I'm actually very interested in this since I really, really need a cage and I still don't have the dough for a nice tubing bender. I just gave them a call to talk about the 10-point cage. Its a weld-up kit. The site is confusing regarding the Jeepster and Commando designation since they don't give years. I think the Commando one is the one we need for '66 to '73 tubs. He's sending me the blueprints so I can check out the design. I'll let you guys know what the blueprint looks like once I get it.

The kits are $249.95, plus shipping (about $125 to San Diego - ouch!). He can give us a price break of $20 or so for an order of five or more. I'm not quite sure how we would coordinate this -- I recall the Aero tank group buy debacle a few years ago. But if anyone is interested after seeing the blueprints, maybe we can put something together.

 

Funny you should bring this up...

I am back in contact with them about a cage. I have sent them pics of DFjeepsters rig and the petersen magazine design and I am waiting to hear back. Initially, they did not want to make such a cage that did not fit the "mold" of their others. I have used/helped install three of their 10-pt cage kits and was impressed by the quality and fit of them. I use one in my own bracket car.

All of their jeep stuff is designed for drag racing as these vehicles are used in stock and super stock classes of racing. They probably aren't suitable anyway as the severely limit the exit points and eliminate rear seat access from the front. They are designed to withstand multiple on-pavement, high-speed rolls.

What I am trying to get them to design is a windshield hoop/mid hoop/rear hoop design with each hoop connected by spreaders or a rear hoop/mid hoop/ front L-bar set up. If they agree, I would need someone to measure up a similar design including the ANGLES. I have the lengths alone, but without the proper angle measurements we are stuck. A guesstimate that is off by a few degrees would wreck the whole thing.

This cage would be made out of 1 5/8" X .134 tubing, if this works out.

I just emailed them the idea pics over the weekend, and I will keep ya posted.

And you are correct, the "Jeep Jeepster" listing is for the early 2wd Kaiser cars. The Commando listing is right. But again, if you look at their main design, it would work well if you did not want to access the rear from the front and didn't mind the diagonal bars crossing the middle of the doors. You would have to crawl over them, which would be nearly impossible with the hard top on, I'd think. They do make a swing-out kit for this bar for additional $'s. Also, such bars would severely limit interior space when moved into the middle to allow the doors to close. A day of off-roading would be brutal. Can you say "broken ribs"?? lol

 

Good info. The blueprint they sent isn't much help -- it only shows two hoops and what appears to be a back brace. Seems it would be pretty easy to use this as a starting point, though. Please keep us posted on your efforts with them.

 

Did they mail that or email it?

Does it appear to be mid & front hoop and connecters?

 

They faxed it. I just scanned it and emailed it to you as a .pdf file. I sure would love to have a cage before Moab.

 

Got it Andy. Thanks!

Ok, that is their typical 10 point. It would have the cross bar from side-to-side as well a two down bars to the floor, all in the hoop behind the seats. There would also be two small bars from this lateral mid-bar to the floor. It would also have a diagonal bar from that hoop to the front floor board, designed to pass between the drivers shoulder and elbow, on a downward slope. These are the two major problems areas, and it would provide no rear seat protection or access. If that fits your bill, go for it.

As soon as they call me back, I'll try to work with them to eliminate those bars attaching to the mid hoop, and add another hoop for the rear with two bars to attach the mid to rear hoops. we'll see......

 

Those are great prices, why not just order the cage as is and only install the parts that you want? All of those cross bars are great for NASCAR type stuff but if they are bought as a "you weld it type deal" why not just order it and customize as needed?

 

Makes sense.Just leave off what ya don't want.Can you post the blueprint? I'd be in for a cage kit,if the price was right.

 

It would be great as is, I agree. And you are getting a name brand product for a decent price. The lack of back seat protection is my concern. That, and my lack of fabrication skills/tools, probably rules out my making large scale adjustments. I'll see what we can do about getting a good, solid "family style" cage for that price, and go from there. But by all means, if you need a good cage and don't use a rear seat, the cage "as is" from the catalog would serve you very well.

 

That price is excellent. I was projecting a $350.00 cost for my cage kit. Of course, a major manufacturer gets steel alot checper by the trainload than I do by the bundle.

My one concern is the material used. Their website lists 1 5/8 X .134. Common cage construction is 1 3/4 X .120. I suppose the smaller tube size is compensated for by tube thickness. I, personally, have always thought that 1 3/4 is the smallest size that looks "right" for a cage.

Let's see how they do... and I'll keep working on my design.

 

Randy,

Have you considered doing a through-the-dash version of your cage in addition to the one you pictured with the dog-leg? I'd prefer to do mine that way so as to avoid having to deal with interference with the window crank and give a little more room to get in and out etc.

Chris

 

Randy.

I sure didn't mean to steal your thunder on this. Time became an issue for a couple of the guys, and I have actually been working on this for a year or so. Having more than one source would be good too, especially as you could probably save the west coast guys a ton on shipping.

 

It does make me wonder what the best size would be. When asking others what to use when I was considering building my own, I was told to use 2" .120 tubing. Now I'm seeing smaller used. I wonder if the extra cross bracing allows them to use a smaller size? So if we left it out for easier access it would reduce the strenght of the cage?

 

not to change the thread but I make cages as well. www.cheesewerks.com

I have 2 going out for jeepsters that are behind in shipment but I will match these guys price as best as I can if you guys want some. Also I have a jeepster of my own and can make custom fits and whatever else you may want.

 

Strictly for my study in human behaviour:

Why the undaunting urge to REinvent the "wheel" (so to speak) from scratch with an axe & tree stump wearing a blindfold...

when the someone else has already figured it out, has it blueprinted in exact detail, has the right tools to produce the wheel, and already has a pile of them sitting in his yard?

 

Dave

I agree. I'm not trying to piss anyone off. I tried three emails to Cheesewerks, via the website and from the email listed here, prior to re-contacting S&W. I assumed that he was swamped as I did not hear back. One of you other guys had posted that we haven't heard from Cheese on the board very much as he was so buried in work that he didn't have time to play on the 'net. I have visited his sight often and his tire carrier parts are on my "to do" list. There is no mention of the cage, although the "custom fab" page does show pictures of cages. I also contacted metalfusion and a couple of other places mentioned previously, but I never heard back from them. So I decided to give S&W another shot.

I contacted S&W to try and get one cage, and one cage only, for me. I tried this cage deal last year to set up a site that we could all go to when we needed a cage, and S&W did not want to do what I wanted them to do at the time. No biggee. Also, at that time, I was promised all kinds of help with measurements, designs, etc... and very little of it came through. Also no biggee. So, I was just doing it for my personal use. Then, I see a posting about S&W cages. I had already called them and emailed them the previous week, and I did not see a need for these guys to duplicate the work I had just done. So, I responded. You will note that I did not start this thread.

As to the tube thickness/changing the bracing: Any design they build is inspected by an in-house engineer prior to their agreeing to make it. They do not pussy-foot around and call these things "sport bars" or any such nonsense, and the design must be sound. For example, in my submission for their review, the diagonal door bars were replaced by straight bars running along the floor to connect the front to the main hoop. This would aid rigidity and serve as a dandy starting point if you wanted to add cross bars to build seat mounts. I understand that small producers need to use "safe" terms for liability reasons as they lack the resources to review/prevent legal action, but when major suppliers of these items call them "sport bars" I wonder what they are hiding. S&W is one large player who calls them roll cages and says they are designed to protect you in a roll-over.

I would gladly suppport another member before paying an outsider, if possible. I have done business with other members and have received aid from still other members, especially Drayson, our own beloved Dray.

Cheese, do you have any info on your cage?

 

I have considered a "through the dash" version, like Tom's, but I am not too excited about cutting through part of the windshield frame. The lip at the top of the dash along with the windshield frame structure provide a lot of structural stiffness to the cowl. They also are an integral part of sealing the water out. I suppose on a Jeepster that saw mostly trail usage, flexibility in this area wouldn't matter, and neither would water sealing. I have been working on a design that doglegs right below the dash poad, pierces the dash, and then doglegs down. I have also been working on a design like RockHard's that makes the cage two piece in this area, bolting through the dash. Neither one is easy to make come out in the right places without interferring with under dash components. I'm beginning to wish I'd kept my old tub as a fittment model. I just got my dash too nice to mess with...

Guys, again, I'm sorry I'm taking so long with this. My goals are to make a product that will be a good value for everyone here, and still make some money for myself. (gotta pay the bills somehow.) My time has been really scarce, as the need for money has made it necessary to take on vehicle repairs to pay the bills. I was going to set this week aside to finish a cage, but 2 big $$$ jobs showed up at my doorstep... My hopes are once I can get cage kits and tube fenders in production, I won't have to take on so many vehicle jobs to make ends meet.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I have considered a "through the dash" version, like Tom's, but I am not too excited about cutting through part of the windshield frame. The lip at the top of the dash along with the windshield frame structure provide a lot of structural stiffness to the cowl.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is something to be concerned with but can be avoided when you cut the hole through the dash. Here is a link to photo's of mine.
http://highwayshouse.net/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album08&id=2_first_hole
While the whole is very close to the frame, it hasn't been cut. The biggest problem is missing the back side of the headlight switch. To do it again, I would have installed some heatshrink to that leg before welding on the foot plate. While going over a boulder, everything flexs and can cause a short. I have a shimmed the whole switch panel out to gain some clearance.
Obiviously, going through the dash is a lot more work/effort but it equals more leg room, less banging your knees, no interferrance with the door handle & window crank. If your driving your rig a lot, these make sense. If your only in your rig for trail/rock/mud rides it's not such a big thing. A lot of structual improvements can be made to my version but I'm on a budget. Later improvements are in the works.
What ever gets put into production, it's a GOOD thing! a single hoop Roll bar is a huge improvement over nothing and a cage is a huge improvement over a single hoop.

 

I started all of this by asking about S&W....

To be honest, I was looking at a cage kit for my CJ-7 rebuild. But seeing that they had Jeepster cages I thought maybe one of you guys had used them (since I know there are very few cage resources for Jeepsters). Nobody I talked to on the CJoffroad.com board had used one before.

Didn't mean to start a long drawn out cage debate.... I just hadn't heard of them before and the price seemed pretty reasonable.

 

Just for everyone's info, it is possible to design a front hoop that goes straight to the floor (not through the dash, and with no doglegs) that still allows the window cranks to work and not be in the way too much. The angle that allows this to work will put the cross bar a little farther from the windshield that some might like, but I think it is worth it to keep the legs straight (for strength) and to avoid going through the dash (PITA avoidence).

My cage, which uses the Mefford and Hood front cage kit (that I won at the Reno Raffle

), gives about 1/4" clearance with the window cranks, allows the glove box to open about 1/2 way, and the foot plates are completely forward of the door opening. And this is with 2" by .120" tubing. Sure, it doesn't look as pretty as going through the dash, but it works, and never seems to be in my way (even with my size 12 feet).

Just my $.02 FYI

 

Got any pics? I'd like to see exactly where the bars come down. Thanks,

Chris

 

Here's one that shows the angle of the down bar, but I don't have one with me that shows the foot plates. I'll try to remember to take some pics tonight, I don't have my Jeepster with me at work today.

 

I`ve been talking to Mike aka bigcheese about a couple of cage projects for me. Have seen his work and am very impressed with it. He is also within driving distance to me which is a +. Just hope he brings his jeepster to the Jam this year.

 

Hey guys, Just wanted to let everyone know yes I am busy, and yes I do make cages among other things.

I do have blueprinted cad drawings with all the options you can imagine for a Jeepster.

Sorry if I didn't respond to anyones e-mails or calls. But then again I never got a message either where to call back.

But, if anyone here wants a cage I will make it. 100 for the rear main and 2 down tubes to the floor and 100 for the front main and 2 speaders. + shipping.

Again I apologize if I never responded to some of you but I am the only one in the shop so answering the phone and welding at the same time doesn't happen.

Here is my numbers
678-227-3341
678-776-4022
bgchs@adelphia.net
www.cheesewerks.com

 

Thanks Cheese. Those are fair prices, for sure. Especially since S&W told me they bought TONS of steel at old prices and have it warehoused. Hard to compete with an operation like that, but your prices sure are competitive.

Are those down tubes off the rear main hoop straight to the floor, in front of the rear seat? If so, how much to turn those rear down bars into "L" bars off of the hoop, then on an angle to the floor behind the rear wheel wells ( like the rear bars in Randy's pic)? One small cross bar between the two "L" bars would probably also be nice. I know that I am looking at keeping the rear open, and providing some protection for rear occupants.

I am glad that your shop is busy. I have followed your progress before going out on your own. My wife runs her own small business, with 5 employees, and I know what a major pain in the butt that is. She started by herself, then grew. But not without growing pains.

A buddy of mine lives in Peach Tree City, name of John Thornton. He owns Diversified Electronics and Racing Radios. His sons roundy-round (he has a Legends car) and I'll steer them your way if they need fab work...