Roll cage

[9 LIVES]

Im getting ready to weld a roll cage I bought from S&W racecars into my 1998 dodge 2500 pro street diesel drag race truck.

Its DOM tubing and im not sure what wire & setting I should be using on my hobart 187 mig welder. Anyone got any ideas? I was thinking of using .024 wire & welding it on #4 setting

I don't have enough extra to play with and do much test welding not sure if anyone has done this before on here.

[old blue]

I would never risk a life in a rollcage built by someone who had to ask how to do it. Is it 1010? 4130? Normalized? If you don't know, don't attempt to build this thing. Wall thickness?

I strongly suggest you pony up for some same size/type material for practice/testing or have someone qualified assemble it for you.

[weldlk]

I would never risk a life in a rollcage built by someone who had to ask how to do it. Is it 1010? 4130? Normalized? If you don't know, don't attempt to build this thing. Wall thickness?

I strongly suggest you pony up for some same size/type material for practice/testing or have someone qualified assemble it for you.

Ditto!

[9 LIVES]

1-3/4 X .120" wall DOM tubing

Its not brain surgery...but thanks for the concern

[bandsawguy]

1-3/4 X .120" wall DOM tubing

Its not brain surgery...but thanks for the concern

Done wrong it might end up being brain surgery.

[mikecwik]

as long as you can lay a 360 continuous bead i say go for it. #4 sounds good to me. 023 wire? you bet. flux? c10? c25? co2? its all the same really, people here tend to split hairs but dont you bother about that. (you cant go wrong to reinforce with 100 mph tape.) you will have to alter your driving style to stay withing the bounds of that tape though which might help you out in the end.
if you cant afford to test weld you surely cant afford to drag.
hard but true.
but seriously, advice is a dangerous gift.

[mikecwik]

and consider the fact that youve probably got a grand in a prefab cage (i dont race) but im pretty sure youre going to have to pass some sort of inspection of your vehicles cage welds and other what nots.
it might not be brain surgery but it might as well be if youre not sure what youre doing.

[9 LIVES]

UPDATE:

I had a guy a couple towns over who worked for a couple nascar race shops install the cage for me. I couldn't find the time to do it myself and didn't want to kick myself if the cage didn't pass NHRA inspection..rather leave this up to a professional who did cages for a living.


Update on the situation was I brought the truck to a this "professional" November 14th 2009 and didn't get my truck back till January 17 2010.

It got locked in his shop for that length of time due to him not paying his rent for 3 months and screwing a bunch of people over the landlord locked him out and the power was shutoff!

I got my truck back with the cage and the lexan back window 80% finished....the work that is done is CRAP! so the guy has my money and didn't finish....he is no where to be found.

So now I've got another shop who is going to fix this and $3,000 dollars later I learn a lesson!

[Hotfoot]

OUCH!!..not such a rare story, unfortunately...many similar tales of woe in the Auto and Car fields. 'take a fine old classic (in the owner's eyes,anyways), turn the shop loose...two years later be there picking it up on a roll-off...many thousands of dollars poorer...

I've read dozens of such accounts over the years, and have seen it in person a few. Pitiful...just pitiful. Many times, drugs or alcohol are involved in the failure to get the work done.

I've also seen this with "Independent Contractors" on home projects, and have personally observed the many contractor's truck outside local bars at 3:00 in the afternoon...spending those "advances for materials".

[brucer]

i use to use regular mild steel .030 wire or er70s-6, 72/25 mix for dom... flux core sucks for cages and will get it kicked by nhra, no slag and no grinding allowed if i remember correctly, even no little slag b@llz stuck to the bars... they actually prefer you to tig weld cages, you can mig it for sure, just has to be clean and very good mig welds.. use your nozzle dip and anti-splatter spray..

most local tracks will pass you, its the bigger nhra sanctioned tracks that will boot you in a heartbeat..

a piece of the same diameter 11ga welded tubing will get you close to thickness and a fair bit cheaper for practicing purposes... you need to practice a bit unless your confident in your welding skills...

first thing is look inside the cage you bought and see if there is a seam in it.. i've seen a few of those cages being marketed/sold say they are dom when they are actually welded seam... but they are charging the price of dom... thats when i started bending my own cages..

to add. for the quality of cage you get when you purchase a prebent cage does not compare to one that you can bend yourself... if nothing else buy you some extra 1inch or 1 1/4 dia. dom and add gussets and corner bracing.. remember to triangulate everything..

have you ran the truck yet? i wouldnt add a cage unless your going to go fast enough to need one.. just adds weight and if your not going fast enough to need one it just adds expense, and unneeded weight..

i would recommend atleast a 140amp machine ,but i think its a little on the light side actually...