Started on my bedcage Wednesday and spent most of the time getting correct angles and mounting points for the shocks. Also spent a good amount of time making the bends, well you would too if you were using the Harbor Freight special. Everything is coming together pretty good and I will most likely finish the project once I wake up tomorrow morning and get to work. Putting in some 14" Bilstein 7100's to replace the 5100's I have in now. The first picture is where I got my idea from and the next ones after are what I have done.

 

Awesome. Looking forward to the finish product.

 

looks good, but how do you get your bed off? or is it bolt on?

 

i would hope that its bolt on, idk how he could get under there to weld all that

 

I thought they were talking about taking the bed off not the cage.... got confused....

 

the question is not that the bed is bolt on, but the cage



If the cage is welded straight to the frame, there's no way to take the bed off in the future

 

Yeah how can you take the bed off in the future?

 

The cage is 100% bolt on. I'm at school right now but when I get home I'll take some pics of what I did this morning. I am about 80% done. I have the shocks mounted up but still have to weld in small cross bars for support. Night and day difference with the shocks compared to the 5100's that were on before. Seems like the rear end rolls over bumps and absorbs the hit rather than hop.

 

this is sweet! Nice work, i remember when you first started welding and made your bumper. Youve come a long way in your fab work!

 

thats some nice work

buttt why is the first pic "your idea" bolted to the bed floor? thats no where near strong enough.

 

maybe its bolted through the bed to the frame?

 

maybe theres brackets under the box connecting to the frame?

 

Are you using a harbor freight bender?

 

Ok.... the bed cage is 100% bolt on and yes it is bolted to the FRAME and not the bed. I will take better pictures tomorrow with an actual camera but here are a few I just took. It will be 100% done probably on Tuesday so I will have pics of the finished product then. And yes I did use the Harbor Freight bender to make my bed cage. I also used it to make my bumper. The thing works good if you take your time and use it correctly. I think I am going to get one of those rubber mats for the bed and cut holes for the bed cage to make it look cleaner. I want to cover the big cuts I made in the bed. Tell me what you guys think.

 

Looks great! Nice work, I second the bed mat.

 

SICKKKK
very nice work man.. I'm sold on the HF bender

the bolts are still pretty small, they may only be shocks but the mounts still take quite a beating, more beating than a bed should take.

 

in my opinion make some gussets that connect the two shock tabs together going underneath the tubing kinda like a "u" shape if that makes sense

 

thats siiiick, but why did you cut the wholes in the bed so big?

 

Great work. Can't wait to see how it performs.

 

Yeah that was my bad. I messed up on the first cut. I measured how far I had to go and I got my numbers mixed up a little. It's ok because I'm going to have all the holes covered except for the ones in the wheel well.

 

simple solution. ive been wanting a bed cage. how much smoother is your ride now?

 

i saw a bolt on bed cage for rangers advertised in petersens 4 wheel & offroad. seems to me it bolted on using the bed mounting bolts...

i'll see if i can find it...

 

It makes the rear end roll over and absorb bumps rather than hopping. And on top of that I have about 8 more inches of travel than before.


Here are some pics I just took of where I'm going to mount my tires. I need to get another rim for my 2nd spare but this is how it is going to be set up. Next week I will have everything 100% done with paint and everything.

 

How are the shocks mounted to the axle? Got any pics from underneath?

 

Are you just going to rattle can paint or bed liner it? Looks great though, I don't have the guts to cut some holes in my bed for a bed cage. BADA$$ Desert Runner!