Roll cages are the most reliable modification that you can do to your vehicle to protect yourself while the vehicle is in a very huge crash. You will need a lot of steel and aluminum tubes to make these cages. The most stressful part of making the roll cage is bending the tubes.
If you are making and remodeling the cages by yourself, you will need a good tube bender that is reliable.
There are a lot of tube benders in the market to purchase. They either come as a single tubing bender or a bender with multiple types of bending formers.
Reviews of the Best Tubing Bender for Roll Cages
Today we will be going through a review of some of the best tube benders that have been used by professionals.
CPS BLACKMAX BTB300 Premium Ratcheting Tube
This is a combo box of a tool that you should own even if you don’t want to use it only for roll cages. BLACKMAX has a range of tool products that have been used by professionals and DIY engineers all around the world. This is a versatile toolset that has different graded bending tools for different materials.
To understand which former is for what, this roll cage tube bender has color grading which will come in handy. If you are planning to build roll cages, this is going to be a great toolset to have on your collection.
It is also incredible to see how this small handle has such power to bend thick tubes effortlessly. It can work on a solid steel frames with high wall thickness.
You can change the mandrels of this good pipe bender for roll cage fast and easily. If you don’t have a helping hand for your work, this is going to be a great companion for working alone. You can also reverse bend if you are using your old tubes for roll cages.
The biggest plus point of having this bending toolset is that this comes with a carrying case that will be necessary if you are a professional who wants to carry this while working remotely.
Pros
- This tubing bender is an all in one toolbox for bending metal tubes
- Does not have any corrosion issues even after using for a very long time
- Can process solid steel frame (round and square)
- The overall finishing of the mandrels are nice which ensures the perfect bend
Cons
- Mandrels on this tube bender for roll cage do not seem to work very well on copper pipes very well
SWAG Off Road Tubing Roller “HULK”
This is an industrial-grade tube bending tool that has the precision and the power you will ever need in your garage. This is designed and made by a company in the USA. The reason this is called the “HULK” has reasons. It has an immense amount of power to bend any kind of material that is thrown towards it.
The most valuable reason you should have this is that this tube and pipe bender is a versatile tool. You can bend at any angle possible and this also has different casts for it.
You will be glad to know that these dices are super cheap and affordable. It is totally hand-operated and this has mechanical efficiency because of using the large handle. you can also change the handlebar position according to the pipe you are using.
To have the most accurate bend, this bender for a roll also has a digital meter that will help you get the right reading. As you set to insert the tube inside the roller, the mater calibrates the measurement automatically. You will not have to calibrate later after you have done it once. This is going to boost your workflow as well.
Pros
- Incredibly versatile bending tool for different types of tubes
- A professional tool that is very easy to use
- Affordable bender for round tubing
- The quality of this tube and pipe bender is satisfying
- You can modify the cranking handle with a mechanical one if you want
Cons
- This is an expensive professional tool
Mophorn Pipe Tube Bender
This is another affordable tube bender that you should not worry about wasting money on. This is a manual tube bender that brings portability to your reach. You can take this with you and set it up on a base and you are good to go.
After you have purchased the package you will get 7 bending dies inside. You will not have to worry about buying different dies for different types of pipes. Don’t make fun of the size.
This is able to work easily on a 1-inch tube and pipe bender without losing any breath. The super-long handle s going to provide high torque with less effort on the handlebar. Just so that you don’t get cramps, you will also find rubber grips on the handle.
On the built of this tube and pipe bender machine, a very high-quality iron has been used. The overall quality seems super strong and solid. All the parts of this roll tube bender are adjustable. You can bend pipes starting from 3/8″ and up to 1″. This is not only recommended for hobbyists, it is also recommended for professionals.
Pros
- Add this to a base and you got a permanent bending tool for all your pipes
- Very easy to use and fast operation like the Eastwood tubing bender
- Affordable tube bender despite of a decent quality
- Can process on different wall thickness of stainless steel
- Does not require a lot of measurement and installation
Cons
- The overall finishing is not that refined and of high quality.
- Doesn’t come with a manual rotary draw tube bender
ab103 1-1/2″ Hydraulic Tube Bender
ab103 is a hydraulic press tube bender that is able to outperform any other conventional tube bender for roll cage very easily. This is a hydraulic operated device that is affordable and anyone who is even starting to get into the roll cages can use it very efficiently.
Visually this does not look like any other bender in the market. The design seems a bit confusing to you but the operation is simple. Insert the tube inside the roller with the lock on it and then you just have to go straight for the hydraulic press.
If you have got the right holding clamp in the right place, you are ready to go. This has able to provide a huge pressure to the tubes and you will not have to burn a sweat at all. To get the right angle, you will also get a scale on the side.
You can modify the frame of this hydraulic bender to install an indicator of degree so that you get the right degree every time. Accommodating this small device to a corner of your workspace is also convenient. Because of the standing design, it does not take a lot of space.
Pros
- A cheap & affordable tube bender for every DIY engineer
- This hydraulic bender does not occupy a lot of space
- The hydraulic power of this small press is super impressive
- This benders for roll can do heavy duty works for building roll cages
- Has scale indicator on the former die
Cons
- Preparing a rod for bending and inserting into the roller is a bit of a workout for you
XtremepowerUS 12 Ton Heavy Duty Hydraulic Tube Bender
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The most conventional thing about XtremepowerUS 12 is the design and ease of use. This has a hydraulic press just like your car has one. The action and positioning are just right for anyone to use conveniently.
In the box, you will find eight types of solid metal dies for bending metal tubes. You can go from aggressive bends to light bends according to your need. To adjust the side rollers, this even has slots where you set the side rollers. The dies stay on the top of the hydraulic press bar.
To settle this up nicely, this pipe tube bender has pull back spring that holds the different dies straight. The incredible thing about this machine is the weight capacity. You can push this up to 12 tons which is overkill for making tube rollers.
You will not need such power delivery though it is mentioned as a cautionary message to not exceed the limit. This hydraulic roll cage tube bender will impress you with performances in hard steel frames and different wall thickness.
The angle and degree of the bend are also super dynamic. This goes from several degrees to a full U shape bend. This is a must-have machine for your garage for sure.
Pros
- Incredible 12 tons of power delivery to bend metal pipes
- This heavy duty tool bender can bend pipes from 30 to 180 degrees easily
- Can work on different wall thickness (mild steel to hard)
- Efficient and comfortable user experience
- Bending capacity is good for square tubing
- This tube bender comes with better bending speed
- Comes with several dies that extends the dynamic performance
Cons
- You have to set this up on a strong base for stable performance
- Doesn’t come with a hydraulic jack
No products found.
DBM IMPORTS Manual Pipe Tube Roller Bender
We know that great power comes with great responsibility. If you have gone to a professional roll cage maker, you must have seen this on the corner of their garage. This is a monster of a machine that is able to work on anything that you throw at it.
The most incredible thing about this machine is its power and capacity. The worst yet most powerful feature about this machine is it is fully manual like a manual rotary draw tube bender.
It will be recommended to go and buy a DBM IMPORTS pipe roller if you are invested to roll cage making with help and support. This machine will require a lot of attention to detail while operating. While bends
The top cranking bar will push the middle roller down as hard as possible and you will have to crank the side rollers with your hand. This opens up great versatility for you. You can roll and you can reverse roll as well if you need.
The overall weight of this machine is heavy and that provides the stability. This also takes away portability. This will be a perfect tool for your workshop if you are willing to add effort and time to do everything manually and precisely.
Pros
- A very hard working tube bender for roll cage machine for professional performance
- Perfect chassis tubing bender for car works
- The bending speeds are relatively quick
- Can work on wall square material & outside diameter of car
- This is able to bend any type of pipes including square pipes
- You can find this roll cage tubing bender at a affordable price
Cons
- It will be hard to operate by hand and you have to train yourself to work precisely
Baileigh RDB-050 Manual Tube Bender
Bring the most advanced machinery to your workspace by purchasing this machine. Baileigh RDB looks like a saw machine. This is one of the smoothest tube bending machines that are operated by hand. You have to set this up on a strong base and you are good to go.
This is a manual tube bender machine that has a super-efficient mechanism for perfect bends with proper bending speeds. The super long rod on the side is able to provide a lot of pressure to bend any kind of steel pipe. As you pull the long handlebar, the guide moves and locks on the grooves alongside.
The side grooves have degree indications of this roll cage tubing bender. This will indicate to which degree the pipe is being bent. The die on this machine is made of stainless steel and this thing is shiny. There is no way your pipes are going to be damaged while pushing hard.
To keep all the parts sappy and noise-free, there is a lot of pull-back springs connected through the whole system. You can bend a pipe at any angle without adjusting any knob or anything. Easy to swap and easy to start over.
Pros
- Does not require any adjustment to change the degree of bends
- Nicely finished die prevents any accidents or dents on pipes
- Perfect for race car tube bending
- Complex mechanisms keep everything efficient to pull as efficient as possible
- This bender for roll cage is solid workhorse for your garage
Cons
- The overall mechanism is complicated which make this intricate to repair
- Bit hard bending process for round tubing
How You Can Choose the Best Tubing Bender for Roll Cages?
It is not too hard to get lost in the choices of different types of benders for roll cage or pipe benders. Different benders from different brands will have different designs, capacities, and different load capacities according to the design.
Here we have some tips to find the best tube bender for roll cages.
Know what it is made of
As a strong and hard-working bending tool, a pipe bending machine has to have the best materials in the market. If you ask about what might be the best materials, in this case, the right answer will be stainless steel.
There are different tools like kaka industrial hb 8, baileigh rdb 050, rdb 050 manual, 050 manual tube bender tube, & woodward fab wfb2, most of the top tube benders are made with cast iron material that can work on the stainless steel frame.
The most attention you should give to the material is the die where you put the pipe on. You should get dies that do not have blemishes and spot marks.
Corrosion can damage these dies very soon and within a month as well. Choose your device around this concept.
What Type of Bender for Roll Cage is That?
There are mainly three types of pipe benders available in the market. We are going to talk about that too in this review.
The most common type of pipe tube bender is manual tube benders. If you are on a tight budget, you should buy a hand-operated manual bender. You can get one within fifty a hundred dollars.
The main drawback of these benders for roll cage machines is that you will have to measure the angle manually by yourself. This drawback has yet can be compromised by different techniques and features.
Air or hydraulic pipe benders are another types of bender that has the mechanical advantage of having a hydraulic press built-in. This is almost a bender for roll cage that will not tire you up. If you consider efficiency, these are going to be the most efficient type of benders in the market.
Electronics benders are the most expensive ones out of all. We have not recommended any of them in this review. It will be better to avoid these benders and save some money.
Is Bender for Roll Cage Too Hard to Operate?
The operational procedure should be concerned before you place your order. Bending pipes for roll cages should be a precise process. It will be recommended to not go fully guess-based machine.
We have recommended machines that will not have any guess-based working principle. Set the machine for a specific angle of bend and you can repeatedly do that multiple times.
We have tried the ton bottle jack, 8-ton hydraulic tubing, engraved degree ring, ridgid 38048, engraved degree ring, and other less popular machines, but bending was relatively easy with proper guides.
Some of them also have measurement scales to measure the degree of bends like the 8-ton forming jack, jd2 tubing bender, Eastwood tubing bender, kaka industrial HB 8. It should be easy to operate if you are working alone with modifying your car roll cage.
What is the maximum capacity of the machine?
The maximum bending capacity of the machine will be responsible for how thick pipes you are able to load on the machine. In general, the machine will have a rating for what load you can give. There might also be a rating of how thick the pipes can be.
Some of the benders can bend up to 90 degrees, steel hook arm, hydraulic system, cnc machined material, steel tubes, outside diameter of a race car with a perfect bending capacity.
As a manually operated machine, the load can be around 2 to three tons. Hydraulic press machines have bigger and better power delivery. If you are going to use thick pipes like 1 inch, you should choose the hydraulic presses to get the best performance.
How much does this Roll Cage Tubing Bender Weigh?
The overall weight will not be a matter if it is a stationary machine. The machine should be lightweight if you are thinking about a temporary machine to have in your garage.
A stationary machine will be heavy as several tons of 8 ton hydraulic tubing. It will be a dedicated workspace for bending pipes. The overall thing will be robust and reliable for rough and tough operations.
If you are going to purchase a small machine for your DIY job, that should be portable enough to have on your truck.
Does it take a lot of space to operate?
We have mentioned a bunch of machines in this review. They are totally different in design and operations. Some of them have long-handled as a leaver to bend pipes.
If you inspect further, you will see that all hand-operated manual pipe benders are going to take a lot of space to operate. If your garage has enough space for an accommodating machine like that, it is going to minimize the cost of purchasing a bending machine. To save space in your garage, you should choose a hydraulic tube bender.
How many types of roll cage benders do you find in the market?
We already mentioned in the buying guide that there are mainly three types of tubing benders available to purchase.
Hand operated manual tube bender
Manual hand-operated tube benders are the most popular ones in the market. These will have a handle to crank gears and with mechanical efficiency, this machine will bend tubes at angles. To improve mechanical efficiency, the length of the cranking handle will be increased.
These machines are also cheap if you compare this to the others. This is a great choice for anyone who works alone and is in the learning process of making roll cages for his vehicles.
Hydraulic tube benders
The pressure that you create using the cranking handle is created by a hydraulic press. It is super easy and convenient to use hydraulic benders if you are in shortage of space. These will not occupy a lot of space. The lever handle will be smaller here.
The capacity will also be greater than the manual hand-operated ones. If you see specifications, you will see that some of these will have 2 tons of capacity that can bend one-inch tubes very easily. This is a great choice for you if you are on the intermediate level.
Electric tube bender
This is the most advanced tube bender we are going to mention here. This is mainly a hydraulic tubing bender that has an electric component to operate the hydraulic press.
This is mainly recommended for professionals who need to work on a lot of tubes and fast operation. The price range will be a lot higher here. But the speed of your workflow will also go high up.
FAQ
Why you should have roll-cage on your racecar?
Roll cages are a need of your racing beast for sure. If you are good at modifying your car from the engine to the exterior, you should keep in mind that a roll cage has an important role in keeping yourself and this is an upgrade to your vehicle as well.
The first thing you will notice after you install a roll cage in your vehicle is the massive upgrade to handling. Your car will be more stable on tracks. The chassis flex will be gone forever. One of the best reasons for being out of control is the flex on your stock car chassis.
Another big reason is to keep yourself safe. This is going to make your car heavier and keep on track. If you have lost your control somehow, solid roll cages inside your car will make sure that you are safe on your seats.
Even if your car rolls right out of the track, you can still manage to be safe and get out of the danger without any would because the right roll cage will keep the base safe from compression and larger accidents.
Is it worth making a roll cage instead of buying one?
The reason you should buy a roll cage is that it has frames that are perfectly bent to a certain angle. But it is worth the money to spend on constructing roll cages instead of buying one for your vehicle.
The first reason is that you are able to save a lot of money if you buy straight pipes and design the roll accordingly and bend it using pipe benders. As soon as you finished making one, you are also having a tubing bender in your garage to work on further projects.
Suppose you have a car that has already been modified, it will not be possible to find a roll cage that will have accommodation inside your car chassis. Get into the manual design and make yourself one, it is worth the money, effort, and experience.
Conclusion
There is no best machine in the market. It is the mid-level price range where you will find the most of the bangs for the bucks. It will be highly recommended to not go for the super cheap and basic ones. Those might have faulty materials and materials that do not last long.
Make sure that you are getting a bender that has the capacity of bending one-inch piping. This is a one-time purchase for your car modification. While you are investing your money, make it a wise investment for a long-term condition.
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