Long Travel BS Thread

Let’s not put words in mouths.

What I’m saying is, there comes a point where one needs to do some soul searching. Has your truck been progressing on a year to year basis? Has it been getting faster? Has it gotten to the point where you know, one mistake and you’re not saving it? If so, it’s probably time to start thinking about yourself, your passengers and your family.

The more weight you add the less safe they get. The faster you go, the less safe they get. Now take a frame and make it rigid. A body that’s held on with 4 bolts, with many floor structures already cracked out there.

A rigid frame with ZERO structure in the cab is a recipe to pancake yourself.

You can’t beat a cage pound for pound. You can’t beat a cage dollar for dollar. And you most certainly can’t beat one for safety. You want a fast off-road truck? Guess what. Cages are part of that. It doesn’t need to be some elaborate crazy thing to save your ass. IE, you don’t need to spend 30k to get it done.

You do you. But please at least see the consequences that could occur.

Besides, I’ll bet many guys can’t even comprehend the performance gain that comes from one. Something frame stiffening will never even hold a candle to.

I daily the shit out of a caged truck, road trip a caged truck. Overall, it’s a more comfortable ride than the wife’s basically stock mid travel truck. There’s some kind of misconception a caged truck can no longer be a daily. And that is a very false thought.

 

Everything you’re saying at face value is correct, but the problem is, not everyone will run a cage for one reason or another. Most of the time it’s $$$. If more cages made it on to daily trucks, then maybe the misconception that they’re only for fully built/race rigs would change. We ain’t there yet. And I don’t think the overlanding market is ready to be convinced they need cages haha

 

Overland crowd doesn’t necessarily need a cage if they are doing 90% slow moving stuff.

People spend stupid money on things like a frame brace that weighs double (or more) what the back half of my cage does for a lesser result and more money.

Then people will spend money on other bracing, which again will be heavier at a similar cost for lesser results.

If you’re going over 40mph in bigger stuff, you’re not going to come out well on the other end of a rollover.

The line of thinking doesn’t always make sense to me. But everyone is free to do as they wish.

 

Believe it or not my cage was one of my cheaper mods. TEdesign cage to my door was $2600. Maybe 500 hundred in misc stuff. Then a bunch of weekend work with my welder buddy and it was done. Though there is a guy local to me that would have welded the cage in for $1700. That’s just weld the cage. I still would have had to do all the cutting and tie ins and close out panels. That was all extra. So let’s say it’s was 6k. My front suspension was more than that. My rear was more than that. Hell my Ford9 was around that price. Granted, all the labor was on me and my buddy. But most of us do our own work anyways.

 

Dollar for dollar. Where would you put your cage in line for performance mods done?

Personally, a cage is my number 1.

 

Yup #1. Totally changed the feel of the truck off-road for the better. Where I’ve noticed it the most is in washboards. Whereas before with my current suspension it was still trying to rattle my teeth out it is now almost nonexistent. Literally night and day diff.

 

I remember the first few times out with mine realizing how far off my valving actually was too. You can easily pick out front/rear issues as they present from front to rear vs “what the hell is that”.

Completely transformed the driving experience. Plus, it’s a great feeling knowing if you mess up. You’re more than likely going to be just fine.

 

Effortless to unbolt and push out of the way. Best $50 I've spent during this whole project

 

I like it! I’ve enjoyed using my tractor to save my back these days. Best upgrade was getting pallet fork attachments for the bucket though. I use them a crapload.

 

You might be surprised how little the Alcan pack settles.

Mine MAY have settled a half inch months after install. They ride great and hold some weight surprisingly well though. Mine is only for 700lbs over stock and I'm way over that now (and pack is only a year old). Mine shipped with the red prothane bushings and they turned noisy quick. Going to try something else next time I have them out.

 

I actually did roll my 1st gen at 40mph (may have been faster, I was preoccupied with other things in the moment as you can imagine) and came out the other side. My sliders saved me I think, but I went down drivers side slider, bounced on the roof and door frame on drivers side, bounced on the same but pass side, slider, then back on wheels. Not a scratch on me but there would have been if the side of my cab roof folded more, which thankfully it didn't. I got lucky to hit a strong spot on both sides but I wouldn't count on it again. I still need to do a cage but I've slowed down my turning on dirt a bit these days until that day comes.

 

Yeah, I won't argue that cages aren't an incredibly important and beneficial safety improvement because they absolutely are and everyone who can make it happen absolutely should. But... lets not forget these are NHTSA street legal vehicles that regularly do 70mph+ on highways. You probably aren't going to instantly fold in a 40mph crash off road. YMMV if you're driving a 1st gen vs a 3rd gen.

It would be nice to have a cage for when some idiot t-bones you at 60mph too, though.
And for everything else there's driver moderation. But I also raced track without a cage for years so maybe I'm just an idiot.

 

I have not seen something similar with a Tacoma but if anybody not has seen the recovery of a Ram TRX on the YouTube channel Trail Matter it should give us some hope that NHTSA standards are actually pretty good. TRX Falls Off A Cliff (youtube.com)

 

As @Airdog pointed out. His TE cage was less than his rear suspension. I think that answers the question honestly. If you can afford the go fast parts you can afford the go fast safety.

Either way. When it comes to making a frame more rigid without making the cab more rigid, you’re mixing a solid recipe for bad shit. Why not have the best of all worlds in one shot?

 

These standards are entirely irrelevant the minute you start adding bumpers, sliders and burning parts on to your frame. Stock form sure, they are pretty safe. Add weight and mess with the overall engineering of the frame. That’s a different story entirely.

 

The fact that the cab and air bags protected this individuals life in a 200ft fall bouncing on his way down who cares about what happened to the rest of the truck.

 

The cab, believe it or not becomes compromised when the frame is modified. The frame and cab are all designed to work together to absorb impact. That’s been my entire point to this.

A rigid frame transmits energy to the next point. Aka the cab. That is why crumple zones exist.

 

2nd gen centric again, though. There isn’t any realistic TE equivalent for a 3rd gen.

Ed: but totally agree with the premise that the additional steel removing crumple zones on our trucks is a dangerous trend that folks that often consider. But in many ways a cage only makes that worse.

 

To the guys that have a cage: what precautions do you take driving it on the road? I would be worried about stories you hear of people hitting their heads on cages.

I guess with a proper harness you can only move your head so much, add a couple inches of clearance at the cage and you are good? Or wear a helmet when driving? Also how tall are you and how is the clearance?

 

I do exactly as I did without a cage. It actually has more head room with the cage. Im a short fuck at 5’ 8 though. I use my stock seatbelts on the road and harnesses off road. I’m also old, angry and don’t give a fuck what other peoples opinions are about whether you’re going to bounce your head off the tubes. That’s my problem when if/when it happens.
In reality the best thing about the cage is how it makes the truck perform so much better offroad it’s ridiculous. The shakes, the twisting, the vibrations from a flimsy ass frame are all gone. You can literally feel how much better your suspension is working. To me the safety aspect is just a bonus.