Cage Material Question

[NEVERENOUGH]

Well this is one of the things that have been on my mind. Build a cage out of .095, dom or chromoly. I hear a lot of people say to build only out of dom or chromoly but then you see a lot of builders using .095. Maybe explain the diffeance between the three and also the pros and cons of each. I know you can debate this all day long but just for argument sake lets only look at it from a utv point of view. Thanks and this is only the beginning I have a lot of quesions.

[MSHQ]

Originally Posted by NEVERENOUGH

Well this is one of the things that have been on my mind. Build a cage out of .095, dom or chromoly. I hear a lot of people say to build only out of dom or chromoly but then you see a lot of builders using .095. Maybe explain the diffeance between the three and also the pros and cons of each. I know you can debate this all day long but just for argument sake lets only look at it from a utv point of view. Thanks and this is only the beginning I have a lot of quesions.

If you are simply just crusing around and not jumping or racing or doing any extreme riding you can get away with using ERW (1010 as long as you have x bracing in the roof and engineered supports throughout the cage. That has a tensle strenght of 55,000 psi,

Now if you are going to race or do extreme offroad the DOM or Chromemoly is recommended. DOM has a tensle strenght of 70,000 psi and Chromemoly has a tensel strenth of 90,000.

If there is weight issues on a racing DOM and Chromemoly weigh exactly the same, therefore the only advantage is an increase in tensle strenght.

0.95 is just the thickness of the tube wall and using DOM or Chromemoly tubing will allow you to reduce the wall thickness without loosing strenght.


Hope this helps.

Sean

[dieselpowered]

So then why would you just not make all the cages from DOM or Chromoly? I have heard from many to atleast have the cages made from DOM. Is it a matter of cost or weight? What if you are not racing but want the extra protection from a stronger steel? How much stronger is a DOM cage versus a cage made from 095?

[MSHQ]

Originally Posted by dieselpowered

So then why would you just not make all the cages from DOM or Chromoly? I have heard from many to atleast have the cages made from DOM. Is it a matter of cost or weight? What if you are not racing but want the extra protection from a stronger steel? How much stronger is a DOM cage versus a cage made from 095?

Sorry for the late reply we were swamped....
To answer your question it is a matter of both. DOM is more expensive than the ERW and Chromoly is even more costly.

DOM is only 1/4% stronger than the ERW and would be twice as expensive for the same 0.95 dia tubing. The reason why most people use the ERW is that not to many consumers would pay $3600.00 for a 4 place cage. The cages you find in a DOM steel are usually a smaller dia and provide the same strenght as the 0.95 wall ERW.

Another factor to think about is why would you have a material stronger than the unit that it is attached to it?

IN another post we talked about energy transfer....if your roll cage is so much stronger than the unit and the occupants...the energy is going to be transfered to them. In the Cup cars we use the ERW so that when a driver hits somthing there is some give in the steel and slows the energy down so that the rest of the car and the driver do not take the damage. When the front of the car gets hit..we can clip it off and still use the rest of the mid and rear sections and our driver walks away....Roll cages are there for your protection, let it do its job and take the energy away from you and your passengers.

Happy Friday.
Sean