1.5" / .120 wall DOM

[EricB]

Any reason for not using 1.5"/.120 DOM for chassis material?? Thinking about building a 4 seater / fuel injected 406 SBC / turbo 400 + NP 205 / Front + Rear steer 2.5 tons. I know 1.75" seems to be the most popular and understand the strength difference but with proper triangulation, dual loops at roolcage area, etc. will 1.5" be insufficient? I have a fairly extensive back ground in fabrication so l feel comfortable in building the chassis with 1.5" but mainly looking for any input / pros and cons / past experiences with the smaller tubing causing problems / etc. Why??? I have a boatload of 1.5" .120 DOM!! CROOKED CUSTOMER !! Long story without a happy ending so now l need to figure out what to use material for - been wanting a buggy for a while!! Old school mud trucks til now but can't fit family into picture and not many options left for mudding in my area. Thanks in advance for your response!

 

[crawlin85cj]

Re: 1.5" / .120 wall DOM

My last buggy was 1.5" .120 and the chassis was extremely fragile. It dented easy, the nodes around the link mounts distorted and I was constantly chasing issues from a tweaked chassis. I finally unloaded it and saved myself future frustration. Not saying it can't be done successfully because it has but 1.75" just makes more logical sense.

 

[TBItoy]

Re: Re: 1.5" / .120 wall DOM

Lots of rigs use 1.5" tube.

It won't dent quite as easy as 1.75" (assuming same wall thicknesses)

Be sure and gusset all nodes,

 

[Lauderdale]

My rig is made of 1.5 I believe it will hold up. But it all comes down to you pay for what you get in my own personal opinion.

 

[skipnrocks]

The size of your rig will play a big roll also. A dune buggy with 1.25 in will hold up fine where a larger 4 seater with good sized motor you should go larger in my opinion.

 

[EricB]

Thanks for the quick responses. At least its not uncharted territory. Problem with going to bigger tubing is cost / got plenty of1.5". We use a Pines tube bender and have dies for 1.5" / cost of dies for 1.75" would be around $3-5k unless l can find used dies. Trying to utilize what l have laying around as far as parts and material - been into 4x4s as long as l could drive - got plenty of ton stuff and couple sets of 2.5 tons. May scale back to ton rears if that would ease stress on chassis but then gotta spend money upgrading axles - plan to run 46" MTs Claws cuts ( again- parts sitting in shop corner). Gusseting at shock mt. points will be heavy to help with distributing stress on tubing. Had planned to go wide open 2 seater but once the wife said she wasn't planning to sit at home l came around to the 4 seater! Will say it will only be a trail rider but once the testosterone sets in l expect the go pedal will get tested! Thanks again for the insight.

 

[angryfab]

Go with dual b dar, bual shock hoops , bual roof line bars an plate the inside of the frame where your links land an throw a dimple in there an u will be fine I have beat the **** out of 1.5 on many, many , many low budget rigs for years :****: :****: now I would not do 1.5 an then power it an go rear steer 80 that would make u look like a cheap ass I would that's my 2 cents but I don't have 2 cents

 

[wizzo]

my buggy is 1.5 and it takes a beating. use .188 on the belly and window bars, basically anything that will see abuse from alot of contact with rocks. i've got a buddy who has a 1.75 chassis all .120 and his is dented and dinged alot more than mine and i've rolled mine more than hims so i don't see 1.5 being weaker than 1.75 i think if you build it structurally sound and use thicker tubing in the right places you will be good to

 

[EricB]

Thanks / was thinking it would be sufficient but really needed some tried and trued advice. Definitely planning to use .188 on underbelly - planning uhmw skid plates as well. Like previously stated - gonna end up being more of a trail cruiser. At least til l get tired of watching others hill launching! Then it will most likely become mommas ride. Never been much on watching / gotta get in the mix

 

[muddinmetal]

With 2800 lbs of axle and tire an endo rollover could be bad news :****: