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  #11  
Old 01-05-2021, 11:41 AM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Originally Posted by skintkarter View Post
Spencer, I'm tighter than a duck's bottom under-water (ex Yorkshire and now living in New Zealand) but whilst the methods outlined by the previous posters will undoubtedly work (particularly I understand the sand bending) there is quite a bit of time to be invested in the setup, former etc...

It may well be worth scouring your local area for a tube bending firm who does jobbing work or short productions runs. A muffler shop is unlikely to give you the absence of necking that you require.

I've had some small items bent locally before and if you are prepared to wait for them to have a run of your diameter of tubing (and thus the setup) it may not be that expensive. You may be lucky enough to have somebody locally with a CNC bender.

Worth looking around before you commit to DIY and several attempts to get it bang on.

Fully agree with this thought.
I was looking at Columbia mandrel bending company yesterday ..... I get nice bends from them for headers.

(using water and SwageLok fittings works for .090" wall 2"o.d. tube for rollbars @NHRA specs. but most of you guys prolly already do that, along with the sand-ramming)
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  #12  
Old 01-05-2021, 01:09 PM
astroracer astroracer is offline
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The only tubing I would recommend using for a chassis build is A513 DOM. 3" is available in .065" wall. I would look for a shop that has a mandrel bender capable of doing that size. With that said I would find the shop BEFORE I buy the material. Wall thickness does come into play when bending tubing, probably more so when using the Pro-Tools or JD2 style follow benders then with a mandrel style, but the wall thickness can be too thin for a follow style bender to do it's job without kinking the tube. You may have to bump up to .083 wall to have it bent.
The other option is to go with a more common size tube. 1 3/4 x .095 wall would build a stout chassis, it is used every day in race car construction and any competent hot rod shop should be able to bend this for you.
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  #13  
Old 01-05-2021, 02:40 PM
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Steve Hamilton Steve Hamilton is offline
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Hi Spencer
could you buy manderal bent elbows and use sections to weld together with straight lengths.

Steve
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  #14  
Old 01-05-2021, 05:15 PM
astroracer astroracer is offline
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Originally Posted by Steve Hamilton View Post
Hi Spencer
could you buy manderal bent elbows and use sections to weld together with straight lengths.

Steve
I wouldn't recommend it. Any mandrel bent tubing purchased from eBay, Summit or Jegs is going to be exhaust tubing, usually aluminized 16ga, which is not the correct material to use as chassis components.
Buy the correct material and have it bent.
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  #15  
Old 01-06-2021, 11:00 AM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Hamilton View Post
Hi Spencer
could you buy manderal bent elbows and use sections to weld together with straight lengths.

Steve

Not recommended for chassis const.
Having a mandrel shop do your tubes is the best. They have to see the material and your patterns first. They will ask for longer lengths for leverage to bend at the ends.
Pines benders are the best. Kerker Exhaust company (motorcycle exhaust company, years ago) had 3 Pines benders for their production.
(I've seen 12in dia. x .032" wall aluminum tubing done - w/12in radius - and having perfect finish on every part with the Pines bender. (Boeing Welded Duct Facility, Renton, WA)
yeehaw,
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Last edited by crystallographic; 01-06-2021 at 11:15 AM.
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  #16  
Old 01-07-2021, 05:36 PM
ojh ojh is offline
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An electrical tubing (not conduit, different size that) bends thinwall EMT nice and clean, its about .072. You could rent one of them and give a piece a try, I'd use DOM, .083 if you aren't worried about matching factory specs.
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  #17  
Old 01-07-2021, 05:51 PM
norson norson is offline
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I think think there is a danger in building a chassis with anything other than material of equal or better to the original. You've got to realize that the "history" of a car gets lost over time and owners. you are not talking about cosmetics. You're talking about structure.
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  #18  
Old 01-08-2021, 05:10 PM
sandmanred sandmanred is offline
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If the radius is large enough I think you could make a wood buck to support the bend. Sand packing is effective but it's best if you can really pack it in. I've welded a large nut to one end of the tube, capped the other and then further compact with pressure from a threaded rod cranked into the end of the tube. 3 inch tubing might need a more complex assembly to pack but that's the idea I've on up to 1.5 inch tubing. Crank and tap the walls of the tubing and you can compress the sand quite a bit. I like to use 80 grit coal slag blasting media because it's very flowable and easy to work with.

You could also buy the bends. They make a huge range of radius bends here.

https://www.morriscoupling.com/asset...-bending-2.pdf

I agree looking for a local shop is a good idea but I've got quotes before for one off bends and it wasn't cheap.
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