a36 square tube or avoid?
It seems in my area a36 is the norm and a500 or anything with a 10 in the beg is very hard to find. I have a few more shops to call around on as I only need a couple of feet for some Upper Control Arms.
My thoughts are could I just go a bit thicker with the a36 instead of .120 go to 3/16 which is what, .1875 in 1.5 ID? Will this make up for hte strength difference or is it still crap?
My thoughts are could I just go a bit thicker with the a36 instead of .120 go to 3/16 which is what, .1875 in 1.5 ID? Will this make up for hte strength difference or is it still crap?
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But do you know what grade it is?
I know all steel is not created equal and with a family in the heep I can't take huge risks. From what I have read the a36 will bend easier than the a500/513 or 10 whatever DOM. For uppers I would not think this would be a big deal since once would be able to put a straight edge on it and verify if alignment was off for some reason.
is the square tube stronger, perhaps resist bending more, if mounted as a diamond versus a square to the CA mount buckets? Or does it not make a difference?
I know all steel is not created equal and with a family in the heep I can't take huge risks. From what I have read the a36 will bend easier than the a500/513 or 10 whatever DOM. For uppers I would not think this would be a big deal since once would be able to put a straight edge on it and verify if alignment was off for some reason.
is the square tube stronger, perhaps resist bending more, if mounted as a diamond versus a square to the CA mount buckets? Or does it not make a difference?
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500 Posts
A36 is rated to a minimum of 36,000 KSI(pretty sure it's KSI) and the 500/513 is 50,000 KSI
The A36 often goes well over 36,000KSI. You can ask for the MTR and see what the tensile strength is listed on it when you buy. 36,000 is plenty.
The A36 often goes well over 36,000KSI. You can ask for the MTR and see what the tensile strength is listed on it when you buy. 36,000 is plenty.
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3,874 Posts
1020 DOM, and there uppers don't put much thought into it. Run something some what beefey and they will be fine. They don't bounce or drag on rocks so no side force is applied.
Jason.
1.5" x 1/8" square tubing is plenty strong for uppers. I made the ones on my jeep out of it, and they were fine. I did bend the one, but it was because the mount came off the diff housing during race conditions. The arm then fell down and smashed into many rocks head on. Eventually it snapped the 1 1/4" johnny joint and fell out of the jeep. I chose to make a new arm, but I probably could have reused it in a pinch. It was only bent about 10 degrees.
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