DOM tubing vs SCH 40

Rat Rods Rule

Help Support Rat Rods Rule:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

clcutlass

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
51
Have some plans for building 4 bar up front and back...cant get DOM locally and online it is crazy expensive. See builds here using schedule 40...any concerns in using that. Can save a lot of money
 
OI, he might be looking at water pipe. I just wanted to let people know about structural pipe. NHRA does not specify DOM. They just say mild steel (or chrome moly). Mild steel has to be .118" wall. 11 gauge (120"wall) spec allows it to be less than .118" so that forces builders to use 10 gauge (.134"). Around here no one carries 1 5/8" 10 gauge so the alternative is 1 1/4" structural pipe which is a shade over 1 5/8" diameter with .140" wall. It is cheaper than ERW too.
 
so from what I am finding ERW is a cheaper alternative to DOM but still had good mechanical/structural properties.

ERW it is...
 
DOM vs any other pipe

I am no expert, but I have extensive experience in round track racing. DOM is expensive even when you can purchase it locally, but it is seamless. There are certain bars you want DOM, the hoop bar(behind driver up and over to other side, the halo(above driver back to front side to side) and a post( top to bottom). Seat and harness need to be mount to cage and not floor pan, and never use fiberglass racing seat. Most crashes in drag racing I have seen, the car tends to get up on the roof and roll, though they don't crash near as often as in round track, they are violent! Safety is all that matters. A lot of small track tend to use what I call highway barriers, small at top wide at bottom, these will launch the car in the air when hit. So the little extra expense and minimal weight addition is nothing. If it is going to kill your budget on the race car, then you couldn't afford the race anyway. A safe built car not only protects you but the competition and spectators too.
 
welding fab shop ?

about 8 years ago I checked in with a local welding fab shop and they didn't have any 7/8 DOM I needed to build hairpins. They piggy backed some on their next steel order. I wasn't in a big hurry and didn't have to pay special delivery 100 ft was about $ 2.00 per ft. I was in last year and asked if they had any dom in stock, He had about a 6 ft piece of 2 in in the cut off salvage rack. I probably should have bought it to make a gasser style front axle.
 
Welded tubing strength, flaws ?

I was the Quality controll manager then production manager for a company that used a semi-truck load of steel tubing every week, I spent some time at
Patco rolling mill in LA. Ocasionly I would see steel tubing with bad welds. I would never use welded tubing for anything structural. one bad piece and who knows what can happen.

footnote : Pacific tube shut down it's calif factory in 2001.
 
erw vs DOM

ERW tubing is normally made from 1010 steel. DOM tubing steel is made from 1020 or 1026 steel. In the manufacture of DOM it goes thru another inspection process to verify the weld qualiy. The Dom starts with higher strength steel strip .
 

Latest posts

Back
Top