VX exoskeleton

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Originally Posted by Marlin

Sweet, I have earned the "classic" adjective. Yippeee!!!! Success at last.
As for the exo, that is why I was only looking at lower, I caught my cladding on some trees in Uwharrie, if I had lower bars, that would save me from that kind of stuff, but they would have to be tight and close. I don't know, just an idea we talked about. It would not be like my bumper, which is looking better now that I know I can bend the tubing. Just you wait and see, just you wait.

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I could see a lower treatment working out. One of the ideas I had was to replace the cladding with steel - tube and plate - as well as some sort of rubber or plastic. I would want to make it look like I had it bolted to the body at the cladding bolt locations by fishmouthing the main tubes that follow the original lines of the cladding to receive mounting tubes about 1.5" long with recessed bolts in them. I also figured if I were going to do it I would run the tubes along the A-pillar and then have them die into the fender so that the fender would still be exposed and beautiful (mostly unprotected tho). Attachment is an issue however. Cages are usually isolated from the body and frame with a flexible joint to prevent cracking during twist. In the end, after I put that much thought into it, I decided it would be too much work, too much weight, and would never be used on my VX anyway. So I bought another big Jeep instead!

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Originally Posted by Ldub

This may be helpful in the idea dept...:_confused

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/sh.../500/ppuser/36

Also, if you've got a miter box saw that can cut precise angles, I've found that 1 1/4" pine handrail is mighty handy for mocking up prototype pieces, for easier visualization.

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That would be Grandpa Bob in the Green Dragon out on the Rubicon...still the only VX that I know of that has completed that trail. 3 days to go 12 miles. GB said he felt like someone had punched him in the ribs for 3 days when he was done! And his VX was beat to hell...almost all of the cladding had been ripped off the VX.

PVC tubing is cheap and works good for mock ups of cages also (had to get back on topic!). With a little heat you can even make slight bends in it.

chris- ive been thinking about a half exo for a while now... not only to keep my cladding on when on trails, but to keep idiots from clipping my car in a parking lot....
ill draw something up on my HORRIBLE 'microsoft paint' program that came on my computer and put it up... realistically i wont ever have the funding to do it, so i might as well offer the idea to you...