We decided to stick with 1 3/4" x .120 DOM steel tubing for the roll cage since it would match the bed cage, was plenty strong, and 4130 Chromoly is nearly twice the price. When all was said and done we had nearly 150 feet of tubing in the cab alone. As if building a roll cage isn't difficult enough we decided to reinstall all (or as much as we could) of the stock plastic trim back into the truck, along with carpet the stock dash, and rear door latches to retain the use of all four doors. The roll cage was mostly MIG welded with some of the gusseting being TIG'ed, and the whole thing is welded 360 degrees so that it will be race legal in most sanctioning bodies should we ever decide to race it. We finished the interior off with seating from Beard Seats in the form of a pair of Ultra Pro 2 suspension seats, a pair of padded Crow 5-point harnesses, and a Parker Pumper fresh air system to keep it cool and dust free inside the driver and co-drivers helmets when driving with the windows down or the windshield out. With working A/C and heat, a decent radio, and the comfy seats this truck is a blast to drive both off-road, and to the office.
So here we are, one year later, a lot wiser, and much poorer, but we have a pretty bitchin' truck to show for it. We hope you guys enjoyed reading about Project 4x4Link.
 After getting the C-pillar...  After getting the C-pillar in place we were able to work on the A-pillar and the roof bars. As you can see in this photo removing a lot of the stock sheet metal in the cab allowed us to tuck the cage up and out of the way leaving plenty of head room when completed. |  Once all the roof bars were...  Once all the roof bars were in place we lowered the roll cage down through the holes in the floor so that we could access the top of the cage to weld the tubes completely 360 degrees. Other methods include cutting holes in the roof or cutting the roof completely off. We don't care for body work so we went with the drop down method. |  When we finished welding the...  When we finished welding the roof bars we pushed the cage back up into place and began work on the b-pillar. |
 With the A-, B-, and C-pillars...  With the A-, B-, and C-pillars completed we were able to add the final gusseting and cross bars, rear door latches, reinstall most of the stock plastics, and start closing up the access holes we cut in the floor to mount the cage to the frame. |  Finally we constructed the...  Finally we constructed the seat mounts and added tabs to mount our 5-point harnesses. This was the last step and had to be done with the dash in and cage complete so that the seats could be mounted in the correct position. |  Notice anything different?...  Notice anything different? Six cans of spray paint later the cage has a new shine to it, no more dingy metal showing! We also added back in the carpet, rear window, windshield, two new fire extinguishers, and the Parker Pumper. We're cruising in style now! |
 With the A-, B-, and C-pillars...  With the A-, B-, and C-pillars completed we were able to add the final gusseting and cross bars, rear door latches, reinstall most of the stock plastics, and start closing up the access holes we cut in the floor to mount the cage to the frame. |  No project is ever really...  No project is ever really completed. If you remember back to Part 3 in the May 2008 issue you may remember the Sway-A-Way anti-sway bar that we have for this project to finish off the rear suspension. At the time we were waiting on a source for the arms and as when that story went to print we still had none. Well as I write this last installment I sit looking at a beautiful piece of machined mastery, a pair of steel collars from Sway-A-Way that we can build our own link arms off of. Utilizing the collars and two FK heim joints (one for the sway bar end and one for the axle end of the link) a friend of ours is drawing up some arms that we will later have laser cut and TIG welded. Stay tuned to our website, www.off-roadweb.com for the latest on this and much more as we continue to upgrade Project 4x4Link! |  So how does it work? Excellent!...  So how does it work? Excellent! With the new roll cage stiffening the chassis, the Dixon Brothers Racing kit handling the front, the Giant Motorsports WYI 4-Link handling the rear, and the Sway-A-Way shocks handling the dampening at all four corners we couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. All in all, this entire project was a smashing success! |