Re: roll cage prices--What\'s the deal??
Here is another angle.
The rear hoop is just is just a roll bar from a 94. The front hoop is my stock 89 hoop with the bottom mounting bracket cut off right where it starts to bend at the lower legs. Then I sleeved and attached a new extension, about 14" long with a new 5" x 6"(3/8") flat mounting plate(angled to fit the angle of the hoop) at the bottom. No complex bends are needed on the legs of the front hoop, if you position it correctly. There is still plenty of room to remove the windshield bolts and access the speaker area. It is kinda tight at the 1/2 door, door handle, I needed to cut off and file smooth about a 1/4" of the plastic handle. The diagonal bars are cut off and ground smooth, then I added 4 spreader bars,(straight) between the front and rear hoop. You can gain a little more head room at this point by having them bent at 20 deg for the 1st 6", which is how Ive done the fabrication on the last few that Ive helped with. The 1st one I wanted to do without any outside manufacturing assistance. With the design on my 89 I then welded a 1/4" flat plate(1ft x 3 ft) on top of the 2 center spreaders and welded a contiues bead all the way around (both sides, and front and rear hoop), and then used silicone on the underside as a sealant to protect the electrical components housed in the center console. I then ran an elctrical loom up through the bars(make sure you are happy with the design and have no need to do any further welding,before you roon your wire loom). The under side of the console is just (3) 1ft x 1ft 1/4" pieces of aluminum(brushed with a wire brush)drilled and tapped to be bolted up into the spreader bars, I used 4 evenly spaced stainless hex head bolts on each side of each panel. this allows you to access diiferent sections of the center console for installation of new swithes or fuse replacement. The stock side bar spreaders that are in the photo are removed once I know the soft top wont be used for a while(they help keep the perfect tension when the soft top is on),once the stock bars are removed, its just one bolt on each side and down comes the windshield. Ill try to get more pics of the lower portion and its mounts. The mounts by the way are through bolted through the floor board using different sized, upper and lower plates(so they dont coockie cutter the floor of the tub under pressure), and then should be supported from below using outriggers to the frame, use rubber body bushings between the under side plate and the outrigger to prevent overstressing the body or frame. You should actualy do the same at the factory mounts also. The main construction of the cage took me about 8 hrs, but then more hours are needed to complete all of the wiring, and outrigger work. For paint I sanded and primed with Plasti-Kote "Body Shop Primer"(Pep Boys $3.99) Its a laquer(not enamel) and holds up well, then a light coat of that Duplicolor spray on bed liner, followed by Plasti-Kote laquer based color of your choice. The bed liner paint bonds great to the primer and the color bonds great to the liner. The look is just like a powder coat.
Jeff
89 Wrangler
If at first you dont succeed, your replacement will try and try again.