I'm putting together a T bucket ch***is (on a budget). I've seen ladder bar setups from square tube,and truck arm setups with square tube. I'd like to do a 4 bar, because of availability and cost. I would make the bungs for the rod ends from bar stock. The plans for the project is a 4 banger, roadster style. light weight everything Has anyone done this. opinions welcome. (fingers crossed on that one)
while it would probably work fine , i think it wouldn't look too good...especially on a car with the ch***is/suspension exposed like a T-bucket. but it's your car
Last time I checked, steel tubing was sold by the lb. Since round tubing of the same diameter and wall has less material then square, it is cheaper. So besides the square looking funky, the round is cheaper and provides uniform bending strength in all directions. Like 36 said, it will work, it is your car, do what you want.
Agreed with the above. Will look like ***. Will not be as strong unless you upsize. Wont save you much $. Your car.
Not really a good idea...as square tube will bend MUCH easier thAn round tube will under a bend moment. Straight push and pull, it's nearly as strong, but bending it's "much" weaker. I would NOT do this for my car or any I would build. A "ladder bar"...with enough supports, maybe. It's your car, your ****.! Mike
Mike, your statement is patently incorrect. Bending Moment of Inertia defines a particular cross sections ability to withstand bending forces. The moment of inertia for common shapes are shown in the table below. If you do the math. A 2" round tube with 0.083" wall will have an I of 0.2296 in^4. The similar square tube (2" with 0.083" wall) will have an I of 0.3905 in^4 when it is orientated with one side normal to the applied load. This makes the square 40% stiffer in bending then the round. The square has problems in such that the tight radius in the corners can produce stress risers that lead to premature fatigue failure in applications such as suspensions and ch***is that receive cyclic loadings. That is why most tube ch***is are built with round tube. Even though it isn't as stiff as square, it is uniformly stiff in all directions and doesn't have stress risers that lead to cracking.
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