how much strength would i lose if instead of useing bends at the corners of a cage, i welded the pipes together, both at 45 deg. and put a piece between em to make a trianlge in the corners? the reason i'm asking is because i don't have the money to buy a bender, i can weld good, adn the guy i know that has a bender wants $5 a bend plus $10 initial charge (rip off if you ask me) to use his bender.

 

If you are not going to do it right, don't do it... Period.

BTW - $5/bend is cheap.

 

i was asking because i had seen other guys just weld in angles instead of using bends, they said it was about as strong as the bends, adn i wondered how close was "about" to the bent strengths.

 

Depends on a lot of factors -
type and size of tube (including wall thickness)
type of bend
type of weld used (mig/tig/stick) and quality of weld.

If welding was stronger than bending, you'd see it used much more often in professional motor sports. I've never seen a cage built w/ cut-n-weld techniques in place of bends...

Safety is nothing to mess around with. People do a lot of things and get lucky, but I personally don't think safety, especially a cage, is worth saving a single dime on, let alone $100 in bends...

 

the weld is stronger than the material it is attaching. japanese use alot of cut and weld in motorsports if you look at some of there gt300 jtsc cars and stuff, not on cages but other stuff you will see like thirty cuts and welds to make one bend. Mostly people don't do it because: 1) it is way more time consuming than a bend, 2) more break points every weld there is a potential break point on either side (which gussets would help) 3) It would look like amatuer hour! So, in summary it would be strong enough (with gusseting) but would look like ass and take forever. If those things don't bother you than by all means, go for it, after all it is stronger than no cage at all.

 

people make cages using weld ells also. the prefab bends you get from the plumbing supply house. after grinding the ell can't be seen.

 

I saw a guy doing 100mph hit a brick wall, I think I will try it too ..

Do you like to skimp with your life, and others who might be in your rig?

 

 

my advice is to either purchase all the necessary tools or have a welding shop do the work. Also, a notcher can be a great tool for making those 90 degree welds, and it will make them unbelievably strong. Speaking from experience, a cage isnt something you want to go second best on. If you are putting a cage on your truck then I would assume you will be using it in the future, I never thought mine would save my truck (not so worried about me) but I rolled it on its side on a rock face and as you can see, the only damage the was passenger fender and even that was minimal. Infact, the only thing that moved was the body, the cage didnt budge, its gussetted and tied into my front/rear bumpers and sliders and frame.


good luck.

 

Yeah I was going to say Notching the ends and welding them is supposed to be stonger than Bending.

Think about it. when you bend something your Stretching that material, thus causing it to be thinner and weaker in that area.

But this is a debate that has been around for a long time