Author Topic: Show us your rollcage  (Read 1512 times)

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Sharks

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Show us your rollcage
« on: May 10, 2020, 09:52:42 PM »
We are looking for ideas to potentially modify our rollcage and/or build another one. I'd like to see what others have built, and I believe there was a factory rollcage fitted at one point too.

To kick things off, for those who haven't seen it, this is what ours looks like. Pop was a welder by trade and put it together with Dad ~30 years ago.

« Last Edit: May 10, 2020, 09:54:17 PM by Sharks »

Drakman

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2020, 05:33:56 AM »
I'm quite tall and the standard bar was always hitting my right shoulder so i made this one to give me more shoulder room.  The  angle of the main tube is the same as the windscreen (63 degrees?)  I am gunnado another one ,yeah right, with the main tube a bit more upright.

 

Abatge

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2020, 03:05:10 PM »
The rest of the car is not finished but the roll cage is
Couple of happy snaps.  :)



Andrew

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"Its all about the ride not the destination"

Sharks

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2020, 07:46:33 PM »
Those are very different to what we've been dreaming up. Yours, Drakman, certainly has some flair, and we never thought about mounting to the floorpan like Abatge.

Terry

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2020, 07:56:56 AM »
Hi,

if you are planning to have a rear seat then where the rear bars mount and their shape becoems very important as you want to be able to get in and out but you also don't want the side bars near people heads in the case of a side impact.

The bar in the first picture mounted on the corner or the guards is the best for clearance and access but the cross bar above the rear passengers heads is not something I would like to have.

Terry

Sharks

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2020, 12:05:46 PM »
Hey Terry.

Compliance plate says that the moke is only a two seater, but regardless we would not be putting in rear seats. Dad likes the second bar, so I think that would stay. What we are considering however is a forward bar such as this one:


The reason for this is that we had a soft top that clipped to the top of the windscreen and went over the rollcage to clip to the rear of the moke. Dad says the windscreen would shudder back and forth at high speed and would have had a lot of pressure on it. Speaking to people it seems that the soft top would have been better off with a removable rear windscreen so that air could escape, however they tell us it would still be wise to strengthen the front windscreen. We were thinking of building a similar rollcage to the one pictured to help the front windscreen out, however dad would have preferred for it to not mount to the side boxes up front like the pictured one. It seems however that these types of rollcages must be less common? Many prefer the single bar, rear rollcages like Abatge and Drakman's

Terry

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2020, 06:49:31 PM »
Hi,

the pictured bar should be remade with the front bar lower at least the height of the windscreen as where it is interferes with the roof line of the canopy and causes a bulge in the roof.  If you want to provide extra support to the windscreen then a six point bar like this allows you to put a brace or two across to the windscreen.

The windscreen frames do flex a bit but I have only seen them break from too much cancer in the corner where things join.

A rear window that opens is good for access but if you run around with it open you will get a lot of wind coming in along with exhaust fumes. A quick search for 'fumes' on the this forum and you will find people asking questions about how to stop it coming in. If it is wet you will get the water/mist off the road or rain coming in through the back open window and hitting the windscreen and the back of your head. A good tight canopy fixed onto the hood bows so that the canopy can't 'parachute' will take a lot off the windscreen movement.

Terry

Sharks

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2020, 08:48:14 AM »
Thanks for the advice Terry. Another thing that was mentioned was elastic straps holding the rear of the canopy down so that it can stretch and let air out. Perhaps that could solve the wet weather issue.

At any rate, all this is a bit further down the track yet. Just throwing around ideas more than anything

Terry

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2020, 09:16:35 AM »
Another thing that was mentioned was elastic straps holding the rear of the canopy down so that it can stretch and let air out.
....
Just throwing around ideas more than anything

I would throw that idea away once you realise how much tension is on the canopy, elastic straps will make the problem worse, not better.

Terry

Sharks

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2020, 01:07:49 PM »
The elastic was opposed to regular rope, so it would have been better than that.

Samm

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #10 on: May 15, 2020, 12:00:25 AM »



I have this style 6 point bar slightly different as the rear legs bend at the bottom not the top- I have seen someone mount/wedge a solid piece of rubber between the windscreen frame and front hoop to stop that backward flex but I have not felt the need to do it myself. As Terry has said my front hoop is lower and just about inline with the windscreen height.



I also have a half top that pulls over the top of my bar with tension straps to the back. Its enough to keep the wind down and some of the sun off your neck in summer. I have hood bows and a full top but they haven't been on the car in years.



Samm
« Last Edit: May 15, 2020, 12:03:30 AM by Samm »

Canadian Moke

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #11 on: May 15, 2020, 12:10:36 AM »
Here is my roll cage.   There is still a bit of finishing work to be done such as the seat belt mounts at the top and some work in the fuel tank storage areas.  The overall design was done first in wood in order to get the angles right and check all clearances above the seats for headroom.



All of the bars were designed after the shape of the roof when standard roof hoops are used.  I am doing away with the fold down hoops but still wanted the general shape of the roof to be 'Moke'.  The only compromise I had to make was at the rear of the Moke as my Moke is a four-seater.  I needed to place the rear hoop farther back and vertical in order to have adequate head room.  The seats are modified Miata (MX5) seats that will be able to recline and slide forward and backwards.



The rear bar retains the original Moke rear bar shape.  The horizontal bar at the bottom provides some side-to-side stability.  It will also have a bracket added in order to provide stability for the spare wheel mount.  Using this chromoly .095 wall DOM tube, I will be able to pull the roof quite tight without any worry of flex in the tube (I'm hopfully done with the buffeting of the roof).



At the front of the cage we followed the lines of the widscreen and dash.  The horizontal bar from side-to-side under the dash has been placed a little lower than the front edge of the dash so my new dash face will be able to fold forward for easy access to the wiring (thanks for that tip Moke Forum members).



At the top of the windscreen, the roll cage bars and the windscreen line up so there will be no 'hump' at the leading edge.  I will also be adding some bolt-able tabs (brackets) between the cage and the windscreen so that they are essentially joined together.  This way I can pull tightly on the roof for tension without the fear of buckling the windscreen.



And now for something completely different...  Things may have gotten a little out of hand with the lower mounting points for the cage.  I wanted the cage to be continuous around the Moke - both on top and underneath.  I've also modified my Moke for twin tanks.  The tubing within the side compartments is welded in place while the tubing under the wheel arches is removable as is everything on the top side of the Moke.  There is still some finishing to be done in fuel tank areas.  The 'bump' in the fuel tank area is to go around the side mount filler necks.  The 'drop-down' tube connects to a tube that goes across the center of the car.  The rear of the front seats also mount to this cross-tube.  Under the front arches, the channel strengthening panel needed to be modified so the triangular mounting plate would fit in.  The horizontal steel in the tank storage areas (under the top panel) is for mounting the fuel tanks.



Still more work to be done, but I think this cage has met all of my design criteria.  A lot of inspiration was gained through the endless build pages on this forum.  I will start my own build page in the future to help out the next batch of builders.



« Last Edit: May 15, 2020, 01:33:16 AM by Canadian Moke »

Samm

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2020, 01:40:06 AM »
Canadian Moke-
That is some fancy and extensive bar work you've done there. I daresay that body is a whole lot more rigid and the occupants would fair a bit better in the case of a side impact. How do the removable side bars inside the rear wheel arch attach? Obviously no foreseeable clearance issues with wheels/shocks?
Nice work.
Samm

Canadian Moke

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #13 on: May 15, 2020, 01:55:48 AM »
They bolt to the rear of the fuel storage compartment which bolts directly to a corresponding plate on the internal bar.  They also bolt up at the rear to the plate at the bottom of the rear hoop.  The bars are only 1.5” tube, so there is plenty of clearance for shocks and wheels.  If the wheel goes up that high, I’ve got other issues...😳.  As I intend to carry precious cargo (wife and kids) I wanted a cage that was more than just a seatbelt hanger.  Getting the tank tubes right up to the top corners also creates a bit of side impact protection.  They are at the same height as the current standard vehicle bumper height.  If something taller were to hit the side, the vertical hoops are bolted down to those tank tubes.  The whole tank tube would have to pull inwards. Not likely.  I think the whole Moke would be pushed first.  I’d rather the shock of that than the shock of personally absorbing the impact of a truck bumper into my hips/sides.

It won’t protect in every circumstance, but I feel I’ve given it my best shot.

Canadian Moke

Canadian Moke

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Re: Show us your rollcage
« Reply #14 on: May 15, 2020, 02:31:22 AM »
This is a better shot of the lower dash bar.


Canadian Moke