Cage tubing size and material?

[dzrtRangr]

I want to cage my ranger soon, just looking for tips. What size and type of tubing do you guys use? I've heard people say only use Chromoly, others says only DOM, others say Mild is perfectly fine. Opinions?

[Jon Jon]

it depends on the application.  do you plan to race, or just dick around?  how much suspension do you have?

[dzrtRangr]

no official racing but i'm pretty hard on trucks at the desert.. we'll just call it "spirited driving"

[Jon Jon]

its hard to say.  obviously something is better than nothing, but how safe do you want to be, know what i mean?

[chase]

I have several friends that run Mild cages that have held up for years. Few of them have even rolled their trucks, bent a few panels back out, replaced a shock or two, and kept on running it. So I'd say for just a weekend romper, stick to mild or regular dom. If you plan on racing or competing at all, make sure the cage is up to spec, whatever the rulebook specifies.

[tailgunner]

from what i understand, mild and dom are about the same , but with mild you have a seam. that seam looks like a line on the tubing and if bent in the wrong position it can split during a roll ect. i'm using 1.5" x .120 wall mild in my bedcage, but as soon as i move onto the cab cage it will be 1.75 x .120 wall dom for saftey reasons. cromo is super strong and expensive.

[Jon Jon]

word.
i have a stock(looking) bumper on my truck, but theres 1.25" x .120 wall mild steel behind it for a little extra rigidity.  plus i fabbed up a new crossmember and connected it all.  it looks stock unless you look closely, and ive nerfed a few friends and its held up just fine.

[Mr. Goodbody]

ill nerf you in my civic..... just dont make me break out the stang now!! you know what its like being in it.

[Ray_Butcher]

1.75" DOM or Chromo for Cab/Bed/Engine... Your life..

Score spec is 2"

[PreRunnit]

nice to know, so get a 2" die for the new bender and call it a day..

[chase]

I've heard of, and seen (a ton) of Mild cages that have held up very well over the years even with multiple rollovers, crashes, etc. So I definitely vouch for this as well, it's more about the structural design of the cage.

[Lindenmooch]

triangulation FTW!

[chase]

triangulation FTW!

werd.

[Jon Jon]

the stock rear bumper is pretty strong on the ranger (I know because I've tested it on several occasions lol), but I wanna put some tubes behind it to make it gangster like my front bumper.  there just isn't much room to do anything.  I'm brainstorming, though, and there may be some trick stuff going in underneath the bed, where the spare used to be.  more details when I have it all figured out

[chase]

Nice, keep us informed!