Metal Tech Cages

[Pinion]

Im buying an MT cage within the next few weeks or so and having a pro weld it up for me. I'm all for doing my own self "craftsmanship" but dont want to skimp on safety. Are there any concerns as to the adjustments of fabrication? He is doing me a reciporical favor, so I dont want him to do any more work than necessary. I'm 6'4" and could probably use a little more space between the A and B pillars for my skull's safety on the road.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

 

[rusty_tlc]

Im buying an MT cage within the next few weeks or so and having a pro weld it up for me. I'm all for doing my own self "craftsmanship" but dont want to skimp on safety. Are there any concerns as to the adjustments of fabrication? He is doing me a reciporical favor, so I dont want him to do any more work than necessary. I'm 6'4" and could probably use a little more space between the A and B pillars for my skull's safety on the road.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Good choice, if you have any doubts about your welding ability the cage is the last place to take a chance.
I'm 6' and have plenty of head room. The main thing that the installer will have room to improvise with are the spreaders between the B pillar and the top front bar. Just have them far enough apart to keep your noggin safe.

 

[chattfj40]

one other thing to watch out for is if your fabbing it with the doors off...be careful...very careful, I made the stupid mistake of mounting the A-pillers spead a bit too far out...had to modify the doors with a BF ball peen hammer...mines not a show rig, so now biggie, but if your's is nice, just make sure the door will close...and the window regulator will turn 360, mine does

I didn't have any problems with the height, and as I remember, we didn't make any changes there

Love my cage!

 

[71-CRUISER]

I love mine. I had Mark send me the pieces to make the back of mine a little different but he had no problem with that. The nose guard is also MetalTech

Great Product and Great Service.

 

[rabid]

NIce rig!

Cage looks great.

Looks like you mounted the nose guard in a bit, pics from the front?

 

[albee]

I cut and tacked mine together myself, then had a pro tig weld it. Only cost $300 to weld it and sand blast a pile of parts.

You could come check mine out for fit, before you buy if you want too. I live just west of worcester.
Albee

 

[rusty_tlc]

If you got the grab handles you might want to think about relocating them a little higher. Not the best picture but you can see where I put mine. This works out pretty well for both my wife and I.

 

[camcruiser13]

im about to pull the trigger on a MT cage as well

 

[Cresso]

How far is the short brace piece between the B-pillar bar (the main hoop) and the front profile bars from the occupants' heads? Can anyone with one of these cages confirm that there's plenty of room there?

 

[theo]

Same advice as chattFJ40 - test fit with the doors on before final welding. It was a very tight fit for me, especially since I was trying to keep as much space on the floor for my size 12s as possible.

Also, I think I fried my engine's computer when I welded the frame tie-ins. Whether you think it's a problem or not, it's a simple precaution to disconnect the battery before welding on the truck.

Can't go wrong with Metal Tech.

 

[Isotel]

FJ40's In general have lots of headroom. i doubt you would be able to change the distances by any significant amount without having LT bend you up a custom cage. Make sure the guy welding knows what he is doing!

Ive never heard anything bad from about the Metal tech products!

 

[LT]

How far is the short brace piece between the B-pillar bar (the main hoop) and the front profile bars from the occupants' heads? Can anyone with one of these cages confirm that there's plenty of room there?

Haven't heard of anyone smacking their head on the A-B support. It sits pretty far back and I usually cut them down from 20" to 17" when doing a pre-built profile cage.

 

[LT]

Im buying an MT cage within the next few weeks or so and having a pro weld it up for me. I'm all for doing my own self "craftsmanship" but dont want to skimp on safety. Are there any concerns as to the adjustments of fabrication? He is doing me a reciporical favor, so I dont want him to do any more work than necessary. I'm 6'4" and could probably use a little more space between the A and B pillars for my skull's safety on the road.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Rob,

The best write up I have seen on ih8mud is from Bull. He did an excellent job of detailing on how to install the Metal Tech Profile Cage properly.

Bull ROTW

Biggest things to look out for is door clearance, wiper clearance (early model cruisers), and rear bow clearance if you are running a soft top. I have managed to put the C pillar back a little too far twice on my own FJ40 and it pushes into my kayline soft top

 

[helocat]

The A to B supports do two primary things, first it triangulates the A pillars to the B pill for strength, second it acts as a “slider” for the B pillar. When a top is off, B pillars are famous for hanging up on obstacles, especially when you off camber. As the truck moves forward, if the upper portion of the A pillar comes in contact with something you slide along. When you come close to the B pillar the A to B support pushes you away from the obstacle and helps the B pillar clear. The supports also have a slight bend to them that kick outward. This helps push the truck away and clears the interior better giving the occupants more room with them. Like with any cage if your head is with in 4” of any tubing it should be padded.

Pinion: As an FYI, Metal-tech uses 2.0” .125” CDS/DOM - SRA (used in our A pillars) and 2.0” .120” HREW (rest of our cages), all US made tubing sourced directly from the mills for quality and consistency. The main reason we use 2” tubing is the only rulebook that best covers our trucks is the SCORE off-road rule book, and it clearly states any truck over 4000lbs must have a 2” 1.20” tubing used in the cage. Most FJ40s tip the scales over 4k easy. Side note here as well, we also used the SCCA rulebook on how we designed the cage. Of course to make a cage full SCORE or SCCA approved you get into additional bracing that would no longer make our 40’s set up for normal sport use, but the 2” tube size is key for our trucks due to their weight.

Ed and truck post nasty BACK FLIP!: (This guy is a roll over pro, been over three times now)


Chattfj40: Todd you’re the poster child for the “have at least your doors on when you install the cage” we say now! (ok you a poster child for a few other things, but that’s another thread!)


BTW: Pinion, I have a nice 1973-1976 drivers side tire carrier in my personal stash. I will give you a deal for it with your cage purchase we can ship it with the cage as well.

Mark

 

[bull]

I'm 6' 4" with a long torso and do just fine. I haven't had an issue with hitting my head.

You should be there while he is welding it up to provide input.

 

[green73]

Here is another endorsement for Mark (Metal Tech), and his cages. I have no photographic back-up (computer crash) for my roll. It was a 3/4 barrel roll to the driver side with some forward momentum. Nothing on the inside moved at all. Most importantly the 10 year old passenger was harnessed in and unscathed. My only suggestion is to buy some extra tubing and use it to add a seat mount cradle. This obviously ties the seats to the cage. It also gives you the option to mount the seat wherever it fits you. Mine is set-up for driver height between 5'1"(myself) and 6'2". Coupled with a good set of harnesses for both driver and passenger, this combo is ideal for the recreational wheeler. Also throw the couple extra bucks in for the frame tie-in. If safety is your concern here, and you plan on paying a professional welder' the extra $ on those items is well spent for safety and comfort.

 

[pbgbottle]

Me too I will be ordering my cage also (prebuilt.) shortly. i hope i don't have door issues either with my 78 doors



Jake

im about to pull the trigger on a MT cage as well

 

[rusty_tlc]

The A to B supports do two primary things, first it triangulates the A pillars to the B pill for strength, second it acts as a “slider” for the B pillar. When a top is off, B pillars are famous for hanging up on obstacles, especially when you off camber. As the truck moves forward, if the upper portion of the A pillar comes in contact with something you slide along. When you come close to the B pillar the A to B support pushes you away from the obstacle and helps the B pillar clear. The supports also have a slight bend to them that kick outward. This helps push the truck away and clears the interior better giving the occupants more room with them. Like with any cage if your head is with in 4” of any tubing it should be padded.

.....Mark

I made use of the "slider" feature more often than you would think last summer. My bikini top is shredded. I plan to skin the whole top in sheet metal this spring when the soft top comes off.

 

[wct49]

Metal Tech Is The Bomb!

 

[CruisinGA]

Must have been some kind of tard that fitted that cage....

one other thing to watch out for is if your fabbing it with the doors off...be careful...very careful, I made the stupid mistake of mounting the A-pillers spead a bit too far out...had to modify the doors with a BF ball peen hammer...mines not a show rig, so now biggie, but if your's is nice, just make sure the door will close...and the window regulator will turn 360, mine does

I didn't have any problems with the height, and as I remember, we didn't make any changes there

Love my cage!