If you buy
american made structural "pipe", it is made at the same plant, of the same material, using the same process as HREW "tube" , just different dimensions, but yet people still argue that you should not build a cage with pipe and it's inferior to tube. What's your logic behind this?
If you'll read through my posts on this topic you'll see that I have explained there is a diference in quality of "pipe". The foreign made "black sprinkler pipe" is made of inferior materials so Yes it is weaker than tube. However all "pipe" is not the same. Mine came from Bull Moose Tube in Trenton, Ga.
http://www.bullmoosetube.com/hss_pipe.htm and it looks exactly like HREW tube. The 1.250" sch 40 even has a thicker wall, .140" vs. .120" wall HREW.
I'm willing to bet that a decently designed exo cage made out of the cheapest chinese "pipe" that you can find is every bit as safe as one of those bolt together in-cab cages sold by the toyota vendors made out of quality tube. I had one of the bolt in cages from all-pro but I decided to sell it and build a pipe exo. I feel way more confident with my exo that's fully welded and tied in to the frame in 8 places than I did with the kit bolted together with sleeves and bolted to sheet metal. Is the in cab cage un-safe? NO, it's a vast improvement from no cage at all. I've actually even seen those cheesy 1980's roll bars that bolts in the bed keep the back of a cab from crushing in a rollover. As cheesy as they are , they are safer than no cage.
Moral of the story: Don't tell people a cage made of pipe is un-safe. Especially if you wheel a truck with no cage at all.
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