For anyone who has built their own cage, interior or exterior, how did you make your bends?

 

No one has any input? 4 views and nothing?!?

I see how it is...

 

Since my father owns a log splitter I was thinking of building a removable detail for it to bend tube. Screw doing it manually lol

 

I have a 6 ton hydraulic splitter, but had not thought of using that.

My buddie has a hydraulic exhaust tube bender, its pretty stout. I was thinking about using that, but I just don't know if there is a special way of bending tube for a cage.

Does it have to be mandrel bent? Is there a specific way one is SUPPOSE to bend the tube?

I've never done this, and have no desire to pay for a premade one.

I guess if a log splitter can work, just about anything will!

 

Controlling a splitter will be near immpossible. The bends need to be done in real dies. If you cut corners, the tube will flatten at the bend, and not be strong enough to offer the right amount of protection. I know you are not wanting to pay for a prebuild cage, but short of buying a proper tubing bender, and the software to figure the bends out, you are just about out of luck. Bending tube is far more complicated than it seems. How the tubing is bent is just as important as what kind of tube it is. Mandrel bending is going to be the best bend you can get. The mandrel keeps the tubing from flattening out in the middle of the bend, therefore making it considerably stronger. The computer program will tell you how long to cut each piece, where to start your bend, and how far to bend it, and will factor in wall thickness, and tubing diameter. I guess the short answer is no, you can't/shouldn't use a log splitter to bend tubing for a protective device. If you, or other people's lives do not depend on the structural integrity of the part you are bending, then you could use the wood splitter, but it would be a struggle to get any real quality work out of it...My .02$ anyways...


Patience my man...LOL!!

 

i sencond cosxjfans $.02.

do it right or dont do it at all.......your life depends on it. a roll cage that is designed wrong or bent with a turd bender, can be twice as dangerous as not having a cage at all.


search the net for jd2 benders. prob the best benders for the price.

an exhaust bender will dent the tube from the start of the bend, to the end. i dont even get how you would bend tube with a log splitter? sounds like it would instantly dent the tube before bending it.

im all about being a cheap ****, but there is a time and place where you cant cheap out. def not on my jeep!!!!


and x2 on the patience man. it was only an hour and those people were prob just trying to get info like you are, but searching...........

 

Yeah, I knew there was a good reason I never thought of using the splitter!

But what do you think about using a large scale exhaust bender? My buddie has one, he thinks it *might* work...

And my bad on the patience thing. For some reason my brain has been caught up on this XJ build I'm planning...and once Gee's brain starts to spool, its near impossible to focus on anything else.

 

i doubt he would have the right size dies for cage tubing. usually 1 1/2'' or 1 3/4''.

unless it is a manderal exhaust bender, i wouldnt use it.

the dies from most exhaust benders, dent the tube into shape. thats why alot of bends on exhaust have ''ripples'' on the inside of the bend.

 

With the log splitter idea i was thinking of using the harbor freight tube bender then mounting its side and instead of using the hand jack using the log splitter to do the work. Ive seen it done before and it didnt flatten the pipe, but did take practice to control the splitter, I dont remember what he said but he slowed the ram down some how.

 

Use the Search feature here.
Tube benders have been discussed many, many times.

 

Alright, here is a pic of the tubing bender and a pic of the tube we bent.

Notice the lack of ribs on the inside of the bend?

Notice the flat section on the outside of the bend? That is the only part that concerns me.

Thoughts?

 

I just don't like the way the tubing constricts at the bend. That would be a weak point, and for a cage, that would be no good. I would use that for other things, but not a cage. My $.02 worth...

 

http://www.blindchickenracing.com/To...bingbender.htm

http://www.kinzers.com/don/MachineTools/bender/

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

Links I found elsewhere...not.much here...

 

Used search feature. This is all I found:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/be...cate-me-21658/

Got any links or anything?

I would really like to learn more about this.

I've heard of people turning their Harbor Freight genders into mandrek genders, but for the life of me haven't found anything now that I'm actually looking.

 

Just look on google. Or look up the hundreds of threads exactly like this.