Should I add a roll bar or cage after cutting my top?

[Willievee]

I recently cut the rear roof section off of my vehicross. My plan is to spray the entire rear with bed liner. My question is, should I add a roll bar or a roll cage? Im considering adding a bar but figured I would ask my fellow forum members. I'll post pics of the VX soon too. Thanks!

[eternal21]

Pics or it didn't happen :bwgy:

[VXorado]

I would definitely add a roll bar, you may even be able to use an Amigo or Rodeo Sport bar.

Are you planning to build a convertible top, enclose the back or leave it open like VXsport's?

Let's see it!

[Willievee]

I'll have to find an Amigo bar and see how it fits. The plan is to leave it open like VXSport's. I even considered cutting the front roof section off like that photochop floating around but likely won't. Pics coming soon.

[ipd]

Why not roll-bar the entire interior like a jeep, and then cut off the entire roof? Just need to figure out a clever way to reattach a removable roof that way.

[JoFotoz]

Maybe two hoops... like the VX02 ?

That would look good :)

Jo

[Willievee]

I could see removing the whole roof. I have considered a jeep-like cage. Might be expensive to get made though.

[Makocross]

The question should not be do I need a roll bar, but what kind of roll bar. Vehicles with roofs cut off are very flexible which is a good characteristic for suspensions, but not chassis and bodies. There are three uses for roll bars, one to make your vehicle look cool, to stiffen and the other is to save lives. Two you can use every moment your vehicle moves and the last you hope never happens. Remember VX lives matter!

Mike

[WormGod]

DONT do the "show bar" like you see the Amigo sporting. It is garbage. I had one in my old Amigo and it is just that... a SHOW bar. Just bolts/welds to the body. You want something custom that takes advantage of the frame/unibody structure, so do it right the first time.

[Willievee]

Thanks. This is a concern I had with the Amigo bar. But my plan was to look at the layout of the Amigo bar and see if I could fab mounts that would mount it to the frame instead of the body. I can weld, but I don't have the capability (or experience) of bending tube and designing a bar. So if it happened to fit easily, it could be a good option. Otherwise, I would just have a local shop fab a bar for me. What I want from it is roll over protection (although I don't really do much serious offroading) and potentially to tie in to the sides of the body itself for a bit of extra stabilization, and maybe support the back of a roof basket (I'd use the original front roof rail mounting points for the front of the basket).


DONT do the "show bar" like you see the Amigo sporting. It is garbage. I had one in my old Amigo and it is just that... a SHOW bar. Just bolts/welds to the body. You want something custom that takes advantage of the frame/unibody structure, so do it right the first time.

[Makocross]

Willievee;
If you can weld and have an oxy torch, you can make nice bends in steel. Get your roll bar material and get it all measured out. Make a wooden pattern of the inside of your curve. Weld a cap on one end of the tube and fill it with dry white sand(Home depot sandbox sand). Fill it really tight, tap it in until it is flush with open end. Weld the open end. Now you can heat the tube where you want it to bend red to orange hot and lay it in your pattern. You can bend it easily with your protected hands or 2X4 and the sand will keep the tube from colasping. Do this outside with a couple of your buddies, you will need help in handling a big hot tube of steel and it will burn and smoke the pattern immediately. Have a bucket of water and a hose ready because as soon as the tube has cooled down enough to retain its shape, you want to remove the hot metal from the pattern and let it cool slowly. Pour water on the pattern just as soon as you can without getting the steel wet. You should be able to get at least two bends out of the pattern. Make your "U" a little long and then trim after all of the bending is done. If you want you can use a piece of PVC the same size as the roll bar material, plug and fill with dry sand, heat with a heat gun, bend it around your pattern and check to see if your calculations were correct. If the PVC fits perfectly, you can take that to a fab shop and say " make this shape out of roll bar material".
Two things to worry about in addition to the oblivious, first make sure the sand is dry(if wet it can turn to steam and blow out the tube both steel and PVC), second drill a 1/8" hole in one end cap so it can't happen.
Mike