I was thinking of building rock sliders and bumpers. I would like to use 1.25 to 1.75" .120 tubbing. Would a 12 ton hydro jack type bender be strong enough to do the job? I can get one tomorrow for $70. It might be junk but would it be strong enough to learn on?

Those non-mandrel style benders dont work worth a dam on tubing. The bends usually have very large kinks in them, or sometimes it just crushes at the bend.

Those are pipe benders. Big difference.

OK glad to know, thanks for the info.

Doing 1" Stuff they are Great, doign 2" DOM well it will make LOTS of wierd noises, trust me i know, Thats the same deal we are using to make my Tube bumper, None of the Bends have crushed. But like i said, My bro is making his Mini Chopper Fine with it, and i tihnk his Tubing ranges from 1" - 1.5"

Yeah it will probably work. A torch is a good way to make it bend easier. Heat the pipe

Yeah it will probably work. A torch is a good way to make it bend easier. Heat the pipe


I heard that weakens the tubing, is that true?

Just to show, heres what a 12 ton pipe bender can do, and no this isnt pipe, its DOM tubing

That is a godly bumper!!!

Thats a nice bumper Kid, kinda like what I wanted to build. Too bad I passed on the purchase, early post said it wouldnt work. I could have got a 12 ton for $70 or a 18 ton for $99 and each came with 5 or 6 jigs up to 2".

i would say, if you can afford it, go with a mandrel one. But if you cnat i thinkthe pipe bender will be fine, jsut take your tiem and dont go to fast, i dotn know if you have seen my bros mini chopper hes workign on but heres a pic of it, also it was all bent up with the 12ton pipe bender...

I'm not trying to be a thorn in anyone's side, but I thought I would clarify this (mandrel bender) topic.

A mandrel bender actually has a component (the mandrel) that goes inside the material whether its tube or pipe which keeps the tube in good shape this is typically used for exhaust.

Here is a picture of a mandrel bender (price probably a couple thousand $):

http://www.ercolina-usa.com/images/machines/030wmand.jpg

Here is a picture of a pro-tools tube bender no mandrel. This is a draw-type bender since the workpiece is being drawn around the pin that holds the steel billet die as well as the bender arms together. (price can be less or more than $500.00 depends on accesories and # of dies purchased):

http://www.pro-tools.com/images/105_p1.jpg

based on this comparison I definately do not want to buy a mandrel bender for a few thousand dollars, but if a hydrolic bender can do some of the things in the pictures above, i would imagine a 12 or 16 ton hydr from ebay for less than $100 would be good enough for the average do-it-yourselfer to build a bumber or the like.

I know this sounds stupid but what does DOM stand for? I'm getting ready to build a bumper myself and am going to get a 12 ton pipe bender. I've never heard of DOM tubing before. I was just going to use 2 inch rigid galvanized conduit from home depot. This stuff is heavy as h&ll and super solid. Plus, it's what the bender is designed to bend. Anyone see a reason why this stuff isn't good for this project. I think its better because it won't rust.

I'm going to assume that you're going to need to do a little bit of welding. Welding galvanized metal produces toxic gases. Also, I don't think conduit is manufactured to handle stresses like steel tubing is. DOM = Drawn Over Mandrel.

for a bumper just grab some HREW tube if you're going for the tube look. DOM is more expensive but it is stronger. I would stay away from the depot fence post type tube.

Have you ever looked at this stuff, guys? There are three grades of conduit, the first is EMT (Electrical Metallic Tubing) then IMC (Intermediate Metallic Tubing) and finally Rigid. I'm talking about using Rigid. This is some strong stuff. The walls are more than an 1/8 inch (0.125) thick. That's thicker than the 0.120 DOM tubing Xplorerkid used. Since its thicker, I would think its stronger than 0.120 DOM tubing, it will at least be a heck of a lot stronger than my stock bumper.

As far as welding galvanized metal goes, I've got a gas mask that I can wear under the welding face sheild. If I wear the gas mask and weld outside in open air, the gas shouldn't be issue, right?

My dad's an electrical engineer and he's had a lot of experience with this stuff. He thinks it would be perfect for making a bumper out of. He even told me a trick to keep plastic pipe from flattening when they bend it. What they do is put an air tight cap on one end and then fill the pipe with water and then put an air tight cap on the other end, then bend it. Since water isn't compressible, the pipe's volume has to remain constant, meaning it can't flatten. I think this same trick will work on metal pipe as well, if I sealed the ends somehow.

just because its thicker than .120 doesn't mean its stronger than .120 DOM. If I remember correctly, DOM is getting close to being twice as strong as HREW. For a bumber, I don't know that the galv stuff would be a big deal. I personally wouldn't use it, but that's just me. I've seen guys it for full roll cages. You are right that it will probably be stronger than the stock setup though if you do it right.

If the DOM stuff is twice as strong, where can I get it and how much does it cost?

Also, how much would it cost me to have the whole bumper galvanized once I finished fabricating it?

here's an article on strength of DOM...
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-BV60/Materials/carbon_tube.htm

As far as getting it, any metal supplier that has regular steel should have it. Just ask for "seamless" tube. I think its overkill for a bumper though. Too expensive for a bumper.

I would just use HREW for a bumper. Without getting into a lengthy discussion, the strength of tubing/pipe isnt completely based on thickness. .120 wall DOM will own .125 rigid conduit. It has to do with the fact that the DOM is the exact same wall thickness throughout, and doesnt have a large seam. This is a basic overview.... do some searching around and you can find out all the details.

So is rigid RHEW? or some other prosses?

DOM = made with no seam, could just about call it a steel bar with a hollow core, all the rest of the diffrent tube/pipe all have welded seams = they are made from flat sheet/strips and rolled/bent in to a tube then the seam is welded which is why DOM tube is so strong (trying for a simple explanation someone correct me if I'm wrong)