TeddyBoy
Knighted by the King of MUD himself
The Build Day was HUGE Success-- Dan Kunz got his cage and the Ga. Cruisers showed what we're made of.
For the general viewing public: if you become part of this community you should know that if you request assistance you will have several people standing at your side ready to help, no questions asked.
First a little background:
If you remember back in early May parts of N. Georgia were hit by a number large and damaging storms, reports were made of 2 1/2" sized hail stones and numerous tornadoes hitting areas north of Atlanta. Unfortunately, Dan's house was hit by one of these tornadoes causing severe damage to both his house and trail truck, thankfully nobody was hurt. According to Dan, a large tree fell across the rear of the truck, squashing the roof and fully compressing the rear suspension, about the only thing that somewhat saved the truck was that the tree came to rest on the spare tire carrier mounted on the rear bumper.
Additional background information & pictures can be found on HERE
Now fast forward to early August.
The Ga. Cruisers went looking for a member to assist in getting their rig back on the trail, well insert Dan's name and the build was on. Fortunately, Dan & Smitty had done some prep work the day before which helped clear the way for us to build a full roll-cage for the "Avocado". The day started early around 7AM for the first group of arrivals, they laid the ground work for the "later" crowd which got their about 9AM. By 11AM we had the rough cuts trimmed out and looking good, the cut-outs in the floor pan were made to accommodate 2 cage hoops, the first located just behind the front seats and the 2nd located just behind the passenger seats. It goes without saying that as with all projects, we encountered obstacles and road blocks which ate up a lot time
but by 1 PM we had a reasonable amount of work done and it was time for a little grub. Smitty (Scott) assumed grill detail and he whipped out several steaks and hot dogs for us all, by 1:30 we were back on the build. At the peak of the day we had about 10 members working on various aspects, some bending tube, some grinding, some cutting and all working very hard. By about 2:00 the first hoop was bent, laid in place and tacked. By 3:30 the 2nd hoop was bent an tacked, the front Exo-hoop was bent and tacked and by 5:30 the the passenger side pillar was being bent and fitted, the snorkel made this a little more fun than anticipated. I have to say by this time we were all exhausted and running out of gas but we pressed on until almost 9 PM. The day's result is a cage consisting of almost 80 feet of 2" tube bent and tacked in place, one stripped interior, 6 pillar cuts cleaned up and ready for covering, both rear doors now close and latch and 10 very tired and sore Ga Cruiser members. While we didn't get everything done we set out to do we did accomplished a great deal of work everyone should be proud. A follow up day will have to scheduled to fill in the missing pieces and final welds, updates will be coming at that time.
A personal note: I have been a member of the Ga Cruisers for about 6 months and the people that make up this club are first rate. The generosity and assistance provided by fellow members continues to amaze me, thanks guys!
A Big Thanks must go to John Schmitt for offering up his shop and tools. Without John's generosity there is no way we could have pulled this off.
Another big Thanks should go out to everyone that helped and offered up their tools including: Jack, Josh, Sylvain, Downhill Dave, Ted (me), Brian, Tony, Smitty & Heather.
I must also add honorable mention to Henry (Hendog) for driving all the way up from Dekalb county (about 40 miles) just to check on us, said he was just in the neighborhood (I don't think so) and wanted to show his support.
Dan--Glad we could help you out and see you on the trails!
PICS HERE
Next Up: Downhill Dave--Another cage
Avacado Teaser Pic from May:
For the general viewing public: if you become part of this community you should know that if you request assistance you will have several people standing at your side ready to help, no questions asked.
First a little background:
If you remember back in early May parts of N. Georgia were hit by a number large and damaging storms, reports were made of 2 1/2" sized hail stones and numerous tornadoes hitting areas north of Atlanta. Unfortunately, Dan's house was hit by one of these tornadoes causing severe damage to both his house and trail truck, thankfully nobody was hurt. According to Dan, a large tree fell across the rear of the truck, squashing the roof and fully compressing the rear suspension, about the only thing that somewhat saved the truck was that the tree came to rest on the spare tire carrier mounted on the rear bumper.
Additional background information & pictures can be found on HERE
Now fast forward to early August.
The Ga. Cruisers went looking for a member to assist in getting their rig back on the trail, well insert Dan's name and the build was on. Fortunately, Dan & Smitty had done some prep work the day before which helped clear the way for us to build a full roll-cage for the "Avocado". The day started early around 7AM for the first group of arrivals, they laid the ground work for the "later" crowd which got their about 9AM. By 11AM we had the rough cuts trimmed out and looking good, the cut-outs in the floor pan were made to accommodate 2 cage hoops, the first located just behind the front seats and the 2nd located just behind the passenger seats. It goes without saying that as with all projects, we encountered obstacles and road blocks which ate up a lot time
but by 1 PM we had a reasonable amount of work done and it was time for a little grub. Smitty (Scott) assumed grill detail and he whipped out several steaks and hot dogs for us all, by 1:30 we were back on the build. At the peak of the day we had about 10 members working on various aspects, some bending tube, some grinding, some cutting and all working very hard. By about 2:00 the first hoop was bent, laid in place and tacked. By 3:30 the 2nd hoop was bent an tacked, the front Exo-hoop was bent and tacked and by 5:30 the the passenger side pillar was being bent and fitted, the snorkel made this a little more fun than anticipated. I have to say by this time we were all exhausted and running out of gas but we pressed on until almost 9 PM. The day's result is a cage consisting of almost 80 feet of 2" tube bent and tacked in place, one stripped interior, 6 pillar cuts cleaned up and ready for covering, both rear doors now close and latch and 10 very tired and sore Ga Cruiser members. While we didn't get everything done we set out to do we did accomplished a great deal of work everyone should be proud. A follow up day will have to scheduled to fill in the missing pieces and final welds, updates will be coming at that time. A personal note: I have been a member of the Ga Cruisers for about 6 months and the people that make up this club are first rate. The generosity and assistance provided by fellow members continues to amaze me, thanks guys!
A Big Thanks must go to John Schmitt for offering up his shop and tools. Without John's generosity there is no way we could have pulled this off.
Another big Thanks should go out to everyone that helped and offered up their tools including: Jack, Josh, Sylvain, Downhill Dave, Ted (me), Brian, Tony, Smitty & Heather.
I must also add honorable mention to Henry (Hendog) for driving all the way up from Dekalb county (about 40 miles) just to check on us, said he was just in the neighborhood (I don't think so) and wanted to show his support.
Dan--Glad we could help you out and see you on the trails!
PICS HERE
Next Up: Downhill Dave--Another cage
Avacado Teaser Pic from May:
Last edited:
s. We'll "get er done" when you get back from overseas.
