I am looking to improve safety on a recently built machine. What kind of tubing should I use and where is a good place to order from? I suppose 1 inch or so diameter is practical. How thin of wall thickness can I use and bend without kinking?
I am looking to improve safety on a recently built machine. What kind of tubing should I use and where is a good place to order from? I suppose 1 inch or so diameter is practical. How thin of wall thickness can I use and bend without kinking?
what i did to my we build at home i went to muffler shop and tell them how u want to bend and size too and they will do it for u there it chip then u order online
I took mine to a buddies Muffler shop. He suggested 1.5" Pipe (Schedule 40) for the main cage and 1.5" muffler pipe for the rear kickers ... and then i used 1.25" angle for the base and bolted it to the flange (sorry for the cell phone picture)
1.5" schedule 40? That must wiegh as much as the rest of the machine. You would be able to park a tank on top of it though.
What is the point of a roll bar that is stronger than what you are mounting it to? Electrical pipes and tubings were never meant to be strong. D.O.M. tubing is best, but more $. The first question to ask yourself is how are you going to be driving your aatv? Watch some of the video from Ashtabula, see how they roll. If you plan on barrel rolls, you better build a strong cage. I saw most end up on thier sides. That is a lot less force on the cage. As important as material is design, diagonal bracing means evrything. This video shows my buddy hitting the wall at about 120mph, yes that is why they wear firesuits. That car was made out of 1.5" chromoly with lots of diagonal bracing. It held up so well that they actually considered fixing the frame. You DONT need that kind of strength. I built my cage out of 1" emt, easy to bend and cheap. Welding galvanized is dangerous, you must grind it off, or poison yourself from the fumes. If you look at my profile you'll see a picture of my sandrail. It is 1.5" .083 wall mild steel. The strength is in the diagonals. As to the question on kinking thin walls, they take a larger bend radius, but too thin of a wall will dent and lose its strength. Still confused? You can P.M. me with any questions.
Okay so I'm not so sure on the schedule 40 .. But it was probably twice as thick as the muffler pipe.. And the cage was not that heavy... I just went to the garage and mic'd it... It's like 0.90 and it was mild steel also
Crackpot Cruiser
Saqvage40 ,now that is a gorgeous rollbar, love it
He who has not cruised the back country in a 6x6 , has not lived life to it's fullest
A Mans level of mechanical education directly corresponds to the level pain suffered while getting it
I try to build according to the old NATVA rules- I figure they saw enough mayhem to judge what worked and what didn't. I think they recommended seamless steel tubing 1.5" OD and .120" wall thickness for the main bars and SST at 1" OD, 120" wall thickness for the supports. I've use black pipe when time or budget wouldn't allow SST and it's strong, but very heavy.
Stuck in the seventies- not in the swamp.
(6) Attex, a Hustler, a Super Swamp Fox, (2) Tricarts, (3) Tri-sports, a Sno-co trike, 3 Dunecycles, and a Starcraft! ...so far
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