Would like some fabricating ideas.

[William]

When I rolled my jeep, my sound bar was toasted. I rescued the speakers, light most importantly, the wiring.

The new roll cage has stock proportions in the area where the sound bar would go, with the exception of a bar directly down the center.

So, a stock sound bar is out of the question. Aside from making something out of wood (which I don't want to do), I'm kind of at a loss for how to make something. I looked into getting aluminum boxes made, and they are VERY costly for bending, etc.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Also, any sources on aluminum box tubing, in say a 2" by 3" configuration?

[Jeff Weston]

It'd probably be spendy, but you could get the speaker/light pods that the new '03 TJ's come with. Other than that, they have those poly speaker boxes which go at the base of the rollbar.

[William]

I thought of those Jeff, but I'm wondering if they'd bolt to an older cage, and would work. The newer roll bars have different padding.

I've heard that the poly insert ones suck.. have you ever heard any of them?

[Jerry Bransford]

How about some smallish indoor-outdoor speakers bolted to your cage? They're already weatherproof and in black, wouldn't look bad at all.

[BlueJeeper]

Originally posted by William
I thought of those Jeff, but I'm wondering if they'd bolt to an older cage, and would work. The newer roll bars have different padding.

http://coloradooffroad.org/cage.htm

Not my Jeep, but there is an example for you with a cage minus padding and the 2003 pods.

[William]

Jerry,

That's an idea. But the mounting of them becomes an issue. I don't think the brackettes for those would hold up under the bounce of the jeep. I'll have to look at some of those.

Jeff and Rick,

Now that I've seen how they work, I'll have to really consider them. Should would solve the problem to a T. I wonder the cost?

[sethmark]

check these out

[Daless2]

Hello again William,

Have you ever done any wok with fiberglass? Trust me, it is not difficult at all.

One thing you could do is build your soundbar/speaker box out of closed cell foam. Perhaps 3/8-inch or 1/2 inch in thickness. Build it full scale so it fits perfectly and it is exactly what you want. Foam is obviously very easy to work with.

Then cover it in fiberglass.

I have built many things over the years using this method. And they have built boats for years doing this.

You might give it some thought.

Frank

[DanB98TJ]

Originally posted by sethmark
check these out

$469 a pair???? Do they at least kiss you first?

[William]

Originally posted by sethmark
check these out

Pretty nice, but only slightly out of my ideal price range.

Those cost as much as new steering does!

[William]

Frank,

I'm going to think that over, I've never actually worked with fiberglass, but I'll have to look into. Are there anyweb sites?

I think I'm going to go the local sand rail shops too. They have tons of stuff that's pipe mountable, perhaps they have something of that nature.

[Daless2]

Originally posted by William
Frank,

I'm going to think that over, I've never actually worked with fiberglass, but I'll have to look into. Are there anyweb sites?

William,

Here are three sites which have some good fiberglass "how to" info on them.

http://www.rqriley.com/frp-foam.html

http://www.fibreglast.com/

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/


Now that my brain has gone in gear I remembered you live in the Fiberglass Boat Capital of the world!

You might want to take a ride down to the Marina and visit a Boat repair shop. I am sure you could get any supplies there and pick a few brains for what you may want to do.

Good luck

Frank

[TJRON]

How about cutting a section out of the stock sound bar to accept the center roll bar. Move the light over to one side or the other. Piece of cake!

Heck, I'll even sell you a complete sound bar for only $100. Cheaper if you want one already bent up a little bit but still useable.

[HIGLET]

William

Just today I was at a metal supply store up here, Industrial Metal Supply to be exact. They sell thin wall metal channel, all different sizes, width and height. It would be simple enough to take that and some thin flat stock, or another peice of channel and rivet or weld the top on. If you go to a huge metal supply store you will see they have really pretty close to what you need. Sure aluminum is a bit lighter, but the steel wall can be really thin as well and alot cheaper.

I think TJRons suggestion of an old one with a modified center area would be the easiest, though

Don't go spending a fortune on getting a bunch of aluminum bent, it's not worth it.

[TJRON]

I've got lots of 1/8" 2"x5" I could get to you. I could cut it to your dimensions and even weld something up if you tell me what to do. Some one can bring it down after our AZ trip.

I've also got lots of 3/16" 3"x4". That's kind of heavy but maybe not if you don't use too much.

Every one wants a 30# sound bar, right?

[William]

Now I wish I hadn't chucked my old bent sound bar..

I'll go to a sheetmetal shop and check out what they have. I don't care about an off center light! Something is better than nothing!

[William]

Originally posted by HIGLET
Don't go spending a fortune on getting a bunch of aluminum bent, it's not worth it.

Saturday I was at California metals and picked up some box tubing, and was yaking at the guy there. They wan't $$$ for aluminum.

On the bright side I got some 2" by 3" 1/8 wall box tubing, and am in the process of making a ARB switch box that my CB can hang from. Should be pretty sweet.

But, I'm hampered by the lack of a dremel or rotozip. Whole lot of filing went on this weekend.