Building a roll cage at home...

[Rusty-Gunn]

Hi. I learned (and became confused, which happens sometimes) that the Max IV roll cage uses schedule 40 tubing/pipe. I just learned today that "schedule 40" refers to wall thickness. All this time I had thought schedule 40 was a brand name or type of metal.

Which leaves me the question... what type of pipe/tubing do you guys use to build roll cages? Common black iron pipe? Galvinized pipe? Other steel pipe?
I figure 1.25" OD might be about right. Or 1.5" OD for that matter.
I do have angle bar from my daughter's old bed frame to use. It looks to be 1.25" per side and five feet long I think (how ever long double beds are).
Any other info I should know? Please help me, as I would like to build a roll cage once I buy the proper tubing.
Thank you very much.

[Rusty-Gunn]

I did see plans on this site to build a Max IV factory roll cage, which I'll go by. The only difference is I will shorten it like the Buffalo Truck. I am modifying my rear seat area for cargo space... no passengers.
Anyone else do this? Got pictures? Thanks.

[racerone3]

Bed frames are made from spring steel, and don't weld very well. I use .090 wall tubing 1.5" diameter for all my cages (.083 wall on the really light weight machines). Tubing requires a special bender as a pipe bender will just crush it. Tubing is measured by it's O.D. and Wall thickness. Pipe is measured by the I.D. so schedule 40 1.5" pipe will be almost 1 3/4 OD. Pipe is strong, cheap, and a bender for it is much cheaper. Only real downfall versus tubing is that it is much heavier.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Bed frames are made from spring steel, and don't weld very well. I use .090 wall tubing 1.5" diameter for all my cages (.083 wall on the really light weight machines). Tubing requires a special bender as a pipe bender will just crush it. Tubing is measured by it's O.D. and Wall thickness. Pipe is measured by the I.D. so schedule 40 1.5" pipe will be almost 1 3/4 OD. Pipe is strong, cheap, and a bender for it is much cheaper. Only real downfall versus tubing is that it is much heavier.

Thank you for resonding. So, bed frames might mot be suitable. What would be better?
Regarding the tubing... Is there a name? DOM? HREW? Chromoly? (I've only heard of chromoly.
Whivh type is lowest weight per foot?
Lots of questions leads to proper education. Teach me please. Thanks.
Btw I am googling this stuff but confused a bit.

[racerone3]

Chromoly will be your strongest, and lightest but the difference weight wise will not be big between it and DOM. It will however be MUCH more expensive. I use DOM for mine. For the angle I just use cold rolled steel from the local supplier. In addition to the stock angle iron, I would also wrap it around the front of the machine and incorporate a winch mount.

This is the bender I use at home JD Squared, Inc. - Model 32 Bender - Manual. It is a relatively inexpensive machine and works great but don't let the cost of the machine fool you, the die sets for each size tubing are pretty pricey and you need one for each size of tubing you want to be able to bend. For example, the Die I use for 1.5" tubing was $285. I have close to $2K worth of dies hanging on the wall for a $395 machine

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you RacerOne3. There is no way I can justify investing in a lot of money for a bender I'll use once. I'll ask around our town for someone with a proper bender.
Now, must the tubing be bent? can I get away with cut and welded corners?
DOM tubing sounds good. Light and strong but cheaper than chromoly.
Cold rolled steel angle iron it is. Thanks. I feel like I'm making progress.

[Dozerlarry]

also chromoly is a little difficult to work with, for the maximum strength it needs to be welded with an acetylene torch or a tig machine. I have welded it with a mig welder and got pretty good results

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you DozerLarry.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Can you give the tubing demensions you use? Thickness, diameter? Thanks.

Chromoly will be your strongest, and lightest but the difference weight wise will not be big between it and DOM. It will however be MUCH more expensive. I use DOM for mine. For the angle I just use cold rolled steel from the local supplier. In addition to the stock angle iron, I would also wrap it around the front of the machine and incorporate a winch mount.

This is the bender I use at home JD Squared, Inc. - Model 32 Bender - Manual. It is a relatively inexpensive machine and works great but don't let the cost of the machine fool you, the die sets for each size tubing are pretty pricey and you need one for each size of tubing you want to be able to bend. For example, the Die I use for 1.5" tubing was $285. I have close to $2K worth of dies hanging on the wall for a $395 machine

[akcrawler]

I wanted to add a little bit more technical info. Not because you need it to build your roll cage, but because I believe we all benefit by knowing how things in this world work. As stated above, tubing is always specified by OD and wall thickness. Most piping is specified by schedule and nominal diameter for pipe sizes 12" and smaller. Nominal diameter is based on standard wall thickness which most folks know as Schedule 40. However, as the wall thickness gets greater, the ID gets smaller so that the OD can remain constant for all schedules of pipe. This helps with welding and other fabrication tasks. 1-1/4" pipe always has an OD of 1.66". Sch 40 in that size has an ID of 1.38" and a wall thickness of .140", whereas Sch 160 has an ID of 1.16" and a wall thickness of .250". It looks like you could get by with Sch 10 pipe in 1-1/4" if you want to get close to the .090" wall thickness for tubing that was quoted above.

One note is that conduit benders (for rigid conduit) work on pipe that is Sch 40 or less. Rigid conduit and pipe have about the same OD for the sizes you are interested in. It also has about the same wall thickness as Sch 40 pipe in those sizes. You might be able to get some rigid conduit in your town. At least then you would have a local source. Of course it comes in 10' lengths which might mean that you either have to add a coupling or butt weld it to get enough length for a continuous hoop. Pipe comes in 20' lengths so this part would be easier.

[phabib]

One way to bend tube if you have a torch is to fill thee tube with sand, cap the ends, then heat the bend area with a rosebud and bend manually. The sand prevents the tube from collapsing. Also, if you're going to use pipe, you also don't want to use galvanized pipe. The fumes from the zinc coating is pretty nasty stuff to breathe. If you do have to weld galvy, you must first grind off all of the zinc. You can apply spray on cold galvy to the area after you're done.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you AkCrawler. I appreciate the information. Education never hurts.
So its possible to use schedule 10 black iron pipe for a roll cage? Schedule 10 has thinner wall thickness so would be lighter than 40. If I could buy local then it would be easier and cheaper in cost.

[tbone9]

Or if there's any racing of any sort in your area those guys could maybe help out or know of some one, otherwise with limited access you could buy a pipe bender and go with schedule 40 and less chance of kinks in the pipe and since it's heavier you can stick weld it a lot easier too. Thin wall is nice but requires a good bender and a good welder as stated earlier. And even if you never use the bender again you can use the bottle jack from it. Just another idea.

[Rusty-Gunn]

I've heard of using sand as filler when bending pipe. Never done it though.

We don't have any racing teams up here. I'm sure in the end I'll get it done. Thanks guys.

[Rusty-Gunn]

I bought 1.5" heavy conduit tubing in ten foot lengths. No black iron pipe. The conduit "looks" to be about 3/32 inch thick. I don't have a micrometer to measure it. My nephew is a welder ny trade and feels confident he can weld it. He goes off to work out of town for a few weeks though. It gives me time to draw up full size plans for the roll cage.
Any suggestions? Recommendations with this type if tubing? Concerns? Thanks.