Ok im sick of the trees, and the offcamber crap. So I decided to do an exo on my 92 runner. I realize that im probably building beyond the capabilities of my truck, but that is only temporary. Im a poor college kid and when I graduate and get some cash, its gonna be sas time and all that crap. But in the mean time building an exo is cheap so it will be one less thing to worry about when im doing all the sas, and fun stuff, eventually I may bob it, but thats not for a long time.

I started already with some hoops around the wheel wells and a stinger, to get my feet wet since ive never done this before, and neither have my friends. but i tested them at the cliffs last weekend they saved my ass a couple times and they are strong as hell.
Im using 1.5in. .120wall DOM.

Here ya go...



I left a bunch of rom for fender trimming bc I have a set of 33'' tsls comin and they are one of the biggest 33's on the market (33.7) Those are 33's though.








stinger





here are my ideas for the rest, Im still thinking about how to protect the rear window.





Any input on the design would be greatly appreciated

 

Your off to a good start! What are your plans for the roof to tie in both sides?

 

Heres the top not 100% sure though...

 

It's looks more for tree protection and not rollover protection.
Your's looks similar to this one.

I would be concerned about the wide open spaces for the doors and you'll need something to support the cage sides and roof corners if you land flat on the side but a little more on the roof, otherwise the whole cage will go like / / .

Research; remember that gussets and triangulation is good.

Nice start. I look forward to your updates.

 

hell yeah! cant wait to see that....

 

If your serious about it, you'll need to run a X behind the front and rear seats from the frame and out thru the roof to support the exo. Without bracing it will crush like a tin can...

I have mine X braced and tied into the frame and flatbed structure. Even with the bracing, the front structure over the hood is still "softer" than I'd like.

http://www.bajataco.com/desoto04/L_desoto197.jpg

http://www.bajataco.com/desoto04/L_desoto201.jpg

 

personally, i would just stop with what you have there. you have done quite a bit to protect the body already.

if you go with the full on exo, you will get a significant amount of wind noise and lose mpg's and highway power because of the added wind resistance.

 

Have you ever rolled? what kind of steel do you use. I cannot put an x-brace in the truck and through the body for very obvious reasons

Triangulation goes without saying, ill be doing that but I just didnt draw it in.

I wheel in illinois, and unfortunatly im usually in muddy trails so my roll is more likely to be a slow sloppy tip than anything, however, I am still going to try to make it as strong as possible. I think in the future when if I bob it I might weld the rear doors shut and add some bracing there, but for now this will keep my truck in one piece. and yes right now my BIGGEST foe is trees, in fact that is what I will be using this for 99.9% of the time, however, ill probably roll sooner or later.

 

I know there are two voices in my head, one says f#@& it build the hell out of it and deal with the inconvience for the advantage of the protection. The other voice says are you crazy, this a DD and sees some highway driving. Besides you only go wheeling a couple times a month.

I would like to have roof and door and rear window protection, for going through off camber canyons and trees.

 

I agree. Crawler#976 is spot on with his assesment too. I have rolled before and it scares the crap out of you when it happens.

He doesn't need to have rolled to know to put a X brace where he mentioned. Call it cummulative experience.

I would stop where your at, and have a Pro do an internal cage on it. Save your $$ and go that route IMO.

Your truck looks great, and I'm impressed with what you've done so far.

HTH

 

Yes, I have flopped it, prolly will again. The truck never made it all the way over - the rocks have always kept it from going all the way over.

I used 1.75 x 0.120 wall HREW and 1.50 x 0.120 wall HREW. IMO, DOM is an overkill both in strength and $$$ for the type of wheelin' I do.

You can add X bracing thru your rig. There are grommets made to seal the holes thru the body.

 

Crawler is right on the spot. If you do the exo you have to do it 100% complete with plenty of bracing. Otherwise do an internal cage. But I think internal cages are worthless, why not just do an exo and save your entire truck and yourself in case of rollover.
Here's a few pics of what I have...and yes its been tested and worked perfect, fenders are exposed and recieved a small dent on the passenger side where it landed...but thats it. These pics are from after this occured too.






My cage lacks the vertical bracing that should be behind the rear cab like Crawler has but once I get rid of that shell and flatbed the rear it will be completed. However, it has worked flawless so far.

 

hmmm... well has anyone ever done one of these on a 2nd gen runner. I am 6'2" and dont have any room for an internal, and I also think they are KINDA pointless for the same reason. The x brace inst an option either because when I am comfortable in my seat the back of my seat is crosses the verticle plane off the front of the back seat. so there is no strait shot from roof to floor. It would also completly eliminate a back seat. and i like to put the rear seats domn sometimes. So do any of you guys have an external solution of any kind, feel free to draw one up on my blank side shot. I know the void isnt a good thing.
Theres no doubt that the setup would stand up to bouncing off trees.
What if I use a heavier guage like 1/4 in for the length up the apillar along the roof and down the back
Do you really think that a flop in a trail on soft ground would bend the cage, and that there is nothing externaly to do about it.

 

i have a couple more of different rigs ill upload them later

1/4" wall is way overkill. you are using DOM so i would say its good. if it were me, i would put a B pillar tube in

 

I did some searching on pirate for you in regard to exo's on 2nd gen 4runners and cant seem to find anything and I've seen alot of ppls trucks on there and dont recall any 2nd gen 4runners w/ exos...
I like what you have going on so far...both visually and structurally...
what if you built the cage similiar to what you have drawn up then just ran several cross braces down through the cab..and behind the rear seats. Run it through the roof..then just seal it off? you could still fold the seats down forward...

 

the exo i posted above is from pirate. search for the users "poophead" and "webilt" and you will find them

 

That looks pretty good. What rear bumper do you have? any more pics of it??

 

As far as adding a tube between the front and rear doors, I am not sure if it can be reasonably done. the tube has to stand obout 4in. out from the body the whol way down. I can pretty much guarantee that 2nd gen cant get his rear doors open more than about 12-16in. I keep looking at the distance that the tube has go unbraced, I cant see it buckling in a roll. I have DOM all around the truck and that stuff scares me. It looks flimsy but the crap ive put it through is frieghtening and I havent begun to even irritate it.

tomorrow Ill look at my options for verticle bracing through the cab.

Heres a shot of my rear bumper for ya, its a normal old allpro. I braced it and now it is solid as a rock. Before I used to hit the trees so hard that it would shove the bumper sideways about 4 inches and smash my body(the 1/4 in brackets cant take it). Kind of counter productive.

 

actually, he says with the compound bends he was able to get the door bar so he could open the door 1" shy of being fully open.

 

REALLY, do you know him? can you get anymore info and some more pics.