Roll cage design ideas needed

[TonyPDX]

I am looking for a good way to tie my roll bar B & C hoops into the top edge of the bed rail. Anyone have a good solution for this?
I want the connection to not interfere with hard top removal yet be very strong so it will help keep the cage from racking or deforming the floor mounting pads.

 

[Apogee]

Do you mean your B & C hoops? I can't think of any way to tie the A hoop up at the dash into the bed rail without door bars, which aren't all that practical for drivers and are really intended to keep other vehicles out of the driver's seat, not prevent racking of the cage. Otherwise a spreader bar between B & C and then a piece of formed 10-12 gauge sheet metal to tie the two together and sandwich between the top and bed rail...done.

I'd hesitate to overly constrain the body in such a way that the cage became an integral stressed member...these aren't uni-body construction, and a little give is not necessarily a bad thing. It tends to allow things to flex a bit rather than break outright IMO.

 

[TonyPDX]

Yes, I absolutely do mean the B & C hoops and I edited the original post to reflect it.

Thanks for the idea of the B – C hoop spreader bar with a plate under the top on the bed rail. I am not sure how I would implement that as the top has a flange that drops down over the bed rail which I would rather not have to cut off. It seems like raising the top to accommodate the flange might create other issues with the windshield frame, upper door seals and tailgate seals. But, maybe it would not be enough to matter?

 

[jim3326]

You would bolt through the vertical part of the rail just under the flange.

 

[Apogee]

X2...Yeah, that lip would have to go if you sandwiched it between the top and the bed, but what if you went to the inside of the bed rail instead of the top?

That's what I get for walking away from my computer mid-post for 20 minutes.

 

[74BroncoCO]

I've considered this myself, but never acted. I was going to simply bolt thru the vertical surface of the inner bedrail with two plates and perhaps a 1/2" thick rubber pad. Obviously the inner pad would be welded to the B-pillar. My cage is only tied to the body, so I'm thinking the rubber pad would still allow enough flex if I didn't over tighten the bolts.

Now, if your cage is secured to the frame, then you probably need a bit more flex in that joint. Perhaps a bushing design could be figured out off the back or front side of the tubes.

Someday, I want a new cage, so I'm not planning to put much effort into this one.

 

[TonyPDX]

Attaching it to the vertical surface of the bed rail seem to be the best idea so far, but I was hoping someone had done it already...

I am not worried about body flex because I am not going to attach my cage to the frame.

Keep the good ideas coming!

 

[Apogee]

Alternatively, I was thinking you could run something under the lip of the bed and then run the bolts that hold on the top directly into that if it were tapped, but it would need to be removable from the cage, otherwise I don't think you could install the cage.

In my mind it looks like a plate with some tapped bosses on it, or if sheet metal, some nutserts. Weld some tapped plates to the B/C pillars and bolt it in. You could also use clamps to the cage...would just cost a little more, but would give you a degree of vertical adjustability. Something like this could almost be hidden entirely if that's a consideration, and could reinforce the bed rail from the underside.

 

[74BroncoCO]

There is a number of hard top bolts that are very hard to access. Having those welded to one single long strap of steel would certainly be handy! Then you could build off that while utilizing all the holes for strength. However, going topless would require you run something in it's stead.