Jeep XJ Roll Cage

With a lightweight unibody build and original passenger SUV design, the Jeep XJ platform brings with it a serious issue of body flex. Those who have flexed out an xj repeatedly over rocks, ruts, and climbs know that the doors tend to lose alignment, rear hatches struggle to open, and in long term abuse the unibody eventually develops cracks in stressed areas.

Chopping a major part of the body for the Jeepagon conversion removed the full structure of the roof and brought with it the concern of rigidity. How much the 22 gauge roof really contributes to the structure may seem insignificant; look at any cherokee rollover aftermath and the impact tends to distribute to the Jeep's A-pillars and doors. Regardless of the removed material, for a heavily travelled and off-roaded vehicle factory safety wouldn't cut it.

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In comes the 8-point cage, rock sliders, and frame tie-in design. Upon completely removing the Jeep Cherokee's roof, it was brought into Pinobuilt here in San Diego for its custom structural fab work. BJ and Zen worked with the Westfalia design to build something both solid and safe, while keeping it open for access to the pop top camper.

This build focused on drivers cab safety in the event of a roll-over as well as stiffening the unibody for the camper build - using an 8-point design to build around the factory pillars of a 4-door jeep xj. All of the cage stitch welds into the pillars and body, and meets the cab floor at a series of welded deck plates. Additionally, multiple points of the cage reach through the floor and tie into a pair of heavy duty rock sliders that weld into the unibody at several points. This design has overwhelmingly eliminated body flex and given the jeep unibody structural integrity while keeping access to the camper a priority.

8-Point Custom Roll Cage

Overview

- In Depth -