Topic: Got cancer, started my exocage

[TheBandit]

The exo looks great.  8) I am planning to start exo my soon. The only area that might be of concern is the A pillar tube into the fender tube and not the frame.   From an engineering standpoint, is there much if any difference between connecting at the fender tube then to the frame versus a a single tube to the frame.

Thanks Shoyrtt. One of the big disadvantages to doing an exo cage is that it's difficult to tie it into the frame. Tying into the fender bars is not ideal, but it should be strong enough to survive a flop. When I build shock hoops, I will tie the fender bars into them to help stiffen things up.

My wife was diagnosed last year at 36 with thyroid cancer. After a small surgery, she is doing great! I was so impressed with the advances in medical treatment. Keep a positive attitude and you can beat it.

Congratulations and best wishes on your wife's recovery. It is incredible what they (doctors) can do now. People like us can have hope thanks to all the breakthroughs in medicine.

Just finished the front part of mine too.  The wet towel Idea I used for the last part after reading your post.  Why do you not recommend?  I thought it worked great!

Usually it works fine, but I have caught a few towels on fire doing this in the past. Soaking them in water doesn't always do the trick especially if they were previously used on grease or something flamable. I think I am going to get a proper welding blanket for future use.

I ran out of tube before I got the tube across the cowl that's why it's not painted and the rest is.  The rest was done a couple weeks ago and I been waiting on fundage to get more tube.  Now I'm waiting on better weather

Looks great Mike. Nice work.

The welds on yours do look a little cold though.  Mine have heat discoloration a long way from the welds.  I don't think it will be a big issue since I've seen what a good notch and just a couple tack welds are capable of when trying to get mine apart

I am using a 110v MIG turned all the way up. I put it on eleven (spinal tap reference) but it only gets so hot. Having welded a few other things with a 110v MIG, I am confident these will hold just fine.

Reading about you designing a bender over on Pirate is the first time I ever even thought about bending tube in my life.

First time for me too! I hope you liked the buildup. I am really enjoying the machine now that it's working.

Stay positive and you will be fine.  You're way too young for that stuff to take hold.  Aggressive chemo kicks a$$ and when you're young and in good shape they can be very aggressive.  You will be fine in a couple months.

Thanks! I will keep on top of this, whatever it takes.

Its looken sweet man

Thanks!

[TheBandit [OP]]

I got a chance to work on the cage again today, so I pulled it off again. Nevermind the rust that's accumulated over the last week.





Here's a look at some of my copes. I love [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Bend Tech[/COLOR]. It's simply amazing.















First thing was first; getting rid of all the rust. I used CLR and some Scotch Brite pads. This worked INCREDIBLY well. I soaked the pads in CLR, wiped down the tube, and sprayed it off with a hose. All the rust was gone.

[yotaboy79]

about tieing the a-pillar tube ito the fender tube, this is the way i did mine and i also tied the fender tube into the shock hoops, and ive lost count how many times its been on its lid and no sighnes of failer i do recomend running two bars down the windsheild like this /\  it will help stiffen up the front part of the cage i used 1x.120 on mine but im going to re do it with
1 1/4x.120 wall cuz i need to put a new windshield in it
looken good by the way

[TheBandit [OP]]

Next up, I started welding.... lots of welding. I am using a 110V MIG cranked up to eleven (Spintal Tap joke). My welding isn't phenominal but I'm getting better!



















Here it is with all the cross bracing welded up.



Next I emptied a can of Rustoleum Hammer finish silver on all the upper tubes.



When I have time again I will weld this onto the truck and get to work on the upper fender bars and cowl tube. I haven't decided yet how I want to do those, but I've got a few ideas.

[NeverEnough188]

looking good! those welds should be just fine and they dont look too shabby at all!

[6.72:1]

Looks sure strong enough to me!

[badassfullsize]

What kind of bender are you using on this project.  Interested in an exo someday on my yota.

[kneedownnate]

I am using a 110V MIG cranked up to eleven (Spintal Tap joke). My welding isn't phenominal but I'm getting better!

In the pics it looks like a hobart?  It looks like the one I just snagged, 135 handler, so I'm looking forward to being able to weld tubing that well.  Well, atleast the welder will be capable enough, can't say anything about the me yet

[TheBandit [OP]]

looking good! those welds should be just fine and they dont look too shabby at all!

Looks sure strong enough to me!

Thanks guys!

What kind of bender are you using on this project.  Interested in an exo someday on my yota.

I designed and built the bender myself as my mechanical engineering senior project at Cal Poly. You can read all about it here: http://www.extremefabricator.com/BB/viewtopic.php?t=8

In the pics it looks like a hobart?  It looks like the one I just snagged, 135 handler, so I'm looking forward to being able to weld tubing that well.  Well, atleast the welder will be capable enough, can't say anything about the me yet

Yes it's a Hobart Handler 135 that I borrowed from family. A little more heat would be nice, but I think it produces an acceptable weld for this size tubing (0.120 wall). It has taken some time for me to get better at welding and I'm still not there yet. I don't think the welds look as good in person as they do in the pictures, but I am also really critical of my own work. They should hold fine though. One thing I am not sure I mentioned is that I like to use smaller wire with this welder because I feel it allows me to put more heat into the weld and move slower. I use 0.023 wire at the highest voltage setting with the wire speed at around 40-45 for this size tube.

I have a lot more to do on this cage, but I am going through chemotherapy right now and I haven't had the energy to do much outside of schoolwork. I'll update when I have some more pieces fitted.

[Yota87Truck]

Your exo looks great so far,  I also like the work on the front bumper, did you fab that yourself.  Best wishes and keep up the great work!

[kneedownnate]

One thing I am not sure I mentioned is that I like to use smaller wire with this welder because I feel it allows me to put more heat into the weld and move slower. I use 0.023 wire at the highest voltage setting with the wire speed at around 40-45 for this size tube.

Golden info man!  Mine came with .023 also, so I can use your settings as a great baseline when I use mine this weekend!

[mudcat]

You are in our prayers!
Exo looks great looking forward to more pics.

[twistedtoy92]

Awesome cage buddy!! Sorry to hear about your cancer, stay strong and positive and you'll be fine!! I have been wanting to build my cage on my 92 yota pickup since i bought it!!! You've really got me hyped about getting my cage fabricated as soon as i can!!! Just not enough fundage yet though..... about how much $$$ have you spent so far??? i am starting up my automotive technology classes in january and hopefully i will be able to get enough metal rounded up by the end of the quarter!!! Keep up the good work!!!

[TheBandit [OP]]

Your exo looks great so far,  I also like the work on the front bumper, did you fab that yourself.  Best wishes and keep up the great work!

Thanks! Yes I did make the bumper also. Here is a link to the thread:
http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=24406.0

Golden info man!  Mine came with .023 also, so I can use your settings as a great baseline when I use mine this weekend!

Glad to help.

You are in our prayers!
Exo looks great looking forward to more pics.

Thanks! I'll post more when I get more done.

Awesome cage buddy!! Sorry to hear about your cancer, stay strong and positive and you'll be fine!! I have been wanting to build my cage on my 92 yota pickup since i bought it!!! You've really got me hyped about getting my cage fabricated as soon as i can!!! Just not enough fundage yet though..... about how much $$$ have you spent so far??? i am starting up my automotive technology classes in january and hopefully i will be able to get enough metal rounded up by the end of the quarter!!! Keep up the good work!!!

I did not spend much money on this cage because I got an incredible deal on the tubing through a friend. One of these days I'll go back and figure out how much tube I used. That's part of the nice thing with Bend Tech is you can get the exact amount you need.

UPDATE

Chemo has me damn near wiped out lately so I haven't worked at all on finishing up the cage. Instead I've been focused on finishing school. After five years at Cal Poly, I finally graduated with my masters degree in mechanical engineering!



I got a lot of incredible grad gifts, including the autodarkening helmet above that my best friend in college got me. I practiced welding with it the other day and that hood-lifting habit is going to be great to kick.

The gift I got from my mom and stepdad is one I'm really excited about. Here are a few bits and pieces of it:







Marlin Crawler SAS kit with 4" USA springs. I wish I had the strength to work on installing it, but it's going to take some recovery time before that happens. I must say all the parts are top notch and in case you don't know the kit is one sale for Christmas (I think it's $1049 and you have to call to get that deal).

As far as the cage goes, I have been driving the truck around with it for some time now and I don't know why people would complain about daily driving with this. It makes a minimal amount of wind noise and hasn't added enough weight yet to tell the difference driving around town and on the freeway. Maybe my opinion will change after I add the rest of the tubing.

I have two more weeks of hard chemo, then I get a month off before going into radiation. Hopefully I will feel good enough to work a little on the truck during that time.

[TexJeff87]

Groovy! I know you have been waiting a LOOOOONG time to do an SAS.  Remember to have a plan for the rear.

Good luck....let us know if there is something we can do.

[Hottrod81]

Nice stuff Bandit.  When I used an auto darkening helmet it was hard to get used to at first, but they are awesome.  Much easier way to weld.  You got the cadillac of stuff for and SAS and for a good price.  Do you have any plans on what kind of locker you are going to put in the front?  I went with an E-locker and love it.

[6.72:1]

Nice! I just recently purchased Marlin's 5" SAS for a friend and they are definitely top-of-the-line on everything and even better on the customer service!