Exo Cage Tips

Ricky B

Ricky B

Wiiide Open
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
LKN - Tha Dirty Mo (Mooresville, NC)
Just trying to get an idea on what it ended up costing those of you for tube who exo'd your rig so I can kinda plan it out. I'm plannin on using 2" .120 wall or so to exo the Chevy.

Also was thinking that I should use something a little more thick for the slider/front bumper area of the exo, any input on that?

Thanks
 
.120" wall tube is plenty for the bumpers and such.

just use a tape measure and measure where you plan on putting tube. add 20 to 40% to that and you know about how much tube you'll need. multiply that times the price per foot and you get price...
 
rockcity said:
.120" wall tube is plenty for the bumpers and such.
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Rocks demolish .120 with a good hit. My rock rails have alot of dents, they are .120. I use .188 wall on most stuff that will get hit. Replacing tube work sucks. Course you got to use it to abuse it.
 
rockmafia said:
If you don't have much bender exp, better get alot of extra. It's a pita to fit an exo that is tight around the body.
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I'll 2nd that, I had a big ole pile of scrap tubing after the exo was done.

Are you going to use DOM or Hrew?
 
rockmafia said:
Rocks demolish .120 with a good hit. My rock rails have alot of dents, they are .120. I use .188 wall on most stuff that will get hit. Replacing tube work sucks. Course you got to use it to abuse it.
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true, but ricky does MUD, so .120" wall will be plenty:D
 
the length of tube needed depends if your going to use a bender to bend the tube or miter it to match your boner bar.





EDIT 2" tube for an exo is over kill IMO.
 
My exo-cage cost me $30.
 
Yea I figure I'm gonna mess up a good bit so I will end up needeing extra

figured i'd get DOM

yea I do mud but I also plan on hitting up the rocks just a much if not more so I need somethin that'll hold up, I might do like .25 wall for the bumper/rockslider area cause it's a heavy fullsize and I like to be heavy on the skinny pedal.
 
for your application I would probably do HREW. it will save you some money. DrKelley's cage seems to work well and I hear its made of poop... I mean pipe. :flipoff2:
 
jrraw23 said:
Yea I figure I'm gonna mess up a good bit so I will end up needeing extra
figured i'd get DOM
yea I do mud but I also plan on hitting up the rocks just a much if not more so I need somethin that'll hold up, I might do like .25 wall for the bumper/rockslider area cause it's a heavy fullsize and I like to be heavy on the skinny pedal.
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Thats some expensive bumpers and rockers... .250 wall is around $10 a foot depending on where you buy it. FYI, .120 wall is around $4 for DOM.

Good luck....

Personally, a EXO isnt going to hold up (unless you go throught the cab and put some cross braces in it)...just thought i would through that out there.

Seth
 
rocktoy4me said:
Thats some expensive bumpers and rockers... .250 wall is around $10 a foot depending on where you buy it. FYI, .120 wall is around $4 for DOM.
Good luck....
Personally, a EXO isnt going to hold up (unless you go throught the cab and put some cross braces in it)...just thought i would through that out there.
Seth
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Yea that would get kinda pricy, but like rockmafia said I don't want to have to go back and be replacing stuff.

I mean its a cab truck so as far as the exo I figured Id do a main hoop behind the cab with some tube Xing inside of it for support (I assume thats the crossbracing?) Then another hoop going over the cowl with tube running from hoop to hoop to cover the windsheild/roof area with obvious supports running in between.

I figure the main hoops will be the hardest to do, and that is a long peice of tube to mess up multiple times in my first attempt at an exo so I'm toying with the idea of getting Andy to bend my two main hoops for me then me just doing the rest myself cause I know he'll get it right.

So do you guys think I should go with DOM or HREW? And also on the rocksliders and bumper area is .25 just overkill?

I mean, i Think my budget for the exo is going to be $700 to $800 is that too little or a safe amount?
 
rocktoy4me said:
Personally, a EXO isnt going to hold up (unless you go throught the cab and put some cross braces in it)...just thought i would through that out there.
Seth
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I've alway's been concered about that w/ my exo. Is there anything else you can do to make it laterally stronger, other than running it through the cab.


Dave
 
yea but can you bend pipe in a tube die? I bought one of those northern tool ram style benders a while ago and would not bend anything without immediatly kinking it so I took it backl. I'd have to use the normal tube bender plus I don't know I've just heard so much bad stuff about pipe when trying to use it for a cage, I mean I wouldnt hesitate to use it for bumpers or rocksliders but not so confident in it for a cage.
 
I have a pipe cage. I did my best to design it not to fail, so far so good. The best designed exo cage I have seen was completely bolt on. Front, middle, and rear were separate. Everything bolted together and removable. Much more work, but worth it in the long run.
While I have confidence in my cage, it could have been lighter if I would have used tube.
Why did I use pipe? Easy. I didn't have a tube bender, or access to one.
 
what size did you use? and what did you use to bend it?

*edit: Just Talked to Andy he's prob just gonna use the standard 1&3/4 .120 wall for the two hoops so I'll prob just use the same for the rest. I will use something thicker for the rockslider/bumper area though. Is .25 wall just stupid overkill or is .188 better?
 
Somebody say poop?
 
jrraw23 said:
what size did you use? and what did you use to bend it?
*edit: Just Talked to Andy he's prob just gonna use the standard 1&3/4 .120 wall for the two hoops so I'll prob just use the same for the rest. I will use something thicker for the rockslider/bumper area though. Is .25 wall just stupid overkill or is .188 better?
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Any reason he couldn't sleeve the 1.75" x .120" with some 2" x .120" in the "high wear" contact areas (rockers, upper horz. edges, etc)??? Should cut down on dents, collapsing, & general wear/tear without adding tons more $$$ & weight?
 
Caver Dave said:
Any reason he couldn't sleeve the 1.75" x .120" with some 2" x .120" in the "high wear" contact areas (rockers, upper horz. edges, etc)??? Should cut down on dents, collapsing, & general wear/tear without adding tons more $$$ & weight?
Click to expand...
Usually, yes. But sometimes they will not slide inside without ALOT of force.
 
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