TheSamba.com :: View topic - Building roll cage, tube thickness and diameter?

Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:01 pm

search this site and google for pictures of Manx bodies with cages on them. The best part about custom cages is you can built them anyway you want. Always start with the important pieces first middle support, side bars, etc. then triangulate from there.

Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:31 pm

look here, the best from start to well umm i guess they are never really finished :P i havent even started yet haha

anyway....

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/Projects/Craig'sBugs/RailBaja/RBcraigbug.htm

helped me quite abit, look at the rest of the site too great info :!:

Sun Oct 31, 2004 8:46 pm

Michael16 wrote: I will look at the BCR bender and maybe talk to Mark there and see if he can help me find the parts to make one then. Just making the bender will be a project in instled before the actual project.

Brad is there an online tool place for the parts?

Michael

When you bend tubing you must have a interior backing or the tube will fold at the weakest point. Pack the tube with sand and cap the ends. Now try the bend. Terry

It is better to light one small candle, than to curse the darkness!!!!!

Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:29 pm

I got my model 3 tube bender in the mail the other day and have to build the stand, just the stand is $130 if i buy it so i will make it before i use the bender. I went all out and spent $590 for this bender.

I dont have to pack it full of sand, it pulles the tube into the bend.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:32 pm

gotta love true tube benders!

Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:27 pm

I got the bender now i am just making the stand it cost me $10 in steel instead of $130 from JD squared and should be in bussiness soon!

Tue Nov 09, 2004 4:40 pm

post some pics of the finished bender setup.

Wed Nov 10, 2004 2:12 pm

I would recommend getting an NHRA/IHRA rulebook when building a cage, just to make sure it's legal. I wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of building a cage just to find out it's not legal for racing.

Steve

Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:37 pm

micheal, did you ever get your bender going? Any pics?

Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:12 am

I got the bender bolted to the floor and am in the process of figuring out the math for the main hoop. i want to lean it back a few dergees so it flows with the body tub behiend the seat. I bent one pice so far that goes up around the pedals but it was har to bend since it had to miss the clutch when it is depressed. I am going to work on it this thanksgiving weekend.

Fri Nov 26, 2004 6:59 pm

come to oklahoma for tubing. 20 feet sells for 21 bucks. :lol: :lol: :lol: i bought a stick to add extra bracing to my 6 point cage. i've added door bars, and angled braces from main hoop to rear torsion tube, next is tying in the front hoop to the front beam, but i have to get the tubing bent first. i did my fish mouth cuts with my drill press and a drill press vice. i bought a DEWALT hole saw and it broke on the second cut!! went back and bought another one plus an el-cheapo brand hole saw. the el-cheapo was much better than the dewalt !! go figure.

Fri Nov 26, 2004 7:08 pm

bajaherbie

When you made your fish cuts how did you use the hole saw, methods?
I got the rear hoop done and the foot-well hope bent and am going to bend the window hoop on sat. Then i will be conecting the hoops with tube with fish cuts. My cage shuld be about 12 to 14 point cage when i am done but the dune buggy body i have now is not the one i will be using when the buggy is finnished. So i have to leave some room to grow or shift.

Sat Nov 27, 2004 8:23 pm

micheal16,
i have a large drill press with an adjustable/ tilting bed. i have a large vice that bolts to my drill press. i adjust the bed/vice so the hole saw drills the tube at the area/angle i want. i set my drill press at the lowest rpm and use slow, steady downward pressure. it really worked good, i didnt know if it would or not, it was an experiment so to speak. when the drill press is all set, the table is swung far to the right so the hole saw can have a clear shot at the area to be cut. hope this makes sense.

Sat Nov 27, 2004 9:32 pm

Just my .03 cents, we built this http://rhino-offroad.com/ using a Pro-tools bender. http://www.pro-tools.com/302.htm That bender was pretty slick. Bent .090 steel tubing without a second thought it was quick fast and clean. I should mention that this bender isn’t great for mass production because variance in humidity and air temperature can effect how consistent the bends are, but for a small shop doing one off cages this would be great. It is worth the money. I have seen these buggies rolled on numerous occasions, we even rolled it on black top doing fifty mph and it slide 30+ feet on its side and ground some flat spots into the tubing but the cage never failed and never had a serious injury. Pro-Tools also has this great piece of bending software where you can plug the dimensions for you bends and it translates this in to a straight piece of tube and tell you where to place the tube into the bender and how many degrees to rotate the tube for compounds bends. (However this buggy frame was done on SolidWorks 2004)

I should also mention that I no longer work for this company, and I don’t recommend buying this vehicle until the price drops and all the engineering design flaws are corrected. Also a great bender is one thing but make sure your welding skills are up to snuff too. Don’t risk your life on questionable welds and when ever in doubt gusset the connections. (yes I sound like my mother… sorry)

Sat Nov 27, 2004 10:12 pm

yeah looks great for rock crawling.........

Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:41 am

The bending on my model 3 works great even though it is a ratcheting by hand system. The hard part is figuring the math and making the marks before bending, and determing out the stretch and actual start of the bend. I have the instructions and understand how to do it but it still is a lot of planning time.

Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:12 am

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/bendin_tube/index.html

Tube bending made easy(er)

Tue Nov 30, 2004 11:30 am

I took a look at that site and it is much easier to lay out the plan n the floor and mark then it is to do all the math and hope the calculations are right. thanks a lot! :D

Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:31 pm

no wuckin furries :wink:

Mon Dec 06, 2004 11:21 am

Ribz wrote: look here, the best from start to well umm i guess they are never really finished :P i havent even started yet haha

anyway....

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/Projects/Craig'sBugs/RailBaja/RBcraigbug.htm

helped me quite abit, look at the rest of the site too great info :!:

Those are the guys that built my cage. My buggy pics are in that site. In the Home page scroll down to 5/19/04.
You can also view my photos to see my cage being built.

Cool group of guys!!