MoNkEyT88 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I've been looking into tubing benders and hoping to find one for sale locally. The jd squared model 3 caught my eye as well as the pro tools 105. The jd2 dies are very expensive, the pt105 can be had for 100$ less, plus dies are a little cheaper. The only one I found locally was a "lowbuck" hydraulic bender, but I'd rather use the pt105 or jd2 m3 manual style. Then there is the cheapest of them all, known as the "kinker" harbor freight tubing bender. Some people have got them to work okay with modifications. Personally I will be going with the pt105 or jd2 m3, which can also be upgraded to hydraulic. I plan to use it for modifying my roll cage and adding to it, probably using 1.5" tubing. I'd like to be proficient at it, but I'm afraid I won't get my money's worth out if it which is why I'm wondering if a cheap bender would be enough. What type of bender do you use, and what type of work do you do with it? Do you feel it lacks in any areas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I have no input other than I am interested in the answer myself, so thanks for asking! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 JD Squared model 3. Been using it for 8 years without a problem, works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I've got the $400 hydraulic bender from www.speedwaymotors.com. It has relatively large radius dies (7" I think) and it can't do really sharp bends one after the other. For the price I think it's a good bargain and I am not going to be building a lot of roll cages, so it was well worth it to me. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/3rd-Generation-Hydraulic-Round-Tubing-Bender,6614.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Wow the jd^2 model looks great! is it cheap because its non hydraulic? It seems like doing it manually would offer more precision? but maybe more elbow grease required too? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 More elbow grease and a place to mount it. I don't think it comes with dies either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I stepped up and added an air over hydraulic ram. I'm old and lazy. You can get very precise with this bender, more precise then really needed for cage work. If you're good, you can do slightly compound bends (about 10 degrees off the main bend centerline). Helps with tricky spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8AE Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 JD Squared model 3. Been using it for 8 years without a problem, works great. I've been looking at this same bender from trick tools.com, and I like all am buying one to build a roll cage. The material i am looking at to use might be 1 3/4 DOM 120 wall tube but for some strange reason i can't seem to find the DIE on their website was wondering what tube you find yourself commonly using and if im going a bit over kill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbs70z Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) JD2 model 3 all the way. Yes the dies are pricy but they are some of the best quality you can buy. I love mine and just converted it to air and damn I must say it is awsome. I get 76 degrees with one stroke of the air ram. It is a harbor freight 8 ton air jack put on its side and filled w/ oil. Then bleed the air out of it and its good to go. It's diffenitly not the fastest way but you can be very accurate that way. Here are a couple pics. Edited March 22, 2012 by robbs70z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbs70z Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I've been looking at this same bender from trick tools.com, and I like all am buying one to build a roll cage. The material i am looking at to use might be 1 3/4 DOM 120 wall tube but for some strange reason i can't seem to find the DIE on their website was wondering what tube you find yourself commonly using and if im going a bit over kill? JD2 does make 6 different 1 3/4" dies. They come in 90 and 180 degree radius and 5.5" 6.5" and 7.5" radiuses. Here's the link The die sets are about 3/4 of the way down the page https://www.jd2.com/p-44-m3-round-die-sets.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 The material i am looking at to use might be 1 3/4 DOM 120 wall tube .... im going a bit over kill? 1.5" x .095" wall for a S30 that's under 2,700 lbs with driver. 1.75" x .120" wall is for 3,500lb.+ NASCAR COT. Also. make sure the bend radius (CLR) of the die is at elast 3 times the tubing OD. For 1.5" you'll need a die that has a 4.5" CLR. I use 5.5" and 6.5" for 1.5" and 6.5" for 1.75". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 FAQ section for this thread? Great info. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) I spent countless hours researching and reading reviews on tubing benders from race car builds to 4x4 builds and forums. Speedway benders seems to be the most cost effective, versatile bender on the market. The JD squared requires a floor mount setup. Whether you drill holes in the concrete with anchors and drive bolts in every time you use it, or find a permanent place, it is required. The cost of the JD squared bender, + a die, + the floor stand is quite the investment. Also, the JD squared until requires quite a bit of horizontal space to do bends. A fairly large space is required for bending a main hoop, preferably a empty garage with no Z parked in it. Now the Speedway Bender can be stored easily, its portable to help out friends (or rent on craigslist with a deposit and daily charge) and all of the bends require space in a vertical direction. That means you can work in a tighter area. Or drag the unit outside for a few hours and drag it back in. The customer service with Speedway seems to be top notch, as I read several people had issues with *earlier* versions of the dies cracking. Those have been replaced with no additional cost and they updated the dies. When I can spend the money.. I will be buying a Speedway Bender Edited March 23, 2012 by proxlamus© Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbs70z Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 My jd2 wheels around the garage doesn't take up space and have $700 into it total. That's all the metal for the stand the casters for the stand the air ram and die for it as well. If you want a quality bender that is going to last forever then spend the little extra cash and buy the JD2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 My JD2 setup on a cart I scrounged from a shop that was going out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 The JD squared requires a floor mount setup. Whether you drill holes in the concrete with anchors and drive bolts in every time you use it, or find a permanent place, it is required. The cost of the JD squared bender, + a die, + the floor stand is quite the investment. Also, the JD squared until requires quite a bit of horizontal space to do bends. A fairly large space is required for bending a main hoop, preferably a empty garage with no Z parked in it. Exactly. The guy who bent my main hoop had the JD squared bender. He does rally cages for a living, and he had basically a bay in his shop with the bender on a stand bolted to the floor right in the middle. I don't doubt that it is a better bender, but if you don't have the hydraulic ram you need it BOLTED TO CONCRETE (or something else very substantial). You can unbolt it from the floor if you need that space, but I hope you don't need to get under the car where the studs are sticking up out of the floor then. It is true that if you have the hydraulic ram you don't need it bolted down, but then you're adding more money. And it does bend horizontally which means the tubing swings around the space. One could conceivably bend a main hoop with the Speedway type bender in a 3' by 12' space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris.Is.Awesome Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I use a JD2 Model 32. It's amazing! It has a few cool features that the model 3 does not have, along with most other benders (anti spring back, easier die advancing, etc). I did not opt for the hydraulic option as I'm building my own ram setup. I use countersunk concrete 'threadsert' anchors and it works great. Bending 1.5" .120dom isn't even that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Thanks everyone for the great info! The JD2 bender is definitely on my list. Are there any other tools which you find crucial when working with tubing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 A notcher I'm guessing. I'd love to know what notchers pros like johnc use. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I use a Pipemaster to measure the notch, hole saw style notcher for the rough cut, and a 1.5" or 1.75" sanding drum to finish up the notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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