roll cage, how close to the body?

I agree with Rob in that for it to be a "ROLL" cage it needs to be close to the body to look right and not get caught up on branches etc AND needs to have a cross brace.

However, there are other uses for external cages. The picture below shows a Jimny getting close to hitting the windscreen pillar on a tree ( I hope you don;t mind me using this picture ) :




Also as Rob says, without the cross brace through the car as Martin has described he has, the cage will be able to pivot on it's feet as the tubes and their mounts flex. Hitting / rubbing against trees will not cause it to happen enough to cause the cage and body to touch and will therefore protect the body.

If I did not have an external cage my car would be a write off several times over!

My cage does not yet have an internal cross brace and has been on it's side:



Not quite sure what she's so pleased about - she bloody did it!!!




The cage did flex and did touch the body - JUST - causing small - and I mean small - marks to the shell below the front of the windscreen and on the sides behind the doors. They are witness marks if you like. I had a dent in the front wing on that side which is nothing compared to what th damage would have been if I had no cage - again, the car would be a write off!

I had my cage made by a friend who is a fabricator and is getting quite skilled at making cages. He told me from the outset that it is a tree rubbing cage and not a roll cage. Just tell my Mrs that!

The tube thickness is important and if you want it to be MSA compliant so it's it's construction. I'll leave that for those in the know to talk about - Rob B and Simon R!

So an external cage without internal bracing does have it's uses - but they are much better with it!

Note that my cage also bolts onto the original roof bar mounting bolts. I think this helps keep the cage off the body to some extent - but I'm not too naive to realise they are only ickle and will sheer or pull through the roof if much more weight was placed on them!

Kirkynut

From that picture you appear to be pretty proficient in the use of the bender!

I would add a brace across under the windscreen though to stop one side pushing in there. It adds so much strength. As said above, without the internal cross brace it flexed on it's feet so every little helps!

Why did you change from a Vit to a Jimny may I ask. It looks like a very capable Vit you had there!

Kirkynut