I am in the process of doing a custom 6pt cage for my EK. I am curious, where is the best place to purchase the tubing from?

I am looking at either running a 1 5/8" round by .083" wall in either mild steel or 4130 chrome moly. I will also need .125" steel plates, a sheet will work since I can cut them to size in my shop.

I tried http://www.mcmaster.com but it's really hard to find **** on there with their search engine.

 

if ur going to be using mild steel the tubing has to be .118" thick... chromoly requires only an .083 wall

 

Correct. I should have proof read before posting

 

How are you going to do the bends?

Theres a place out here in Ontario California called Patton's Steel. They have alot of raw metal for industrial type ish.

 

I was thinking of purchasing a tube bender from harbor freight.... but who knows if that thing will work worth a damn. There is a local guy here with his own machine shop that does a lot of the junior nascar set-ups around here. He said typically each bend will run around $10 bucks. He said typically you need around 80 feet of material and it runs around 3 bucks a foot.

I have a tig welder so all welding will be done in my shop. I am still not sure as to whether to mount the rear cage to the floor or the strut towers. I am thinking strut towers.... Any info on that?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was thinking of purchasing a tube bender from harbor freight.... but who knows if that thing will work worth a damn. There is a local guy here with his own machine shop that does a lot of the junior nascar set-ups around here. He said typically each bend will run around $10 bucks. He said typically you need around 80 feet of material and it runs around 3 bucks a foot.

I have a tig welder so all welding will be done in my shop. I am still not sure as to whether to mount the rear cage to the floor or the strut towers. I am thinking strut towers.... Any info on that?</TD></TR></TABLE>

what racing are you doing with this car? I'd look at the sanctioning body's rules before I started building anything, you wouldn't want to put all that work and money into something and have to redo it all

 

Street/Turbo4 class. I have read over the rules and I cant find anything pertaining to placing the rear 2 cage mounts on the strut towers.

Other than that, I have the design pretty much covered.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrecisionH23a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Street/Turbo4 class. I have read over the rules and I cant find anything pertaining to placing the rear 2 cage mounts on the strut towers.

Other than that, I have the design pretty much covered.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That drag racing right? I have no clue about drag racing rules,but from the looks of other cars I've seen, you could pretty much do what you want and they'll let it run

As for as material, I know these are the NASA road racing rules:

Vehicle Weight: Under 1500 lbs.
Mild Steel: 1.50" x .120"
Alloy Steel: 1.375" x .095"

Vehicle Weight: 1501 - 2500 lbs.
Mild Steel: 1.75" x .120"
Alloy Steel: 1.625" x .095"

Vehicle Weight: Over 2500 lbs.
Mild Steel: 2.25" x .120"
Alloy Steel: 2.000" x .095"

 

Here are the rules if some of you want to view them:
http://www.nhrasportcompact.co....html

As far as ordering material, here is what I have sofar:

http://www.chassisshop.com

http://www.lefthanderchassis.com

 

first off you will be needing .120 mild steel tubing. i dont think you should buy a harbor freight bender, especially if your gonna bend chromoly. oh yea, i was wondering what kind of material you can you get for $3. i buy all my tubing through tube service and find that they have the best prices. all material comes with certification and analization sheets upon request. tube service (562)695-0467

 

Why am I going to need 120 MS? I'm going with a .083CM.

As far as bending, a local machinest is going to do it for me, his tube bending machine is top-notch. Chassis shop charges around 4 bucks per foot for the CM, but if you buy it in the large sections, its 2.96 per foot if I remember correctly.

I'll give that number a call, thanks

 

The SCCA and Drap racing stuff is Similar to what was posted up earlier.
You can get away with smaller tubing for light Cars.

Stay away from the Harbor frieght Tubing bender.
It bends in super tight radius' and Will crush bend the stuff
You need a mandrel tubing bender.
You can find some manual ones fro like 500 or so plus the cost of dies.
They have the Pnuematic ones as well that are really nice.
The manual ones seem to work fine With a big *** pipe on the end of them to turn it.


A good option is to buy the AME cages, they come pre bent and notched, just weld it in. They seem to have a pretty good selection as far as What car you need it for.

 

Where to purchase materials for a roll cage 8:02 PM 8/14/2004 Reply Edit

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I am in the process of doing a custom 6pt cage for my EK. I am curious, where is the best place to purchase the tubing from?
I am looking at either running a 1 5/8" round by .083" wall in either mild steel or 4130 chrome moly. I will also need .125" steel plates, a sheet will work since I can cut them to size in my shop.

then you got this reply!

Re: Where to purchase materials for a roll cage (PrecisionH23a) » 9:50 PM 8/14/2004 Reply Edit

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if ur going to be using mild steel the tubing has to be .118" thick... chromoly requires only an .083 wall

i was correcting what was said about the .118 you never specified what exactly you were gonna use!

 

Yes its .118 you are correct. I've been busy gutting the hatch and working on building motors, give me a break I made a mistake lol.

 

no, .120 wall thickness not .118. the reason being is because when you bend it it will thin out and be thinner than .118 and thats why you use .120.

 

If you do your research on CM, you find that it needs to be treated after welding. The heat from the welding tempers the material and makes it weaker were its been heated.

 

you do not have to heat treat it after it has been welded! you would have to heat the area up to about 850 degrees (dont quote me on temp. i dont remember exactly) and hold that exact temp for a long period of time then let it cool down slowly until the part reaches room temp. dont get me wrong that would definetly make it much stronger but its not neccesary to go abouts doing this if you weld it right.