What is your Roll Cage weld up technique?

[helocat]

What is your Roll Cage weld up technique?

I am interested in what technique you use for installing roll cages. MIG or TIG and do you change tube welding techniques per welding source? Do you move tube to tube with short welds to fight distortion, or fixture it and do full welds per tube? If so how do you fixture it? Or a bit of both long welds per tube and just let it cool prior to other weld?

Just interested in how others are doing this.

Mark

[90blackcrx]

Depending on if the person is just using it for his enjoyment or not. Rulebooks state that chrome molly has to be tigged not migged.

I have heard some people will mig it to the chassis because its just to dirty to tig it to the chassis.

[Billet Benny]

Welding the cage up in place is the only dead sure way of making sure everything keeps its fit. I just finished a Jeep cage and welded the front portion out of the Jeep. I welded about 1/4 welds around the tube joint before rolling the cage doing some more. Tried to jump around. Had to install the last bar over the dash and even with restraint it pulled inward from its mounts pretty good. However, thanks to the restraint it was easily pushed apart to mount to its spot on the truck.

The rear portion I completely welded in place to minimize the moving around. When it's all tacked together and anchored it'll for sure stay in place. This whole project was migged with my Millermatic 200. I don't weld entirely around the joint at once. As far as I can go and then let it cool normally. Plenty of time for this while I'm welding other places. Also like to let my welder rest too. When I mig in place I weld vertical down on the joints. Vertical up with my welder the way I weld this stuff together would be practically impossible. The weld would be way to large if you could weld more than 2 inches without melting out a gaping hole.

When I tig tube projects together I go vertical up on all joints because it's so much easier to produce a good weld and control your heat. If I'm welding something I can't afford to move I will try and have most all pieces tacked well into place before final welding. This way each tube acts as a restraint to keep the shape consistent. Normally, I weld and want the stuff to move so I don't worry about it. Tolerances with tube chassis and cages don't need to be thousands of an inch tight and it's a waste of time on most parts to try and fight what little movement you might get.

So my advice is to build your stuff so that when it moves you're right in spec and if not add all your parts before final welding. Welding while the cage is in place or anchored will be sure everything continues to fit without major tweaking.

Attached are some pics of the cage build. Welding it out of the truck was nice but created fitment troubles. Welding the rear while everything was together made for a piece of cake. This is the first time I've ever even been able to weld so much of a cage while it was out of a truck. It was nice, but not that much nicer in the end than welding it together in place. What helps most is being able to get to some welds you otherwise can't with it in place.

[Billet Benny]

a few more pictures

[helocat]

BB, Good stuff!

Anyone else?

Mark

[Speed Raycer]

I tend to build the whole cage and tack it together as I go, then break it back down for final cleanup, some painting and then final installation.

I start with the pads and just tack them in if I think I'm going to need them removeable for the cage welding. If they're a "box" style pad, I'll leave the top loose to drop the tubes down into it.

Building the whole cage first lets you see any problem areas that might creep up on you if places are too tight to get your torch into. If you go welding stuff solid as you go, you're bound to run into trouble.

Do yourself a favor and make yourself some 1" spacers to place around the tube/pad joint to keep some room between the tube and the chassis.

Since I've had my TIG, I haven't used JUST MIG or TIG on any MS cage but whatever the joint and it's access called for.

Here's a rally Subaru I'm working on right now:

http://www.izzyscustomcages.com/images/CustCars/Subaru/P1010034.JPG