roll cage or long arms?

[Underpowered]

so i have come to a crossroads in my XJ build.

my heep has been hacked. roof was cut off and re-welded up so it looks like a mini extended cab pickup now. we all know, when you do this the XJ loses alot of structural integrity.

i can buy a complete ready to weld in roll cage kit for about $400 shipped to my front door built out of HREW tube. then buy a couple stick to modify the pre made kit as i see fit, be in for a total of $500 or so including consumables (gas, wire, etc)

kit from www.swracecars.com going with the HREW 10 point cage

or i can buy long arms, to replace my stock short arms. i am on stock arms at 4.5" of lift. not exactly an ideal setup. aftermarket short arms will cost me about $300-$600 for short arms, or i can buy the IRO long arms for $600 (or less) but i will need longer shocks and longer brake lines to allow for the extra travel, total investment will be about $800-$1000 or so by the time i am done.

www.ironrockoffroad.com to see the long arms.

granted, i do plan on doing the brake lines and shocks anyway as they are not a bad idea even with my short arms. so that is about $250-300 i had planned on spending anyway.

either way i go i am gonna be $800 or so in. but which do i do? on one hand i really want the long arms to replace my bent LCA i have now as an upgrade and to make my XJ more capable. but on the other the cage will add some much needed rigidity to my unibody. the end result of a cage however will be me on upside down, cause the only thing that stops me now is fear of the roof crushing in. once that worry is gone, there will not be much i won't try.

so, thoughts and opinions on which to buy?

 

[BigWill3855]

i would do cage first, you can always wait to upgrade the suspension later.

 

[Underpowered]

thats kinda what i am leaning towards. do the cage now, then upgrade the suspension at a later date.

 

[daspes]

Yeah I gotta say Safety First. You can always wheel the short arms, but if you flop it with no cage...

 

[Underpowered]

well, a flop is bound to happen. and it will be more likely once i get teh cage, as i will care less if i do go over. i know i am gonna roll it, just don't know when yet lol

 

[mudder trucker]

lets see pics of your ride!!!! sounds good

 

[Shaggy]

well, a flop is bound to happen. and it will be more likely once i get teh cage, as i will care less if i do go over. i know i am gonna roll it, just don't know when yet lol

At least you know you will roll it in the future. :lol:

 

[Underpowered]

lets see pics of your ride!!!! sounds good

ask and ye shall recieve. best part is, the interior is already stripped for the cage install.

At least you know you will roll it in the future. :lol:

:lol: yeah. i have always wanted to roll something just to see what it is like. its not like i am gonna try to roll it, but i doubt i will try that hard not to either. even now, i probably risk rolling it more than i should with the places i take it.

 

[BigWill3855]

building roll cages is an art, if you do it right it will look great, do it wrong it will look like crap, I built several round track and drag car cages at a previous job. Should be caging my 240 and exoin the jeep soon aswell. Good luck to you!

 

[kickitandholdit]

ha wow that thing looks so fun

 

[Underpowered]

i plan on buying the pre-fab kit for s & w race cars. the 10 point cage kit. it will offer decent protection. then i figure on buying a coupld extra sticks of tube and modifying the cage to my needs, being my Xj is not exactly in stock form lol.

my buddy has a bender i have access to so that will nto be a problem. i figure with the kit as a base to build off of i should be able to end up with a decent final product.

and it is a blast. something i don't have to worry about tearing up.

 

[X2elite]

I personally wouldn't go with the pre-fab cage. I mean I am kind of a newbie to XJ's and stuff. But if you are a very big guy, there isn't much headroom (or room in general) inside an XJ to begin with, and then when you start filling that space with a cage it will get even more cramped. I think you should go with an Exo. I would go longarms first, and save the money to have an Exo done.

 

[Underpowered]

well i am tall at 6'1", but other than that a rather small fella only tipping the scale at 170, i don't think the cage will take up that much room.

an exo would be cool and all, but much more $$$ to build or have built and i don't need the body protection, i could care less about the sheetmetal.

 

[kickitandholdit]

im ready for the rolled pics

 

[fatkidkustomz]

Honestly, the one thing preventing me from upgrading my suspension to a long arm setup is the fact that I'd be able to tackle more challenging stuff. Which means that, as you said, a rollover is bound to happen. I agree with the saftey first. Go for the cage first.

 

[rocket83]

long arms

 

[ZEN357]

I would definitely do a full roll cage first!!!

 

[ZEN357]

Did you ever decide on the Full Roll Cage or the long arms? Any pics yet?