Square tubing vs round tubing

[99RangerKrazy]

Hey everyone...I'm going to start working on my flatbed soon, made of square tubing. Now I was going to tie in a roll bar (not a light bar, but a legit roll bar) into the flatbed. Now are there structural advantages/disadvantages of using square tubing instead of round tubing for the roll bar? I like the look of the square tubing better than round, mainly because of the boxy front end of the Ranger, and the flatbed will also be made of square tubing. I ask mainly because all roll bars I've ever seen were made of round tubing.Thanks in advance

 

[merc2dogs]

Round tube is normally stronger than square, easier to bend, and easier to work with in a factory environment.

Square is normally easier to work at home for the typical car freak, but is more labor intensive. A bend is easier to do 'at home' by cutting a series of slots, bending and welding it back up. (unless you have one of those multimillion dollar home shops everyone dreams about!)

As with anything you can easily size it to match the job, and if you go with rectangular tubing you can orient it to put the strength where you need it.

My view is that either one will work fine, so whichever fits best with your plans is great.

Ken.

 

[4x4junkie]

I think the majority of people think the round looks better, and is probably why you always see round (round seems easier to bend in a tube bender as well).

As for strength, I think the square might be a bit more resistant to denting on the corners, but less so on the sides than round tube. Resistance to bending may be slightly better too as I believe 2" sq. will have a bit more mass to it than say 2" round.

Overall I don't see a structural reason to avoid it IMO.

 

[JohnnyU]

For every cut and mitered/rewelded joint in the square tubing, you should use a "fish plate" over the sides of the joint. Adding a bit of extra plating on the inside and outside of the 'bend' wouldn't hurt either.