savagepc.223

What is the cheapest material I can make a roll cage out of

martyinco

You want cheap or safe...

Atmos

theres 3 types
tubing, DOM tubing, and chromolly
DOM is easy to weld and costs like $3 per foot I think. pretty sure that's what everyone will tell you to use
chromolly is more like $5 and I believe it's a little more difficult to weld. I've never welded it tho so I'm not positive

savagepc.223

What is an estimate on how much tube is needed

martyinco

There is also HREW tubing

elkwagn

You can build a cage with standard tubing and save money over the dom, but you have to decide how thick you want it to be. You can use .095 but it will only save your rig once, better to go .120 at least. How much tubing depends on the design of your cage? Look at some cage builds on here and estimate

savagepc.223

How much does that run per foot

adam ventulett

it depends if that if you what exocage or a in cab cag . iwould say about 100 ft . of dom . 1.25 with a wall of no less then 120 thickness makes a real nice cage.

martyinco

Tubing prices vary from region to region, day to day base off of current steel prices. Best bet is call a local steel supplier and speak with them directly. Do a HREW cage from .120 wall and you'll be on the right path. As long a you triangulation you'll be good

savagepc.223

Looking around it looks like DOM is about 5 bucks a foot

martyinco

You don't new DOM

PingPong

The XJ is a heavy rig, especially when you start adding recovery gear, and other junk. I wouldnt recommend using anything smaller then 1.75x.120 tubing for your cage.


As for what material to use.. it depends on how hard you wheel, and if there is a likelyhood that you will test it. Both of my cages are built out of 1.75x.120 and I have bent bars in my truggy during a slow speed flop.

Keep in mind most places that sell steel are going to make you buy a "full stick" which is a 19'-24' long. ALso the more you buy the better the price you can get. I bought 200' of 1.75x.120 and paid 4.05 a foot. which was a decent price for my region.

DualPurposeXJ

the 3 basic types of tube used for cage building is HREW (hot rolled electric welded)
DOM (drawn over mandrel) is a process not a type of steel, the process basically hides the weld and gives it a more accurate dimmension. there is still a seam in DOM it is just less noticeable than HREW.
and chromoly, chromoly is a true seamless tube. it is no harder to weld than mild steel tubing if you knnow what your doing, but heat treating is required after welding to achieve maximum strength.

now that we got that out of the way, you can build a strong cage out of HREW with proper triangulation, minimum bends and proper gussets. the smallest tube size i would use for an xj is 1.75 x .120 wall tubing

Atmos

thanks for the clarification chief

savagepc.223

Anyone got any designs or blueprints they can give me?