 6 bends in total that is 4 on the windscreen pillar and 2 on the b-pillar. A hilux needs a few more slight ones due to the body lines. I think ruff has some pics up, him and POS both run pretty hardcore exo cages! Search the members section!