94 GMC Yukon Custom Problems

I've been working on a 350 4WD Convertible Yukon.  It took a year to find someone to custom a roll cage.  Every tire place I go won't do lifts and "We only recommend stock".  Trying to order a bikini top, suspension, roll bar pads, anything has not been fun.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a site for custom accessories and anyone in the South Tampa area that won't tell me struts and stock tires are all I can do?

pic under "Bradenton Beach Buggy" or "1994 GMC Yukon XL 1500 - starowesky" if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks  

well then your looking in the wrong places......go to an offroad fab shop and they will do whatever you tell them to do to your truck as long as you provide the $........finding  a suspension lift for your truck shouldn' t be a problem thought just look online and youl find more than you wanted to know  
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Removing the top will weaken the body a lot because its presence stiffens the body a good bit. I would not do this and use truck off road with out stiffening body a lot. (and that is not adding a roll bar)  

Wow, I heard you guys got nasty but I wanted to see for myself.
1. I'm trying to find a custom fab shop.  That is why I asked if anyone knew of any in my area.
2. I have been looking online and am having problems finding parts for custom applications.
3. Of course removing the top will weaken the frame.  I wasn't asking permission.  The cage has been welded to the frame for better strength.

Am I missing something?  I asked for suggestions on sites, locations and what other guys were doing for their custom jobs and I get 1 "look online" and 1 "I would not do this".  Where's the love?  Where's the professionalism?

I have a custom truck I am looking to add a slight lift and am looking for custom accessories.  If anyone knows of a website or any custom shope please let me know  

The precursor to Yukon was a full sized blazer which was in effect built on a shortened truck frame. Tahoe is a whole new animal and more of a 4x4 car than a truck. The point is I do not think you are going to find my web support for this mod as it will take a lot of fabbing to stiffen body (not just frame)to keep it square and doors closing correctly with top removed and net result is going to be a vehicle that weighs more than stock and has a higher CG too. If you plan to drive this for show and no off road you can forgo a lot of stiffening but if you plan to plan with it to you would do better to consider a older blazer as it would take less work and yield a stronger platform. This is not to say you cannot do what you want to do but rather that you are in a bit of virgin territory here and you are going to have to do a lot of "rolling your own" here.  

starowesky:
Wow, I heard you guys got nasty but I wanted to see for myself.
1. I'm trying to find a custom fab shop.  That is why I asked if anyone knew of any in my area.
2. I have been looking online and am having problems finding parts for custom applications.
3. Of course removing the top will weaken the frame.  I wasn't asking permission.  The cage has been welded to the frame for better strength.

Am I missing something?  I asked for suggestions on sites, locations and what other guys were doing for their custom jobs and I get 1 "look online" and 1 "I would not do this".  Where's the love?  Where's the professionalism?

I have a custom truck I am looking to add a slight lift and am looking for custom accessories.  If anyone knows of a website or any custom shope please let me know

so your fiesty eh......read closer snoman said your gonna weeken your body not your frame...welding the rollcage to your frame is how is supposed to be done.....
i live so cal you want to know fab shops in so cal?? probaley not huh..... why don't you look in you yellow pages or something for a truck/ offroad center.....also your not gonna find "custom" accesories that you can buy off the shelf.....if its custom its gonna need to be custom made if its bolt on stuff....look at the jegs and summit racing catalogs, 4wheelparts.com, offroadunlimited, etc......jeez look in the magazine theres plenty of ads in there  
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Ride Profile: starowesky 1994 GMC Yukon XL 1500

http://rides.fourwheeler.com/ride/1017386/starowesky/1994/gmc/yukon-xl-1500/index.html

I've learned my lesson, I'll use a different forum.  

HISSSSS! scratch! .....he asked for it. y'all gave it to him.  

OK, after consideration I like to try again to better communicate what I’m trying to ask.
Let’s go on a few quick assumptions:
1.That we’re all pretty sharp, heck let’s even pretend I have 2 engineering degrees and I’ll pick up on what you’re saying fairly quickly
2.Let’s assume that since I put the tags in the original post (it said not to use html) that I referenced a picture
3.Let’s assume the custom work is already done and since it took a year to get someone to do the roll cage that it’s already done
4.Let’s assume I read the magazine (including the advertisements) which is what gave me the ideas to do the work
5.Let’s assume that when you do a Google search for “custom roll bar pads and covers” that you don’t get anything (or other similar searches)
6.Let’s assume since I talked to quite a few tire places that I adamantly searched (including yellow pages) for a 4x4 shop locally and couldn’t find anything other than a parts ordering house who didn’t know how to help but was very nice about it
7.Lastly let’s assume that I chopped a 94 Yukon that I don’t plan on entering any rock-crawling contests in Florida but would just like to do something a little different and a little cool

You guys deal with this stuff all the time, you apparently read a lot (even between 11pm and 6am in the morning)
• I can’t find a website that sells roll bar pads and covers (straight, T’s, Connectors, 45’s) that can be cut and modified for custom cages.  4wheelparts.com required a vehicle make and model and I could butcher maybe a couple JK Unlimited covers and will not respond to 2 inquiries.
• Any ideas where I can find out the width of the SmittyBuilt bikini’s before I purchase one for a vehicle I’m hoping may be the same width?
• Are there any websites or services of local 4x4 shops that maybe advertise their services to our market demographic?

I see custom rigs with custom roll cages in the magazine all the time.  How do other people deal with custom applications and are there any tricks maybe a certain year older Bronco matches my body width (top & pads) and my suspension matches the basic 94 GMC pick-ups.  I was just looking for some direction and suggestions from people who play & work in this area all the time.  Why would you be condensing?  It’s not mandatory that you answer, it’s not a job.  Maybe a brief minute thinking “did I read that right?” and with your knowledge you could do a lot of people a lot of good.

Reading the last response, you’re proud of that.  You misread my post, gave no actual help and are chasing other users away from your site and you’re proud of that.  “You gave it to him”?  You didn’t answer a single question correctly.  You didn’t really have 1 good suggestion.  If you were actually writing for Four Wheeler, do you think anyone would subscribe?  Yep, you guys gave it to me, good for you.  

I am the cautious guy here as I also have a engineering background and have done a lot of seat of the pants fabing in the past. I am not saying that it cannot be done and if you reread what I said, if you do not plan to take it off road, body stiffness is not going to be much of a problem to deal with. The point I was making is that if you want to chop the top and install a roll bar, this is not a big problem and I would rather build one from scratch for this rather than trying to find something in aftermarket for this. The body is another matter because roof stiffens cab a lot and keeps door opening square. With top removed, body is going to want to warp pretty easy and door will go out of alignment. To counter this you need to stiffen frame AND body. Again I am not telling you it cannot be done but I am telling you the problems you will face here rather than sugar coating it and telling you all will be fine. Because of modern crash standards (impact and rollover/drop tests upside down from 3 feet) that these SUV's go through, the roof plays a very big roll in the structural integrity of body and with it removed, the body will be seriously weakened. Now you can accept that and deal with it or complain that I or this site did not offer a magic solution for you.  

I'm sorry, I'm missing something.  I must be reading over it.  You understand it's already done, right?  It's cut, fabricated edges, painted, custom cage done, to frame.

I'm trying to find accessories  

When you opened your post you need not say that it was done (or how) and only mentioned you were looking for accessories (and you were not too clear about that either)  

listen buddy were not trying to be bullys or anything its just that you came on kinda angry...anyways as far as some prefab rollacage parts or pads ive seen some in the jegs racing catalog..go on thier website and request a catalog if you like or just call em up and explain what you need and they will tell you what parts they have to help you, jegs has good customer service by the way, and i can't directly tell you all the answere cuz i don't have them...ive have not looked at rollbar pads and stuff so i can't give you a direct answer but your free to try another forum...  
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you go dude. i've been cuttin trucks up for 30 years and needed ideas from time to time, these guys are  ssholes. on the bimini top try a good upholstery shop, prob. be cheaper anyway. if you tied the rollcage to the frame, front and rear, and the rollcage is built as it should be, then the frame is as strong or STRONGER than stock. dont let these guys mess with you. anything i can do to help?  

get real- drop test- impact- roll over, get real this dude is cuttin up a yukon. he's not workin for the goverment- yea if he's doin this he should have a pro built six point roll cage- but get off his  ss