'84 Dodge Rampage Build Thread

[gkabbt]

Eureka.....Found the WGB air bag shock pic. Was not on my PC but on my laptop (which I rarely use).



I think I remember that this was an early iteration of Mike's truck and he did his axle flip after this pic was taken.

You could mount them kinda like Mike did. If there is room, attach one to the front and one to the rear crossmembers.



I'm leaning heavily on doing something similiar.

As I said yesterday, just a thought.

Gregg

[SteveM]

The air ride bag/shocks look good.  And Don, thanks for the heads-up on the early '70's pickup shocks.

Steve.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Speedway has a rather wacky selection of shocks of varying sizes and lengths.  These are similar to what I wound up using on my MGB conversion when I got rid of the lever shocks out back -

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Pro-Small-Body-Steel-Shock-5-Inch-Stroke-Comp-1-Reb-1,851.html

[SteveM]

Those shocks look like they might have some promise, I need to do a little more research on the correct length.

In the meantime, I got the rear bars welded into the cage and bed...









I set the roof back on.



I'm looking for some input on whether or not these "down" bars need to be gusseted to the main hoop.  If I need to gusset them, it's going to be a bit of a PITA to work out the intersection of the gusseted area with the back window.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve.

[wlarryglick]

Steve,

I will suggest adding an "X" brace to the "down" bars. This would add alot of strength and eliminate(?) the need for having gussets at the top and/or the bottom.

Larry in Scottsdale, AZ

[Peter Jack]

Really nice job Steve. I like the straight bars as opposed to curved. I always feel that the curves just preset the failure points.

The whole thing looks really good with the roof on.

Pete

[Rex Schimmer]

Steve,
What a nice job!! I agree with Larry you need to either add a diagonal or even better and "X" to the rear bars for increase torsional stiffness.

Rex

[SteveM]

My initial concern was whether it needed to be gusseted to the main hoop in order to comply with the rulebook.

[tauruck]

"X" for sure. It's coming along nicely Steve. That is some really neat welding, I really like the work. 

[tauruck]

Hey Steve, I'm blue in the face here from holding my breath. Where are the pics brother?.

[SteveM]

...One piece at a time.  I got two of the "plate" style gussets welded from the down bars to the main hoop, and one of the bars that will form the X has been fitted and tacked.

The other 2 bars, which will form the other leg of the X, will be cut this afternoon, with the goal of having the complete X welded by tomorrow night.



Steve.

[Captthundarr]

Steve, I will never use the word overkill when it comes to safety, It looks like the gussets may cause problems down the road. Moving the mounting points of the X braces closer to the attachment points for the down bars would increas the stiffness and ease the install of the back "glass"

[lsrjunkie]

I'd have to agree with Capt. Cage is awesome though. Looks like your roof is going to be a lot easier to put back on than mine is! Looking good Steve. Keep it up! 

[tauruck]

Nice work Steve. I hope I never rushed you?. Fitting the rear window on a pickup is a real lousy job. Do your rules exclude a clevis setup on attaching the rear braces?.

[SteveM]

I definitely gave the ease of "glass" installation consideration, but really couldn't come up with a good, clean solution.  My plan with these gussets is to have no "glass" above the gussets.  There will just be a sheet-metal filler piece which will reside between the top surface of the flat gusset and the window mounting flange.  On the underside of the gusset, I plan to make another small flange that the rear glass will be attached to by rivets and/or adhesive.

If I had the opportunity to do the whole cage again, I would probably move the main hoop forward a few inches, to allow for gusset clearance inside the passenger compartment.  However, at this point, I think I'm going to have to live with the difficulty of installing the rear glass.

In terms of the position of the X brace, I still have the ability to move it "uphill" or "downhill".  It is only tacked in place.  I know what you mean about giving the cage the maximum amount of support.  Currently, there is about 3" of tubing from the top of the X brace to the bottom of the plate gusset, and about 10" on the bottom side.  The X bars are set up to be at 45 degrees relative to the down bars.


Steve.