1975 CJ5 -- Bad Roll Cage Placement

Hello all,

After many years of wanting a Jeep and settling for something else I finally got one. Just purchased a 1975 CJ5. Previous owner said it was a Levi edition. Has the 6cyl, 4 speed transmission with granny 1st.

Seems to be in decent shape, very little rust and so seems to drive pretty good. I have plenty of ideas for things to do but the first is get some idea of fixing the front roll cage bar. It is in the most stupid place. If a CJ5 was not small enough they decided to mount it right where your feet need to go to get in. Makes it a B##ch to get in!

Once in it is quite comfortable, except these aftermarket seats seem to sit high..

Any suggestion on changing this cage a round. How are others jeeps setup?

Thanks...

Brent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15937296@N07/1722121961 <--- picture of cage

 

You could bend the bottom tube coming down right below the dash and bring it under the dash onto the sloped part of the floorboard. Might have to relocate ebrake and attach new foot plate to bottom of tube to match. It's a 5. No place for anything.

If you find a bender to do that, have him make a new front seat support that goes from the door sill back over to the floor like the factory one. Loose the arch up and lower the tab. Should be able to loose 2" or so. Then shim it to get the right angle front to back.

Congrats and good luck!

 

Your '75 probably has the 4:1 first gear, not 6.32:1 like the later models.

 

A tilt column could also aid in entry/exit. There's a company called Rock Hard Parts that sells a cage that ties into the A pillar instead of going to the floor. I think they also have a kit that you can go through the dash and on to the floor. My Jeep had a cage like that before we rebuilt it. Dad didn't like it so he cut it off. Wish he would not have.

High5

 

After falling out of my jeep head first once because my feet got stuck in the roll bar when I tried to get out in a hurry, I decided to fix it.

This is much better.

 

You need your seats to sit a little flatter also. I also agree with the bending of the tube.



Here is my other one, the seats are much smaller and sit further back so it isn't as bad. Also the bar sits almost tight against the dash.

 

Also looks like the tube is wrapped in padding, might be able to take that off to make it smaller.

 

Mine is about where th OP's is, maybe a tad bit further forward. The PO was also alot shorter and skinnier than I. If you dont wanna go throught he trouble of bending it, taring off the padding help me out alot. Though after a while I learned how to get around it. It also took me breaking my drivers seat though.

Roll bar postion(<----link)

Broken seat and torn padding, actually more comfy to me.(<---link) Seeing that I am 6'2" even all the way back I was to close to the wheel.

 

Those are some great ideas. I need to find a good welder/fabricator here in Southern California and get the bottom front bars bent in first. Then I will mess with the seats.

How hard is putting a tilt steering column in, what column is a good swap.


thanks,

brent

 

WHat part of Southern Cali. I will be moving to Point Mugu at the begining of the month. Iffin you dont mind me asking.

 

Im in Orange County.


brent

 

Brent,

You shouldn't have any issues finding someone in OC to help you out. You can try going to McKenzie's Off-Road on Orangethorpe in Anaheim and I'm sure they can point you to dozens of fab guys. Or you can try Perkio on the board here as he loves to show off in his garage. He is in the Corona area I think.

I'd help but I don't have a bender.

Godd luck and welcome to the sickeness!

 

Thanks,

I'll have to try McKenzie's. I stoped by T&J Performance Shop, impressive shop but seemed a little pricey. Wanted $2200-3000 to fabricate a new roll cage and integrate seat mounts to cage. :?

brent

 

What were they gonna do, gold plate it?

 

Both of mine are built from front hoop kits. There are quite a few available. The issue where I am at is shipping costs. I will admit that a fully fabricated cage will probably fare a lot better in a 200 MPH crash into a wall at talladega, but I think mine will do fine in a typical wheeling rollover. Check 4WD hardware, that is where the front hoop kit for my 74 came from. Then it is just a matter of finding someone on the board with a welder that is willing to help. It can be done in an afternoon with great results. I found that I wanted to add some extra bars on mine so I picked up an old scrap roll bar out of a CJ and cut it up for the tube. I also used plain ole sched 40 for the seat mounts. I am sure it is plenty strong for what I used it for. Take a look here and you can see exactly how mine was put together. I have some pictures in there that show the height of the seats. My seats are mounted so the seating surface is almost flat. I like them a lot better flat than leaned back. The seats in my 77 used to lean back like yours and I have flattened them out also. To get my seat placement I stacked boards up under the seat until I found a position that I liked. Working from that position I built the seat mounts. I probably spent a total of 3 or 4 full days on mine. Probably wouldn't have taken so long had I not worked with scrap tube. I spent a lot of time sanding old paint. My seats are very similar to yours only a tad bigger. Because of the size of my seats it was difficult to find a position that was a good compromise between height and distance. My seats sit against the tub in the back. I think it is boyink that has the pictures of notching the wheel well to make extra room to move the seats further back. Don't be afraid to ask the folks on the board for help. Many will help as long as you provide refreshments. I am really happy with how my cage, roll bar, or sport hoop or whatever you want to call it turned out. I will gladly get any measurements you would like. I got a lot of my ideas from another person and I am more than happy to pass them on.


DanStew, I really like the way you mounted yours to the dash like that. I may have to copy that idea on my 77. Also doing the bar on the back side like you spoke of.


Chris

 

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?jeep-sid=219&plID=0&partID=8816

front hoop kit...

 

Before we got our bender at the shop, this is the front hoop I bought. They sell on ebay and you can get it to your door for less then $180 if you wait.

http://completeoffroad.com/wsm/i-1438_front_12_cage_kit_cj5_cj7-free_shipping.html