[Judd]

I have a buddy who can get stainless tubing drops for free. The tubing is 304 stainless, .07 wall, and 1 3/4 diameter. The only main drawback is the tube is only available in 6' lengths. Would this material be well suited for an interior cage and bed cage for a pickup? I read the four page long post in the archives and it didn't really clear up any questions except that some say SS is hard to cut and you must be careful when welding due to the heat treating processes you could reverse during welding. The other post also said that SS is hard to bend without crushing the tube, is this true? thanks, Judd

 

[Gen. Nonsense]

SS is hard to cut and you must be careful when welding due to the heat treating processes you could reverse during welding. The other post also said that SS is hard to bend without crushing the tube, is this true? thanks, Judd

All of that is true. I used to work in a food manufacturing facility and 90% of what we used (as in all food plants) is stainless. If you have never welded stainless I would suggest not using it for a cage. The bling factor would be off the chart though

 

[SHERPA]

no.

no.

and................

no.

--sherpa

 

[TJ99]

welding SS is not bad with a TIG welder but when I tried bending it with my JD it was not a pretty site

 

[Jason R]

I think rebar would be stronger. :flipoff2:

 

[Judd]

I think rebar would be stronger. :flipoff2:

Yeah rebar why didn't I think of that!! :flipoff2:

So I guess that answer is don't use it

Is the wall thickness to small, is it really hard to bend

My buddy is a welder by trade so tigging it is no problem

thanks, judd

 

[JIM3030]

the wall thickness is the main problem. Hell take a piece home and play with it. you can fold it up pretty easily

 

[azmaverick]

We built a mid-engine sand rail out of stainless 1.5x .065 wall. When we TIG welded it, we purged the frame with Argon gas. This will make the joints stronger and less likely to crack. But on a down note, the stainless has cracking problems in the areas around high stress points. I think that if you are going to use stainless that I would at the very least go to .120 wall on a rig as heavy and what you are proposing. Otherwise NO!

 

[DVanVorous]

Iffen one wants "shiney" SST is nice, iffen one wants some structural integrity 304 and 316 SST both are about 2/3 the mechanical strength of the more typical 1010 or 1020 tubing. Means yould need about .18-.2" thick wall to be equivalent to a cage made of .120 wall steel...

D.

 

[J-Bone]

The racing association I am in only allows 0.090 cro-mo or 0.120 mild steel. SS is fairly brittle, plus 0.070 is really thin.

 

[spencurai]

working with SS in general will prove to be a pain if you are a novice metal fabricator. I made some shackles out of stainless that turned out bitchen. I needed to bore out the holes to fit larger bolts and it took bit after bit to bore them out with TONS of lubrication. We had a mig set up for SS so it wasn't that bad to weld but you have to completely retool. I couldn't even imagine how many hole saws you would go through just to make one notch, given the stuff is thin but it is wicked material to work with, and I believe it is more dense than mild steel so it might even be heavier...not sure though!!

 

[weedwacker]

Spring back is also a PITA when bending SS. Pull it out of a bender and depending on the hardness, it can spring back 20 degrees.

 

[flimmy]

I had the same idea. Here is a link to what was posted.

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101711&highlight=stainless+steel

 

[Judd]

I had the same idea. Here is a link to what was posted.

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101711&highlight=stainless+steel

I read all four pages of your post and it seemed to turn into a pissing match, no offense. Seems like I should pass on the SS, thanks for the help guys it's much appreciated! Judd

So, what is the favorite wall thickness for 1 3/4 ERW steel? Is .120 wall pretty standard? thanks

 

[flimmy]

no offense taken