Topic: Tubing prices/availability

Who's been buying DOM tube lately?  What'd you spend on the tubing to build your roll cage?  (And what size/type did you get)

After my disappointing results with my own bender, just buying a prebent kit from RCC is looking better and better. Especially since I'm comparing a prebent kit in 1.75 x .095 to building my own out of 1.75 x .120 just to keep it from flattening on the bends.

Re: Tubing prices/availability

It's not uncommon for pre-bent cages to fail tech.  Recommend writing John with the cage you are looking at.  While pre-bent cages save some headaches and cash, they can cause other issues that aren't evident until they are installed.

Re: Tubing prices/availability

Bricoop wrote:

It's not uncommon for pre-bent cages to fail tech.  Recommend writing John with the cage you are looking at.  While pre-bent cages save some headaches and cash, they can cause other issues that aren't evident until they are installed.

RCC cages installed correctly do not fail tech.  Lemons cannot and should not endorse any company but Pagel, when I bought a cage from him for the first time after 4 RCC cages, admitted Jim confers with him regularly and if a Halo cage can meet your needs...ugh cannot say he approved (but he kinda did) but he was optomistic.  Never had an RCC cage have any issues passing tech.  We just had a headroom restricted car so wanted a downbar-style and Evil Genius had just done one for the same car.

To the OP, for us the difference in price of a delivered RCC cage and buying our own materials and bending it up 100% ourselves in $75-100 if we make 0 mistakes in bending it.  That is 100% worth it for us.  If you are West Coast based, ask Pagel if he has time to do one for you...about the same price as RCC.  Neither of them are great at meeting their delivery dates, communicating about delays, etc so stay on top of the status with phone calls.

Re: Tubing prices/availability

OnkelUdo wrote:
Bricoop wrote:

It's not uncommon for pre-bent cages to fail tech.  Recommend writing John with the cage you are looking at.  While pre-bent cages save some headaches and cash, they can cause other issues that aren't evident until they are installed.

RCC cages installed correctly do not fail tech.  Lemons cannot and should not endorse any company but Pagel, when I bought a cage from him for the first time after 4 RCC cages, admitted Jim confers with him regularly and if a Halo cage can meet your needs...ugh cannot say he approved (but he kinda did) but he was optomistic.  Never had an RCC cage have any issues passing tech.  We just had a headroom restricted car so wanted a downbar-style and Evil Genius had just done one for the same car.

To the OP, for us the difference in price of a delivered RCC cage and buying our own materials and bending it up 100% ourselves in $75-100 if we make 0 mistakes in bending it.  That is 100% worth it for us.  If you are West Coast based, ask Pagel if he has time to do one for you...about the same price as RCC.  Neither of them are great at meeting their delivery dates, communicating about delays, etc so stay on top of the status with phone calls.


Interesting.  Are RCC cages always halo style?  I guess I assumed they'd be main hoop/front hoop style.  I also hadn't considered having Evil Genius make my cage.  I am indeed on the west coast.

Thanks for the tips!

Re: Tubing prices/availability

King 1 wrote:

I am indeed on the west coast.

Since you're near Bellingham you may also want to consider Doug Chase of Chase Race in Duvall:

https://chaserace.com/

Doug has built several cages for Lemons (including one for my SAAB 96) and has himself raced in Lemons in a Hudson. He does good work.

1982 MG Metro 1300: IOE 2015 Pacific Northworst GP, Longest Distance 2010 Cd'L Box Wine Country Classic
1980 KV Mini 1: Worst of Show and Fright Pig Supremo 2009 Concours d'Lemons
1978 H Special: Second-Round Elimination 2010 Lemons Pinewood Derby at Sears Pointless
1967 SAAB 96: IOE 2012 Pacific Northworst GP, Organizer's Choice 2022 Hell on Wheels California Rally

Re: Tubing prices/availability

King 1 wrote:
OnkelUdo wrote:
Bricoop wrote:

It's not uncommon for pre-bent cages to fail tech.  Recommend writing John with the cage you are looking at.  While pre-bent cages save some headaches and cash, they can cause other issues that aren't evident until they are installed.

RCC cages installed correctly do not fail tech.  Lemons cannot and should not endorse any company but Pagel, when I bought a cage from him for the first time after 4 RCC cages, admitted Jim confers with him regularly and if a Halo cage can meet your needs...ugh cannot say he approved (but he kinda did) but he was optomistic.  Never had an RCC cage have any issues passing tech.  We just had a headroom restricted car so wanted a downbar-style and Evil Genius had just done one for the same car.

To the OP, for us the difference in price of a delivered RCC cage and buying our own materials and bending it up 100% ourselves in $75-100 if we make 0 mistakes in bending it.  That is 100% worth it for us.  If you are West Coast based, ask Pagel if he has time to do one for you...about the same price as RCC.  Neither of them are great at meeting their delivery dates, communicating about delays, etc so stay on top of the status with phone calls.


Interesting.  Are RCC cages always halo style?  I guess I assumed they'd be main hoop/front hoop style.  I also hadn't considered having Evil Genius make my cage.  I am indeed on the west coast.

Thanks for the tips!

To the best of my knledge, all RCC prebent cages are halo style.  In his shop in Virginia he will install anything you want.

If John has the time, being on the West coast and Evil Genius cage wll end up the same or less expensive.  I cannot stress enough keeping it on your timeline and not his.

Re: Tubing prices/availability

I bought 4 20' sections of DOM 1.75 .120 wall at my local small metal shop and it was like $900 XO

Re: Tubing prices/availability

I haven’t built a car lately but a pre-bent cage from RCC wasn’t much more expensive than bending our own and it saved us a lot of time

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner

Re: Tubing prices/availability

We bought a RCC cage for an E30 years ago. It fit well and went in quickly.
I bought another RCC cage for an E46 in January for $1250 delivered.

Roll cage tubing prices vary across the country.
Here in Houston, TX it seems more expensive than on the East and West coast.
DOM was over $1000 for 100' of 1.50 x .120 here when I priced it, maybe $1150.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

Re: Tubing prices/availability

Tube Services in Denver sold us 1.5” x .120 for 6.70/ft about a month ago.  They were the cheapest near Denver by a long shot.

Petrosexual Racing - 4.9 HT swap/Trashback Miata
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BFE GP '18 - 1st in C, High Plains Drifter -19 - 1st in B/Overall
Uh oh, Spaghettios...

Re: Tubing prices/availability

Bought 4-22' lengths of 1.75"x. 095wall DOM from alro steel in fort Wayne Indiana for $750. This was back in March