hey guys im new to yot tech so idk where this is supposed to go kinda having a hard time navigating here.

so my issue is that i wanna build an exo cage on my 81 flatbed yota. ive been told by some that their not ilegal on the road but by others that it is. this is a dd so im trying to stay legal....

anyone know? i live in washington state

 

I was stop recently by the WSP and given a pamplet on the law pertaining to being "street legal". I cannot find anything that says a Exo-cage would be in violation.
When the officer stopped me he seems really concerned with me not having bumpers more than anything, 24" from the ground to the bottom of bumper for the front and 26" for the rear, at least 4 1/2" wide, attached to frame, and wide as the wheel track.

You can look for yourself @

www.wsp.wa.gov and www.nhta.com

search for title 204 (WAC), title 46 (RCW), FMVSS

 

Never had anyone say a peep about mine ... or my lack of a front license plate for that matter.

 

hmm well thats good to know. guess the project shall commence one the sticks are bought. im thinking 1 3/4 dom for the main bars and 1 1/4 for trussing and crossbracing?

is this strong enough?

 

What wall thickness?

 

i was thinking along the lines of 1/4 in wall

someone told me to do hrew tubing intstead of dom. wats the difference?

 

I'm guessing it's the tolerance of the law enforcment in your area since I'm sure a cage isn't totally compliant with most state/province regs.

 

Whoa Nelly! 1-3/4" .120" wall is PLENTY. 0.25" wall will just be CRAZY heavy!

HREW is Hot Rolled Electronbeam Welded and has a seam

DOM is Drawn Over Mandrel and seamless

DOM is far superior, both for the lack of a seam and for the metallurgical structure. Of course, it's also far more expensive...

 

a correction to the previous post

hrew is seamless, only sch40 pipe has a seam
the only indication of a seam on hrew is slight blueing of the tube about 3/8 of an inch wide running the lenght of the tube. i have hrew,dom,and pipe in my shop and am currently building my exo out of a combination of hrew and dom. Im useing dom anywhere the cage will have continuos contact with rocks and trees and hrew in the less vital areas dom is much stronger, i tryed to do a comperison test in my bender for the force needed to bend each tube but i need a stronger scale

 

Open your phone book and call somebody at DMV. If they dont' know they will connect you to somebody who does. Your going to get a lot of well I've never been stopped for it but that doesn't mean it's legal. My vehicle has a least 4 gross violations. I've never been pulled over either. It's licensed and insured but I still trailer it.. not worth the tickets or harrassment.

 

Your correction needs correction

HREW stands for Hot Rolled Electronbeam Welded - it is made by forming a flat sheet into a tube and then welding the seam. The seam is then scarfed to make it smooth and less noticeable than the parting line "seam" in cast iron pipe. The slight blueing is the heat affected zone of the weld.

ONLY DOM (drawn over mandrel) is truly seamless.

 

i know we are now bolth off topic but i cant help it. yes hrew is welded and may have a seam before the process is finished but if you buy a peice of hrew their is no visible seem or anything that would resemble one or cause any problems with welding of fitting. the only thing you can buy that has a seam that will affect a slip fitting of too tubes is sch40 pipe

 

I really doubt that you would ever run into a circumstance where a split would have been prevented with DOM over HREW, except maybe for sliders and bumpers.

It's one of those things that's over the top...Like people generally think a big fat weld is stronger than a well done tack...Not really true. In the Applied Mechanics shop here at my small technical school in Colorado, one small tack weld held 4000 lbs before breaking.

Just my two cents.

 

The weld seam is not so much the difference as the material and the process in general. DOM is a FAR superior tube than HREW from a metallurgical standpoint. Admittedly, for most stuff we build, that superiority is not worth the cost.

 

there is a recent thread in one of our park forums about this and I found these excerpts to be quite funny:

this one says no:

"I think it has something to do with the safety of a exo for other drivers and yourself. Since the crumple zones will no longer be effective, if you get in a crash, you'll just bounce around in the cab. no way to cushion the impact and same for anyone who hits you or you hit. Thats kinda how it was explained to me by the state cops here in york."

and in response to his no:

"I would like to see someone quote a specific section in the PA Code that pertains to that. You could just title it as a " modified " vehicle if that was the case and get past it. It's dumb for them to mention crumple zones with a car crash yet it's ok to drive a Miata on the same highway at 65 as the 40 ton tractor trailer....... :

If somebody runs into me i sure as heck want all the steel between me and them i can get no matter what vehicle I'm in. The only issue with an exo would be vision. If a bar blocks your direct line of sight or lights then you can get a ticket. Anything in front of or between the head light's and turn signals would be an issue. "

 

they should add "Exo-Cage" to the checklist of things the vehicle is equiped with when establishing insurance on a vehicle right next to air bags, antilock brakes, and other stuff

 

Exo cage will be relative to your state laws. See them all the time here.

HREW tubing has a seam it is just not raised.

Pipe comes in seamless and welded

Tube and pipe are really not comparable as they are different in just about every way except they are round.

 

Modifying the frame of a vehicle is, in general, illegal.
Welding on or to the frame is almost universally illegal.
Drilling a frame falls under the auspices of 'modifying' a frame and is typically illegal.
Bolting to the existing frame without otherwise modifying the frame could potentially fall under the auspices of 'modifying' the frame, but generally has the most leniency when auxiliary structures are attached since the frame itself is not modified in any way other than attaching supplemental supporting structures.

So, an exo install, and the legality of it, would be most dependent on the method / means of installing it.

 

slightly off topic....but somewhat goes along.

how about tube door legality? if of course you add rear view mirrors and a panel at the bottom to keep stuff from falling out.

 

I have yet to see a statute that says the above in relation to anything other than big rigs (which have heat treated frames, and the "no welding" requirement actually makes sense).

Please post a reference so we can read the actual law you are referring to.