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TJ Trail Cage from Poison Spyder Customs! |
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Project Double-Duty will be a very capable off-road machine, and since the factory roll cage doesn't provide much protection, we had to beef up our roll cage. We recently became a Poison Spyder Customs dealer because the quality, fit and price of their products is excellent. We opted for the new TJ Trail Cage for our Jeep. It is a weld in cage and offers much more protection at a surprisingly affordable price. Poison Spyder TJ Trail Cage comes disassembled. Kit components are constructed from 1.75" .125 wall DOM, all plates and gussets are 3/16" laser plate. The trail cage is an eight piece set that utilizes the factory cage as a platform. The kit comes with two dash to floor supports, two upper pillars that weld to the factory windshield bars, a dash and upper windshield bar, and two center spreaders that can be located in several positions. As shown at left, the front pillar mount does not intrude into the interior or dash. Cage is secured at the windshield, front gusseted pillar, factory mounts on the door jam and to the floor through the forward drain hole, providing solid strength from the top of the windshield to the floor. We really like this cage! The 2 upper pillars are forward and don't obstruct vision like some thru the dash cages, yet they don't intrude into the dash. While some cages bolt to the cowl area, and some bolt to to the floor, the PSC Trail cage mounts to BOTH areas, making for a very strong, rigid cage. There is no obstruction of the air vents or speakers as with some kits on the market today. |
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Poison Spyder TJ Trail Cage- only $289.00! |
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Follow along as we install our new Trail Cage... |
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Step1 was to weld
as much of the new cage as possible while still in the jeep. This prevents
the cage from warping. We then removed the entire cage and finished
welding the last few areas outside of the jeep.
The white section and the black bars that go over the doors are the factory pieces. Everything else is new. We fully welded the factory cage wherever it was bolted together. We also added a rear spreader bar and diagonals, as well as the gusset tubes, grab handles and a CB mounting plate. These were not included in the PSC kit, but we liked the idea, so we did it! The cage then needed to be stripped. We needed to remove the factory paint, some stubborn factory sealant goop, the DOM tubing mill finish and some surface rust that had begun to appear. We'll be powder coating our cage, and to TOTALLY strip it down by hand would be a nightmare, so we loaded up our new cage and headed over to Kansas Dry Stripping in Derby, Kansas. (More of our cage install below...)
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If you need a part stripped for paint,
powder-coating, bedlining or whatever- contact Terry or Ryan at KDS. They
use aluminum oxide, plastic and other blasting media to insure a clean,
depainted surface, without warping or pitting. You can ship the item(s) to
them for stripping, and they will ship them back to you promptly.
Turnaround times are quick and prices are reasonable!
We've known Terry Scroggin and his son Ryan at Kansas Dry Stripping for years. They do quality work. When it comes to de-painting almost any surface, they are who we call. These guys have been into all sorts of cool automotive projects for many years. Both Terry and Ryan owned a pair of clean looking early Ford broncos at one time. Maybe the jeep thing is next- huh guys? Contact Kansas Dry Stripping at: 316-788-8923 E-mail: sales@ksdrystripping.com |
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Click on the pics below to see more of the KDS facility... |
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Here's our cage after KDS
finished with the stripping process. The bare metal is free from all
paint, rust and contaminants, and has a satiny gray finish that is perfect
for painting or powder coating. Even if we'd spent hours sanding, we
could've never made it look this nice. (If you're painting a part, you
don't have to strip it this thoroughly, but it sure is nice! For
powdercoating, you do...)
Our thanks to Terry, Ryan and the crew at Kansas Dry Stripping for doing a great job! Stay tuned as we head over to ProCoaters in Augusta, Kansas to have our cage powder coated...
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Need a part powder coated? Call Gavin at Pro Coaters, Inc in Augusta, Kansas. Pro Coaters does top notch powder coating on just about anything-Large or Small. Individuals and companies ship items to them from around the USA! Contact PRO COATERS at: (316)775-9292 914 Industrial Rd. - Augusta, KS. - 67010 |
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Follow along as our PSC Trail Cage gets the full powder-Coating treatment at PRO COATERS... Click on the pics below to enlarge... |
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| First, our cage got the phosphate wash in this huge booth. | Here is one of MANY different color charts available through PRO COATERS. They can match almost any color, with different textures and effects available. | Once the cage is fully prepped, it is suspended from this huge rolling rack. It will stay on this rack for the duration of the process. | The coating process begins. The powder is applied with specialized spray equipment. An electrical lead is attached to the cage which causes the powder to be drawn to the cage. |
No part is missed... |
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| Here's our cage freshly sprayed and ready for the oven. The unbaked finish is dull looking. | Next, it's into the oven. Gavin baked our cage for part of the usual time required, so it wouldn't be fully cured yet. | Here's our partially baked cage. The finish is much brighter now. We opted for a bright, metallic silver color. | Next, Gavin shot on a coat of clear for extra protection from UV light and scratches. Ready for the oven again... | We also had our custom spare tire mounting brackets done at the same time. |
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the finished cage after the required baking time to fully cure. IT LOOKS
SWEET!!!
The powder coat finish is super durable and will keep our cage looking sweet for years to come- or until we bang it up on the trail... BIG THANKS to Gavin and the crew at PRO COATERS! |
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| Stay tuned- We'll install our cage in our project Jeep soon! |
