Bending Exhaust Tubing

[Aggie007]

I am looking for a tubing bender to bend 3" or 4" 304SS exhaust tubing. I want to build some custom intake/intercooler pipes and maybe my whole exhaust. I was wondering if it is worth it for me to look into buying a tubing bender if I can find one inexpensive enough since it is such thin walled tubing, I don't need anything fancy. Any ideas?

[fabcam]

I was wondering if it is worth it for me to look into buying a tubing bender

In short NO (assuming you don't have piles of cash laying around that is going bad).


since it is such thin walled tubing, I don't need anything fancy. Any ideas?

In part this is why you will end up spending MORE money. You have 2 choices. A muffler bender like this one which goes up to 3 inch:
http://vansantent.com/images/Huth/2808.gif

or

If you want the wall to not collapse your will need a mandrel machine:
http://vansantent.com/images/prod_mandrel1.jpg

both pictures from www.trick-tools.com


IMHO your best off either finding a shop that has these benders OR find a place that sells bent elbows cut/weld into place.

[chimmike]

99% of muffler shops do NOT have mandrel benders, they have crush benders, which REALLY decrease the I.D. of exhaust piping in bends.

Mandrel exhaust benders are $$$$.

Save the money, don't buy a POS crush bender, and buy U-bends or pre-bent mandrel exhaust piping.

www.vrsexhaust.com is a good source for mandrel bends.....there are many others.

[Aggie007]

If I try to use a pro-tools or jd2 will it just crimp since it doesn't have enough wall do keep its shape?

[fabcam]

If I try to use a pro-tools or jd2 will it just crimp since it doesn't have enough wall do keep its shape?


Yes + they are for only 2"OD or 2 1/2"OD depending on the model.

[Flashover Mfg]

If I try to use a pro-tools or jd2 will it just crimp since it doesn't have enough wall do keep its shape?
Those benders (at least the JD2 Model 3 and Pro-Tools 105) will only bend up to 2" material. And yes, they will collapse tube with too thin of a wall. The die sets will typically have a minimum thickness that they can handle such as .063 or .090. This varies on the tube size and bend radius.

[fabcam]

Mandrel exhaust benders are $$$$.


60K plus for 4" tubing. Not even on the same planet as the jd2 or Pro-Tools benders.

[fabcam]

Those benders (at least the JD2 Model 3 and Pro-Tools 105) will only bend up to 2" material.

Correct, except the JD2 Model 4 and the Pro-Tools Brute are both built for 2.5"

Edit: Still not close to 3" or 4"

.

[Flashover Mfg]

But even those are on a different price point from the standards that most people here are using.

[sn0border88]

we have the huth bender pictured above, and it does what its meant to do. SOmetimes the tube fails and we have to start over, but thats part of the game.

I would reccommend it if you really wanted to buy one and were gonna get your moneys worth out of it.

[fabcam]

But even those are on a different price point from the standards that most people here are using.


Correct.... Add about $1500.00 to the standard bender.

.

[chimmike]

60K plus for 4" tubing. Not even on the same planet as the jd2 or Pro-Tools benders.

yes, but you're comparing apples to oranges. the JD2 is made for thick-walled small diameter tubing.

The exhaust mandrel benders are for thinner walled large diameter piping.

Spending money on crush benders is foolish IMO.....the larger the diameter pipe you crush bend, the larger the decrease in internal diameter in the bend area. On 2.5" exhaust pipe, with a 45* bend, you can lose as much as .5" internal diameter....essentially creating a bottleneck and reduced internal pipe size......detrimental to exhaust flow.

Like I said, probablya lot more cost effective to find pre-bent piping to fabricate an exhaust with.......or if you're into fabbing exhaust setups for certain cars, there are shops with mandrel units who will do exclusive work too.

[Stephenw]

Summit Racing has great prices on mandrel bent pieces.

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=700+4294923429+115+4294864608

[Vortec_Cruiser]

Stainless tubing up to 3" and 180* bends.

http://store.racing-solutions.org/180deu.html

[Aggie007]

Stainless tubing up to 3" and 180* bends.

http://store.racing-solutions.org/180deu.html

Sweet, pretty much just what I need for my intercooler piping. I was quoted $250 at a local shop, I can buy what I need for less than $100 off that site.
Thanks.