Pipe benders and muffler benders will kink tube if you can get them to bend it. Muffler benders are made to bend thin gauge pipe not tubing that would be suitable for sliders.

 

one propane torch will not get hot enough..... having a friend with one too will help, your going to have to hold them on there a good amount of time and hopefully you are strong enough.


Go buy a manual conduit bender are lowes or home depot. Will be very hard to do it but it can be done.

Just not something i ever want to do again. That's just me being lazy though.

 

I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know personally, but a guy told me that if you filled a pipe with sand before heating it and then slowly bend the pipe while the heat is on, the sand would keep it from compressing in the bend area giving a smooth bend.

 

That's how I bent up my crash cage for my bike...

 

I used a set of oxygen and acetylene tanks toget it red hot

 

if you know anyone with an electric arc welder, some carbon arc rods could be used to heat area up to bend.

a propane / oxygen could do the job if have access to.

for cold bending, I dont have any real good sugestions that havent been mentioned. unless you have an upside down vehicle & could bend around a brake drum, with pipe full of sand? or maybe a shop with a hydraulic press & a piece of pipe to help it bend around the pipe.

Randy

 

X2 on the sand.

 

thats a cool idea

 

Sand fill works, even a good bender needs an interior arbor for interior support when working on tight radii. Have used the sand fill in tube and then our low cost home ($100) pipe bender set with hydraulic hand pump, no kinks in the form.
Propane torch won't provide enough heat. We use oxy propane successfully to heat or cut.

 

This may be a dumb question but even if you can get the bends done how are you planning on putting mounts on since you said you don't have access to a welder? I seen lots of sliders built without a bender and without any bends but not without a welder.

 

I more easily have access to a welder than a bender