Comanche Expedition bed cage help

[Oil Town XJ]

I've started designing my hybrid cage with a bed rack, but I'm struggling with having the two flow nicely together. I'm not really happy with what I have now and am open to suggestions! I dont want the bed rack to sit above the roofline, I hated my roof rack on my 4door xj. I also want to make sure there's nothing overhead in the last few feet of the box so I can easily hop in the box and load a jetski.

 

[AngryRedBird]

Eliminate the over the cabin bars, although the spare tire is in the perfect location, i'm concerned with does this swing or flip down as to allow the tire ease of removal?.. if the tire is suspended it would be hard to change out without some means of support.

 

[Oil Town XJ]

Eliminate the over the cabin bars, although the spare tire is in the perfect location, i'm concerned with does this swing or flip down as to allow the tire ease of removal?.. if the tire is suspended it would be hard to change out without some means of support.

Yes the the mount will swing down to make loading easier. I can't elminate the over cabin bars, as I want a hybrid roll cage. There's not enough room inside for the roll cage

 

[1stDeuce]

You're putting bars over the roof, but you think you're going to be annoyed by the cage being above the cab height?? I guess if that makes sense to you, then it's fine...

I was annoyed by the wind noise and drag of the roof rack on my TJ, but since you're already planning to have both of those with the partial exo-cage anyway, I'd think you might prioritized head room in the bed area. Depends on the use I guess. If you just want to mount a spare up high, then keeping the overall profile low is good. If you want to maximize bed space, then having the overall a little higher and the tire in the air might be better.

I like your modeling too!!

 

[Oil Town XJ]

You're putting bars over the roof, but you think you're going to be annoyed by the cage being above the cab height?? I guess if that makes sense to you, then it's fine...

I was annoyed by the wind noise and drag of the roof rack on my TJ, but since you're already planning to have both of those with the partial exo-cage anyway, I'd think you might prioritized head room in the bed area. Depends on the use I guess. If you just want to mount a spare up high, then keeping the overall profile low is good. If you want to maximize bed space, then having the overall a little higher and the tire in the air might be better.

I like your modeling too!!

I guess I wasn't that clear in my description, I don't want a big rack and tire sitting above the roofline. I did that with my 4 door Cherokee and hated it. I'm hoping the tubing on the roof for the cage won't be too bad, I really can't run the cage inside the cabin I'm 6'3 and there's already no head room!

 

[adelatoa]

Not a Comanche owner. More of a Land Rover enthusiast but your build caught my eye. From a structural stand point I would cross brace the bottom two legs. I'm thinking they are tying to the chassis non the less you don't want those legs further splitting in the case there is a roll. I would also consider welding gusset plates at any connections over the cabin.

Other than that I think it looks **************. Try adding functionality to the vertical bars over the bed (high lift, PowerTank, maybe even a chain saw or ax mounts).

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

Interesting idea with the hanging spare, but you've essentially blocked all rear visibility with it. Are you OK with that? I'll second the compliment on the nice modeling, though.

 

[Oil Town XJ]

Not a Comanche owner. More of a Land Rover enthusiast but your build caught my eye. From a structural stand point I would cross brace the bottom two legs. I'm thinking they are tying to the chassis non the less you don't want those legs further splitting in the case there is a roll. I would also consider welding gusset plates at any connections over the cabin.

Other than that I think it looks **************. Try adding functionality to the vertical bars over the bed (high lift, PowerTank, maybe even a chain saw or ax mounts).

Are you talking about the a pillars? There will be a bar going across the hood tieing them together and a removable v bar over the windshield. Once I'm happy with the final design I'll start adding gussets and mounts for equipment.

As for tire visibility it will suck, but I don't want to mount it off the rear bumper since I'm already so long

 

[tgreening]

I've had an XJ but I've never caged anything that didnt have a frame, but I'd imagine the principles to be at least close to the same.

What are you expecting this cage to accomplish? Is the whole thing supposed to provide roll over protection, or are you mainly concerned with the cab area?

Assuming you want the whole thing to protect, I'd question the verticals that attach to the top of the bed. I think they look great, but I'd run the legs all the way to the bed bottom. As suggested it wouldnt hurt to run another horizontal connecting the bottom of the X behind the cab. You've already addressed the area below the windshield, but I'm not sure what you mean by a V bar.

I know its unibody,but there is still a frame of sorts. All your verticals I would at least attempt to tie into this. If nothing else at least land directly above it. The commanche was just the truck version of the cherokee and having replaced the ENTIRE bottom, from the firewall to the hatchback I can tell you, dont depend on that sheet metal alone to support your cage in the event of a roll.

If you dont really care what happens behind the cab then disregard anything I've said that doesnt directly relate to the cab.

If you're happy with the tire setup visibility can be handled by the addition of a rear view camera mounted to the rear most horizontal on the cage and a monitor in place of the mirror.

I like your design.

 

[shortbus4x4]

With jetski loaded in back will you be able to get spare tire out?

 

[kojackJKU]

You could use a cable system for your spare off a chev suburban or something like that. It would be slick!

 

[OLDSKING]

What did you use to design the rack?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[eurosonic]

^+1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Oil Town XJ]

^+1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Solid works

 

[WrenchMonkey]

That tire mount looks like a pain in the butt to me, but that wasn't what you asked about.
.
To get the halves to "flow" together better, try lowering the B-C stringer (above the bed) to align with the A-B above the door. Continuing that one line front to back will help pull it all together.
.
And yeah, nice model!