Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hi guys

well i went to pick up some steel tube i ordered to make myself a rear bar and before i picked it up went around to the exhasut shop to ask if he can bend it and he said nah mate to thick..

Anyway cut a long story short no one can bend it they reakon

I was looking at buying a 12Tonne tube bender was only like $140 i was thinking that could do the job but by the sounds of it won't bend it..


So how do people bend this stuff and make there own rear bars and sliders etc?

He said i can buy some 90degree bends to weld in but this will look like crap and not as strong correct?

Thanks alot for ya help

Rick.

Why did you get 4mm thick wall for a rear bar? 40 nominal bore pipe is good enough for barwork.

Now that you have it, get a 15 tonne pipe bender. One bent some 40 x 20 hollow bar recently for me so you will have no problems with what you've got.

use 90 deg bends and sleve the inside of the bends. if you can weld neat it looks fine i just ground mine back smooth
i also tryed to use fire pipe (4mm wal) but it wont bend very easily n tends to kink

Nelso wrote:Why did you get 4mm thick wall for a rear bar? 40 nominal bore pipe is good enough for barwork.

Now that you have it, get a 15 tonne pipe bender. One bent some 40 x 20 hollow bar recently for me so you will have no problems with what you've got.

Hi mate i haven't picked the pipe up yet.. i was going to use 32nb for my rear bar as that's what most people use for sliders and stuff...

Do you reakon 40nb is better?

Also the way i'm designing the bar everyone would laugh


Anyway i think the place had a 12t and 20t i was going to go with the 12t as i don't think 20t is really needed i don't think..

Also how is the best way to cut through plate metal like 10mm i was thinking of using..

I might get some pics up of how i was going to make this bar and get oppions as i don't wanna waste my money doing it to find it won't work but i have a good feeling it will serve it's purpose..

Cheers

Rick..

Mulisha wrote:hi guys

well i went to pick up some steel tube i ordered to make myself a rear bar and before i picked it up went around to the exhasut shop to ask if he can bend it and he said nah mate to thick..

Anyway cut a long story short no one can bend it they reakon

I was looking at buying a 12Tonne tube bender was only like $140 i was thinking that could do the job but by the sounds of it won't bend it..


So how do people bend this stuff and make there own rear bars and sliders etc?

He said i can buy some 90degree bends to weld in but this will look like crap and not as strong correct?

Thanks alot for ya help

Rick.

You are on the Sunshine coast in QLD. Mark who owns suziworks can bend it for you, as could any place that bends steel for industrial purposes.

Exhaust shops ( no offence to exhaust fitters intended) make exhausts and have no idea about strucural steel. They play with light grade steel. Leave the heavy work for the professionals.

And if you buy that $140 bender and don't get the bends in the right spot or kink the pipe with the imperial dies they supply with it (pipe is metric) so you end up with a $200 pile of steel and bender in the back yard wouldn't it have been easier to just pay someone the $15.00 a bend to start off with?

Jock wrote:

Mulisha wrote:hi guys

well i went to pick up some steel tube i ordered to make myself a rear bar and before i picked it up went around to the exhasut shop to ask if he can bend it and he said nah mate to thick..

Anyway cut a long story short no one can bend it they reakon

I was looking at buying a 12Tonne tube bender was only like $140 i was thinking that could do the job but by the sounds of it won't bend it..


So how do people bend this stuff and make there own rear bars and sliders etc?

He said i can buy some 90degree bends to weld in but this will look like crap and not as strong correct?

Thanks alot for ya help

Rick.

You are on the Sunshine coast in QLD. Mark who owns suziworks can bend it for you, as could any place that bends steel for industrial purposes.

Exhaust shops ( no offence to exhaust fitters intended) make exhausts and have no idea about strucural steel. They play with light grade steel. Leave the heavy work for the professionals.

And if you buy that $140 bender and don't get the bends in the right spot or kink the pipe with the imperial dies they supply with it (pipe is metric) so you end up with a $200 pile of steel and bender in the back yard wouldn't it have been easier to just pay someone the $15.00 a bend to start off with?

Mate i haven't brought any pipe or anything at this satge so it's to late to change my plan..

The reason for for bending is becuase i can't weld like a pro and have perfect weld but there not big piles of crap either..

I wouldn't mind just buying some 90 deg bends to pop in there but i just don't want to end up with heap of shit looking bar that's imbrassing to put on the car. I can always grind the welds down to smooth etc though..

hmmm

Thanks alot

Rick.

Hey I am not saying don't have a go just saying getting bends in the right spot is tricky. I just design my barwork, get it bent by prfessionals then I wel;d it myself.

Saves about two days of bending swearing cursing throwing and it is right first time. And looks good too. Even if you do a dodgy weld or two.

Jock wrote:Hey I am not saying don't have a go just saying getting bends in the right spot is tricky. I just design my barwork, get it bent by prfessionals then I wel;d it myself.

Saves about two days of bending swearing cursing throwing and it is right first time. And looks good too. Even if you do a dodgy weld or two.

Yeah mate i was going to get a pro to bend but i didn't seem to find one..

I'm thinking about the weld in bends as a option as i only need four 90 degree bends i think..

Cheers

Rick.

I've got a chinese 12 ton bender and I have bent 32 x 6 , 40 x 6 , 40 x 8 , 50 x 6 , 50 x 8 , steel tubeing in it up to 105 degrees and had no problem. The bender came with black metric dies an red Imperial dies and yes it is tricky to get the bends in the right place but it can be done.

The easiest way is to bend a test piece to 90 degrees. You measure from the end of the pipe say 500mm to the centre of the die , then you bend it to 90 degrees. Then put the pipe on the ground and using a straight edge on the longer side measure how long the short side is and that will tell you how much to allow for bends. You started with 500 to the centre and say you have 380 left , then you need to allow 120 mm for radius , hope this makes sense , a bit of practice and you will be right , but they will bend the pipe you will be getting , and when making a second bend on the same pipe use a spirit level on the first bent 90 degree bend to make sure your bends are lined up parrallel , Cheers Paul.

Try contacting you local hardware store and ask them to do it bunnings wearhouse would most likely be a good one if theres one near you.

Thanks alot guys that red one above is like what i was looking at today for $139 or something not sure what dies though.. might go have a look tommorow and see what dies come with it ..

Cheers

Rick.

Mulisha

if you want to take it to Mark at Suziworx and get him to bend it for you i can give him all the measurements he will need to do it....i make the rear bars for GQ all the time and Mark has the same bender as me....

or you could just buy one of mine

or if you do end up buying the bender you are talking about you will need to get a dawn die for it otherwise it will crush the tube..the dawn die will cost about $85.....if this bar is the only thing you are making then it isnt worth your while stuffing around with it...alaso i have all the measurements you would need to make it work on that bender as well as i used to use one for the last year or so till i got my new one

but what would i know, i'm no engineering genius

dave

If you buy the 90 degree weld on bends just make sure you do weld prep so you get some good penetration , Cheers Paul.

[quote="80lsy gq"]Mulisha

if you want to take it to Mark at Suziworx and get him to bend it for you i can give him all the measurements he will need to do it....i make the rear bars for GQ all the time and Mark has the same bender as me....

or you could just buy one of mine

or if you do end up buying the bender you are talking about you will need to get a dawn die for it otherwise it will crush the tube..the dawn die will cost about $85.....if this bar is the only thing you are making then it isnt worth your while stuffing around with it...alaso i have all the measurements you would need to make it work on that bender as well as i used to use one for the last year or so till i got my new one


Thanks mate for that i'm not making the type of rear bar ur thinking of .. this bar is going to be protecting my rear quarters and orginal bumper becuase i'm not wanting to do a quarter chop etc..

I'm really thinking of just going weld in bends becuase it will be alot easier but i don't want to end up with a shit looking bar at the same time ..

anyway i'm going to have a think what i should do anyway..

But 80lsy u make SWB sliders don't you? Becuase u might get a phine call soon as i'm after a set for mine You wouldn't have any pics of swb with ur sliders on it and were you mount up to as there is fark all chassis to get to and i don't have a body lift.

U won't have to worry about fuel lines though as i don't have any.

Cheers

Rick.

If you look on Pirate4x4 forums, in the 'Shop and Tools' section, theres a massive thread like 18pages long about benders. The most popular one mentioned is the Gottrikes bender, only problem is i cant find anywhere to get dies for it anywhere over here in aus. Anyone happen to know where to get dies for it? Im using the 32nb pipe like most others (42.4mm x 3.2mm wall).

http://www.gottrikes.com/HD_Tubebender.htm

striker99 wrote:Try contacting you local hardware store and ask them to do it bunnings wearhouse would most likely be a good one if theres one near you.

Bunnings don't do anything like that...

the welds in bends are nice and tight , i just made a rear bar for my gu , nothing flash , but just be carefull with the weld in jobs it can take ages to grind them flush and takes a lot of patience to get them looking smick (hence i just put checker plate over mine )

one other thing with the bends it makes it easy to put it together like a jig saw to see what it will be like , compared to bending and than not liking the out come.

strength wise it shouldn't be an issuse , unless you are going to use a hi lift on it , its not a roll bar .

but personally i reakon a bent bar looks better (if only because of the skill needed to get it all right .)

post up some pics of what you are planning on making , don't worry about what others think its your car and you obviously designed it a certain way for a reason

cheers Jai

Cheers guys for ya help

In the pic below u will kinda get the idea the arrow shows u a support that will come from i think it's a body mount next to my tow bar i will have some plate not sure on thickness up there that the bolt goes through and some tube welded to the plate that will go down and attach to that bottom bar via some plate.

So it will have a support on eah corner like said above and also i'll have some square that will slide in my tow bar hitch that will support the middle and that will either have those pipe supports like in the pic or some some plate that's cut in triangles to support it.

The bottom bar will be under the edge of the quarter and the top bar will be stepped out at a slight angle and about 4cm from paintwork..

i'm 99% sure it will work with a fair bit of mucking around but it should be good once finished as it protect quarters etc and also i'll be able to take it off with 2 bolts ..



Here is another pic to help explain it best i can but the one above is of more recent pic as u can tell by lthe 3" lift



Thanks alot

Rick.

Just my opinion but I think you are wasting your time and money with this project.

The bar you are proposing will not have enough outside support to offer any protection and you'll still end up smashing your factory bar and paintwork.

I would recommend if you are going to this trouble, go the tried and true method of chopping your lower quarters off and replacing the whole bar.

I think you will be disappointed with the final result of your proposed plan.

No offence intended, just my 2c.

RoldIT wrote:Just my opinion but I think you are wasting your time and money with this project.

The bar you are proposing will not have enough outside support to offer any protection and you'll still end up smashing your factory bar and paintwork.

I would recommend if you are going to this trouble, go the tried and true method of chopping your lower quarters off and replacing the whole bar.

I think you will be disappointed with the final result of your proposed plan.

No offence intended, just my 2c.

I hate the look of chopped quarters and i don't want just tube at the back of my car and i could never justify $1500+ on those arb rear bars..

Cheers

Rick.

I agree with above. You would be best replacing the rear bar, not just trying to protect the current one. Doing this will also make your departure angle worse.

Mulisha wrote: I hate the look of chopped quarters and i don't want just tube at the back of my car and i could never justify $1500+ on those arb rear bars..

The $1500 is what goes a long way in making it look nice, and do its intended job very well.

Don't just use tube then...

HotFourOk wrote:

Mulisha wrote: I hate the look of chopped quarters and i don't want just tube at the back of my car and i could never justify $1500+ on those arb rear bars..

The $1500 is what goes a long way in making it look nice, and do its intended job very well.

Don't just use tube then...

and they come up on ebay a bit for $400... IMHO that bar your proposing as others have said will make baby jesus cry....

Rick

if you dead set want something made then give me a call and we can work something out...it is possible to make a rear bar that will replace your current rear step and wings and not have to chop the quarters...it could be made to look factory using plate and would be heaps stronger...

if you are proposing to do what you said above so that you are able to just remove it when it comes time to sell it, there is no reason why the new bar cant be made to suit factory mounting points so it can be removed when you sell the car and put onto another car...

my number is 0416 288 290

dave

80lsy gq wrote:Rick

if you dead set want something made then give me a call and we can work something out...it is possible to make a rear bar that will replace your current rear step and wings and not have to chop the quarters...it could be made to look factory using plate and would be heaps stronger...

if you are proposing to do what you said above so that you are able to just remove it when it comes time to sell it, there is no reason why the new bar cant be made to suit factory mounting points so it can be removed when you sell the car and put onto another car...

my number is 0416 288 290

dave

Good advice.

if you dont want just tube, put chequerplate steel over the tubes, that always looks good on bars, or just some mild steel and paint it up. its easy enough to hide tube...

This is probably a trivial question for a lot of you who have done this a million times, but do you heat the pipe at all before bending or just bend it cold??

Thanks,

Hof

Just bend it cold.

bogged wrote:

80lsy gq wrote:Rick

if you dead set want something made then give me a call and we can work something out...it is possible to make a rear bar that will replace your current rear step and wings and not have to chop the quarters...it could be made to look factory using plate and would be heaps stronger...

if you are proposing to do what you said above so that you are able to just remove it when it comes time to sell it, there is no reason why the new bar cant be made to suit factory mounting points so it can be removed when you sell the car and put onto another car...

my number is 0416 288 290

dave

Good advice.

x2

It's too big of a job for a novice to do and get a good result and your design is impractical. People do tube bars because they are strong, practical and easy to make, but there are heaps of alternatives that will offer protection and look good. They just require a bit more effort.

the bar you are proposing will not work.

there isnt enough supports and they are too close to the centre. if you even lightly dropped the car onto the outside corner the bar would end up punching your quater itself and probably causing more damage than it would have potentially prevented.
much like cheap side steps.

to me 1500 is far from too much when it comes to protecting panels etc.
one stiffed quater and you will be up for that to fix it. let alone the second time you fix it agian.
otherwise try modding a bullbar or get 80lsy to make you something.

somewhere on here there is a jeep with a modded bull bar as a rear bar and it looks the goods