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Pipe bender cage STARTED TODAY!!! pics inside

TruckNutzDude

TruckNutzDude

1/2 ton status
Joined
Mar 31, 2003
Posts
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Location
Agawam, MA
Tools:
Combination of northern tools and harbor freight 12 ton pipe bender.
110V Lincoln 3200HD welder with .035 flux wire
Sawzall
4" angle grinder w/ cut off wheel
4.5" angle grinder w/ grinding disc
3.5 lb hammer
Tape measuring aparatus
Sharpie marker, black
12 pack adult beverages

I'm not finished yet but I wanted to share with those of you considering building with pipe. There is a lot of bracing to be done but I am happy with the over-all design considering I only have an afternoon invested.

Feel free to comment. I can hear the "but pipe isn't safe for a roll cage" posts already! :haha:

cagestart.jpg
 
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I was thinking this weekend after tellico to do something very similar in design to yours. I'm killing my rear bed sides on the k5. I'm thinking of cutting the bedsides off 1/3 back and building a cage like you've got there. The body part will look alot like the tailgate bed extenders.

Anyway, looks good dude.:wink1:
 
TruckNutzDude said:
Feel free to comment. I can hear the "but pipe isn't safe for a roll cage" posts already! :haha:
Click to expand...

pipe is safer then nothing. keep the pics coming. preferably ones that are not as fuzzy.:rolleyes: clean the camera lens.
 
I used sch 40 pipe on my front bumper and have run it into all kinds of stuff and still havent bent or dented it yet.
 
I know nothing of how to fab, what to use, how to do it. So I cannot critizise. Looks good to me, and as said above, pipe is safer than nothing.:D
 
gmc4cw said:
pipe is safer then nothing. keep the pics coming. preferably ones that are not as fuzzy.:rolleyes: clean the camera lens.
Click to expand...

I apologize for that, my girlfriend had the camera with her at work. I snapped this one with my phone but the sun was making it difficult to get a clear shot no matter where I stood. I'm adding more bracing today and hopefully mounting a storage box, cooler, high lift and possibly a spare tire. :D
 
camok5 said:
I used sch 40 pipe on my front bumper and have run it into all kinds of stuff and still havent bent or dented it yet.
Click to expand...

I'm suprised at how tough this pipe seems to be. Just for kicks I hit it with a hammer when I got my first 20 feet and it took several good hits to make a small dent. It's also fairly light considering it has about 3/16" walls. Hopefully I have enough material left over to make another front bumper, just having a winch plate is killing my fenders and headlights. :doah:
 
Looks good. Im not that paitent to use that bender. The pipe fits in my jd2 die so Im going to be giving that a try and hopefully it doesnt mess up the die too much. Im going to build a whole buggy outta pipe just cuz people say its not meant for cages. :haha:
 
TruckNutzDude said:
...the sun was making it difficult to get a clear shot no matter where I stood.
Click to expand...


Stand with the sun at your back:D:D:D Certainly for a camera phone.

Looks like the pipe is just inside the body. Don't you want to hit or scrape the pipe first?
 
mrdrinksalil said:
Thats the best answer for the "pipe isn't strong enough" rant that ive heard yet.
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the way i see it, most people are building their roll cages in their trucks for simple flops - maybe a full single roll, not bouncing multiple rolls down a highway at 60 mph. so, pipe could be sufficient
 
BKinzey said:
Stand with the sun at your back:D:D:D Certainly for a camera phone.

Looks like the pipe is just inside the body. Don't you want to hit or scrape the pipe first?
Click to expand...

With the sun at my back the glare from the pipe and glass made the truck look like it was descending from heaven.

I wasn't as concerned with the pipe hitting before the body since the body of my rig is toast anyways. I'm actually thinking my next mod will be removing that part of the cab and the front fenders and lining the side of the rig with even more pipe.
 
colbystephens said:
the way i see it, most people are building their roll cages in their trucks for simple flops - maybe a full single roll, not bouncing multiple rolls down a highway at 60 mph. so, pipe could be sufficient
Click to expand...
A "simple flop" around some trails in AZ, Colorado, UT, CA and any mountain anywhere could result in multiple tumbles down a grade. A "simple flop" could result in a collapsed cage and trapping someone or worse.

All the sanctioned rule books state minimum structural requirements. Using anything that it isn't structurally suited for can cost a life. Not worth saving a couple of $$ for a life.

Bumpers, sliders, body protection no big deal to use structural pipe. I wouldn't trust it for a cage.
 
AZ79K5Project said:
A "simple flop" around some trails in AZ, Colorado, UT, CA and any mountain anywhere could result in multiple tumbles down a grade. A "simple flop" could result in a collapsed cage and trapping someone or worse.

All the sanctioned rule books state minimum structural requirements. Using anything that it isn't structurally suited for can cost a life. Not worth saving a couple of $$ for a life.

Bumpers, sliders, body protection no big deal to use structural pipe. I wouldn't trust it for a cage.
Click to expand...

You do realize that most cages you see are not made out of materials that most "sanctioning bodies" would allow or spec. Most of the cages you see on all the guys in AZ are made from HREW tube not DOM or choromoly tube that is spec'ed most of the time in racing.

If the cage is designed correctly with material that it is designed for then it is going to be fine. If you use a weaker material then you need more engineering and more material to make up for the lack of strength.

When I had Matt (az-k5) who is a mechanical engineering student design my cage I had him do it so that the cage would survive a multiple roll at highway speed and therefore give me a chance at survival. The most important part of a cage (beside having one) is that they cage is designed to be strong using the material you built the cage out of whether it be pipe, HREW, DOM, etc.

I have been with Matt in his truck through a 3/4 rollover done into a gulley and his cage survived great. His cage is way over designed and and overkill. His exocage took the brunt of the impact and very little if any impact was even sustained by the interior cage.

He designed his original cage and also my cage to survive worst case scenario which is multiple high speed rolls. That is the way any cage should be designed especially if you drive it on the street or you wheel in any places other then small tight canyons.

Harley
 
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