Do it. Exo's are sexy on XJ's. It's not like it has to be an all out crazy jungle-gym either.

The one on the XJ Petersen's built a while back is pretty simple, clean and good looking.

 

I mean I like exo's but I just think they aren't very easy on the eyes. That's the way to go for sure but I haven't seen a design that I like yet.

 

sooo...make your own!! customize it, make it go into a roof rack and your front and rear bumpers!! THAT WOULD BE SICK!!!

 

well let me know on them axles cause i would still give you some cash for them ha

 

Easy on the eyes? We're playing with Jeeps here, not barbies!!!! I'm just raggin' ya man. If you rolled with an interior cage, it would probably mutilate the sheet metal and then you would have a chop top or a section to perform.

 

Exactly! Don't you get it... fab up a hideous exo and spend the first week you own it waxing the jeep while the HOA is mowing his lawn, pruning hedges, making sure everyone's garbage can is in not one minute after the specified time in the contract, etc.

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LOL funny comments guys. I still haven't decided which way I'm going to go yet. I am installing the concrete anchors tomorrow or Sunday and setting up my new tube bender though. The 1.5" .120 DOM tubing arrived for those three days ago... so they'll be getting started soon. I still have to figure out what kind of cage internal or exo to do yet. Hmmmmmmm

 

EXO!!!! i think it looks badass , plus! you can show off to everyone that looks at it, and it saves your xj's body. interior cages dont save your body AND its harer for other people to see them!

 

I say go with the internal cage. Then armor your rockers and quarters. Maybe a bad *** roof rack. Other than that it can get ugly real quick. There is a fine line between okay and FUGLY, and it is drawn with an EXO. Not that that is what I was planning on doing or anything.

 

Totally disagree exo is the best way to go for a non dd

 

Well I got the whole rear all buttoned up today. Locker cable is ran into the cab, the shifter for the rear Ox locker is installed now. I made a plate to sit over top the existing cup holder that the shifters will bolt to.

I've removed the flip up lip of the console and I'm going to to make that area the "new" cup holders with larger diameter openings to hold something larger than a Pepsi can.

Here's the flat piece of steel that I started out with.



I used a cardboard pizza box lid to make my template so that I could transfer it to the steel. Then I used the plasma cutter to cut out the general shape that I traced, leaving about an 1/8 of in all the way around where I could then grind down smooth to get the desired curves and lines.



Here's the template cut out of cardboard.



Here is how I did the transfer... using a good ol' Sharpie.



I used a small piece of angle iron clamped down on both sides as a guide for the straight lines of the plate that I cut out. This was so I didn't have to worry about getting the lines perfectly straight with the grinder. They came out as if they were laser cut!





Once I was satified with the shape of the plate, I primed it with two coats of primer.



The I painted it with two coats of black rattlecan paint that matches the rock sliders, etc. I drilled four 1/4 inch holes and mounted it up with some 1/4 nuts and bolts to the existing console.

Then I drilled out the console, the floor next to the airbag module and then routed the cable into the cab. I put the ox locker shifter together and here's the finished product.

I still have one more cable to run for the front and I'm going to stagger the shifters with the front one more forward so I know which one is the front locker and which one is the rear locker.

 

That's some nice work man!!! Looks great!

 

I have one rig with an interanal cage (the turd) and one rig with an exo cAGE (PONG) I totally recommend the internal, especially since you are using 1.5. I bent my door bar on Pong and it was 1.75x.250 It was kinda a hard flop.. but all the same. It did what it was suppose to. If you roll even with an exo.. depending on how you built it.. you will be replacing tubing.. better to cut sheetmetal off then replace tubing.

 

I just read the whole post.. I have issues with my HOA as well. Finally after they started contacting my wife at where she works (loocal pharmacy) I called the county on myself.. and they said I was legit by county ordinance ( nothing like me was put into the covenants). So IO then proceeded to tell them all to kiss my lilly white butt. I havent had a problem since.

I figure they would have figured out that I was a red neck when they said something about the swampers on the corner of my garage.. I promptly put them in the front with flower pots in them If it wasnt for my wife.. they would stil be out there too.

 

If I do an internal cage, I'm doing it 1.75 DOM. I'm only doing the tube fenders in 1.5". I'm still on the fence about which way to go. I have time to decide though, I guess.