Definitely want to follow this one. I am following your same track. Working on the V8 swap now, but will be doing a cage to protect my kids shortly thereafter. Good luck with the cage build and keep the pics flowing.

 

I will post a lot of pics when he does it.

 

Slowly but surely it is coming along. The shop has had a few other projects they needed to do before mine, which is fine.

You can see the sweet plates for the D. Pillars

This shows how we are moving the rear of the cage back to give some extra room for the third row.

 

Slowly but surely it is coming along. The shop has had a few other projects they needed to do before mine, which is fine.

You can see the sweet plates for the D. Pillars

really like that plate for the rear. Great idea

 

A few more pics of the progress.

The main thind that I wanted in this was increased height for headroom. Most of the aftermarket cages are designed to run with hard tops. Since I will only be ever running a soft top, there is a lot of extra headroom you can get by putting the crosspieces up higher.

B-Pillar tie ins.

 

Nice, been looking forward to your updates on the cage, looks like its turning out great! Is the plan to stop at the plates, or will there be plates on the bottom and stringers tied into the frame as well? A,B,C pillars using plates at floor as well or cutting through the floor to get to the frame?

 

Looking great, can't wait to see it finished.

 

looks sweet!!

 

Through the dash

 

Looks good, but will the top bows clear that back corner? I ran into some clearance issues there as I was building my cage.

 

I am doing a custom top. I wanted the third row to have as much space as possible so the best way was to make a new soft top.

 

Hunter is really doing a nice job for you.
Never been down there.
But may have to stop in next time I need some work done.

 

is the cage going to keep the factory front speaker size?

 

John did the cage is Mike's white TJ and it turned out killer, I would definitely like to have him give my Jeep the full treatment.

 

Following. Just had our third son last October and need to expand my seating options. Also, what are you using for the third row? The Teraflex brackets and a 2-dr rear bench?

 

I bought the teraflex brackets, but we are going to just build something similar into the mount for the underseat drawer. And yes I am using a seat from a two door.

 

Getting there. The through the dash part is done so now it should be quicker.

 

you mentioned a custom soft top to accommodate the larger dimensions of the cage. Who is doing that and how much is it running you?

 

I am waiting until the cage is done to figure that out. I am basically just going to buy a new regular top (mine is all messed up) and have an upholstery shop change what panels are necessary. It looks like only a few changes to a regular top would make it work. There is actually a shop next door to where my cage is being done that I will probably use. Everything lines up with the factory top until we get above the rear seat. That is where the adjustments will have to be made. But I want to be able to use all the windows etc.

 

C Pillars

 

Lookin' good!

 

More cross pieces.

 

I just realized that your Jeep is sitting next to Big Ugly. That thing is sweet!

 

Very beefy Keith. Any idea as to what it weighs? (not that it makes a difference with your LS motor, but for us still getting by with a 3.6, am curious)

 

No idea. I am going to weigh it once we are done.

 

Understand Hunter is not done with it yet.

Are they going to put in some cross bracing in the B or C pillars?

Most common failure in the JK's is that they are folding in on themselves.

 

We have not decided yet. I know that it would help but I really dont want to. I cant do it on the c-pillars as you need to be able to get in the third row.

 

Yeah, the solutions are always a compromise to keep the rear seat(s) functional and safe.

You have probably already talked about it... But always thought a harness bar behind the front seats was a good solution. Put padding on it for safety and it can be be dual utilized as a grab bar for the rear seats and tie in the B's

 

That is what I was thinking as well. It would then have cross pieces on the A, B and D pillars.

 

Sweet looking cage. Looking forward to seeing a finished product.

 

Seat is being fitted.

 

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looks killer ...that seat is fitting nicely

 

Love this cage cannt wait to see it finished and the top fitted

 

We are not going to do the suspension at this time as I need the Jeep over the summer. The ETA is next week for completion of the cage.

Here are some shots.

The rear seat really hugs the back of the cage giving maximum room

You should see how tight this is when the seat folds forward. John made it so snug maximizing the space.

This is with the seat folded forward. This is where the drawer will fit, above the trunk that was inserted. I cant have the drawer built until the seat is totally welded in.

Just a cool shot of the lines