with Miles Oliver

DaveSport Front Loop Cage

 

After a near roll-over last year where I kissed my Targa bar on a tree it became clear to me that perhaps I should SERIOUSLY consider adding additional protection to the inside of my truck.  The Targa bar was toast and I was considering a complete repaint of the truck anyway I decided while I had it apart for Bodywork and paint that I should put in some type of protection. Checking with  local shops I found they wanted at least $800.00 or more for a cage. Checking into the Petroworks cage I decided that I really didn't like the bends around the dash. I wanted straight pipes to the floor that would give me use of the window regulators. I'm sure that it is a good product. I just felt that I would be continually bumping my knees into it. I decided on a DaveSport front loop cage kit. It was a much more cost-effective proposal the then local shops. It is not sold as a roll cage but it is much better protection than just  the sheetmetal.

Once the cage arrived I started  looking over the parts that came with the front loop kit.  It came with pre-welded bar over the dash, two connector tubes to the rear roll bar, and the base plates for the front loop.  I am in no way a structural metal person but I found the base plates  were made out of 1/8" thick plate. They looked undersized.  This is not a slam to the DaveSport cage.  I had some 3/16" thick plate on hand and decided to use it instead .I also increased the size of the mounting bolts to 1/2".

Once we had the front loop in place on the new 3/16" plates we started taking measurements for the stringers that tie both front and rear together. The tubes are pre 'fish-eyed' for the front and are a bit long but this is to allow you to get the best fit. We cut them down with a chop saw and  proceeded to make our own 'fish-eye' cuts for the back.  We didn't have any precision tools for cutting so the Dewalt 4" hand grinder came out and we ground then ends down until we had the best fit

Once we had both sides cut down and the test fitting was complete out came the MIG welder and  welding blanket to tie it all together. We tacked on the 'feet' and  went to work on the stringers. We got them in with good solid welds. Next we removed the whole cage from the truck. We had to disassemble the targa bar once again to get the newly formed cage out. This allowed us to  place it on the garage floor for the final welds. We  prepped and painted the whole setup while it was out of the truck.  While the cage  paint was drying I took this time to reapply another coat of DURABAK to the truck.   After a few years of use I had worn down the stuff with my big feet.   After everything was cured we walked the cage into place and bolted up the rear. The fit was perfect.

It was tricky getting the feet around the speedometer cable and required some finesse, but we got around it and started drilling the 1/2" holes to bolt the front in. During the drilling the Dewalt 1/2 drill bound and smacked my hand into the tubing and it left me bruised and battered. Two of the knuckles swelled  to about 4 times their size  remaining purple for about 3 days. We finally got the holes drilled into the body and the bolts installed.  If I ever want to tie the cage directly to the frame I now have a good place for attachment.

The whole process from start to finish took us about 4 hours  total time. This is minus the painting and drying time. I hope that I never have to test its strength but I can be assured that while it wasn't designed to save my hide should I find myself 'rubber side up' that it is definitely better protection for me then if it was not installed at all! I could not have done this project without the help of my good friend Mike Kupec (An Early Bronco Guy), Thanks Mike!