Custom Rampage Stadium Truck Rollcage Starting

[DemonRC]

Just finished a chromoly cage to Rampage proof my son's Slash. Here are some pictures. I think it turned out well. Anyways, I'm gonna to start one up for the XT/XB in a few weeks. I doubt I'd run it but it'd be a fun project and let me practice my welding. I'm calculating it'd take 15 feet of tubing and weigh in just over 3.25 pounds if I use 5/16" tubing instead of 3/8".


Anyways, does anybody got any suggestions? I was thinking about adding a spare tire mount but that might make the CG too dam high if you stuck a XT/MT wheel back there. A second bar under the front bumper would allow Ramtech lights to be mounted. Might be cool. This might be a pretty cool body replacement with some lexan panels.

 

[stalker77]

Thats a good looking cage. I think some panels would look awesome on there. Nice Job!

 

[Obeast44]

Heck ya man, nice cage!

 

[cordy]

Look`s TITE.Very nice.Bottom line you could allways make a living building cages.

 

[ImminentFailure]

sex bro. Love the boxed out rear end.

 

[DemonRC]

Thanks guys much appreciated.

I think I'm gonna pass on the 3/8" for the XB/XT build. It's more than enough for a heavy TT so I'm gonna try 1/4" on the XB/XT. Before I painted it I put it on the garage floor and put all 250 lbs I had on it's roof. It wouldn't budge a MM. I'll do the main side beams that connect the front end to the rear end in 3/8 and the rest in 1/4 with a little more support beams hear and there.

 

[ImminentFailure]

dibs on the first per the PM a while back!

 

[DemonRC]

Ok here's what's completed over the weekend. I would've finished this weekend but my stupid Dewalt angle grinder failed on me after 7 years of abuse. I ended up doing what I always wanted to do which is to get a big ass compresser and go pure air tools. Turns out the Dewalt compresser I picked up was a lemon which threw me off one day. Then, I couldn't find a dam Mandrel for the cutoff wheels for use on the dam die grinder. Finally found one today at Ace Hardware which doesn't even sell air tools. Anyways, I got a little work done. I still need to put in the lower front bumper. I still have some 1/4" supports I have to put in along with the front window framing and lastly the boxed rear end like what's on the Slash cage. Anyways, here's the pics. I wanted a long look like the 5T shell but with a lower sleeker roofline. It's somewhat of a mix between a 5T and a MCD cheetah chop top but not as sharp angled as that Cheetah cab.I'm gonna weld in 1" rings for headlights to give it a old school retro look. I forgot I have a brand new set of Ramtech 5B lights in my box. I'm gonna mount those suckers behind the rings on the front end. With the long drawn out hood and squared front end it's gonna look like a freaking old school Cuda on roids.













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[countstevula]

nice cage....how many rum and cokes (in the picture) did it take?

 

[DemonRC]

Well I went through a 3 liter of Coke and about a quart of good ole black label Jack on this one.

P.S. If the weld gets ugly you can always blame it on the Jack.

 

[Obeast44]

Looks badass man! If it is anything like the cage that was on your TT, its plenty strong!

 

[rob64n]

looks great, now put it on the xb so we can see it,lol

 

[DemonRC]

looks great, now put it on the xb so we can see it,lol

I slapped it on as level as I can with some rulers for support. Here's some pics with the boxed rear end finished, front window framed. To finish I still need to do some light tressel work between the main hood beams and the fender wells to beef up the front end. Then, add in the hood supports to strengthen the front end. Other than that I just need to add the body mount supports in and then take it off the flux core, which I used for tacking, and change out to the MIG for finishing. It doesn't look too bad with the buggy tires. Some real MT tires would look pretty nice.P.S. I have to much time in this to sell it. It'd cost too dam much. I might raffle it off to one of the first dozen Rampage belt drive/2 speed buyers.















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[rob64n]

I need my cage back, please, lmao..........................

 

[Guest]

Looks Good! Jack can be a great assistant. The Captain help me on many projects lol. You said 3+ lbs. for the moly tube. Have ya tried aluminum yet? I'm not sure on the weight savings. I've been looking for a tig so I can try to make an aluminum one. I need practice on my tiging. I would love to make one out of titanium but my welding skills currently do justify the $50/ft for 3/8titanium tubing. The cages look great! I can't wait to build one. Do you tig yours?

 

[DemonRC]

I can't really justify the cost on a TIG... yet. I've made one aluminum cage outta 3/8" thickwalled aluminum and it just didn't hold up on the TT. There's one budget TIG I've looked at that was recommended by a welder I know. He's hard core Miller so I was suprised he recommended this company called Everlast. They have a combo stick/TIG/plasma cutter for around $900. I checked some welding forums and alot of guys were saying it's worth the money. I may pick on up just to play around with. I have a feeling I'll end up spending all of my time cutting up scrap crap with the plasma just to destroy something LOL.

If there were a universal formula to sum me up it would be:

Power tool that shoots flames + alcoholic beverage + shit eatin grin = me

 

[IVIayheIVI]

Hello,

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I'm looking for a cage for my Rampage XT. This cage looks awesome! I see you said it took a lot of time and so the cost would be too high to make and sell these, but I'm hoping I can get a pointer or two on where I can find something similar. It doesn't have to be chromoly, just something to protect the shock towers if it rolls over and also to help protect the frame from bending. I'm pretty rough on my r/c's admittedly. I don't have the body anymore and would rather have a cage anyway.

Does anyone have a lead on where I can find one?

Thanks everyone!