My dad and I were having a discussion about railcar racing and putting a 530 on pipe, and he said that the pipe that they use is 3/4 in thick, I told him that the pipe isn’t any thicker than 1/4 in who is right?
What planet are you on?? We are not into railcar racing as our rail-roads really don’t have time for racing their rolling stock…
Now if you are referring to a steel tube frame used in many types of race cars, the wall thickness is seldom more than 1/8" and much of it thinner than that.
well what I ment by rail cars was those long dragcars with 400’s and up engines in them, and yes that was what I was wondering about those steel tubes,
1.5" diameter x .065" thick wall appears to be typical of the main rail tubes. They are typically chrome moly 3130 (?) IIRC. A debate rages about heat treating them…
the race track we race at requires at least 1.5" x .095" wall thickness
1/8" = .125"
danwebracing: What are the material requirements, if any?
You’re right, the pipe is generally about 1/10" thick.
1/8" = .125"
And your point is??? Or are your just showing off your mathematical prowess at fraction to decimal conversions… 
Probably just a misplaced reply but I couldn’t resist. Take note of the smiley…
All of the specs. related to constructing these cars would be in a manual. I used to race off-road and the tubing material was inspected to see that it met specs and a seal was attached at a non critical point on the cage to certify that standards were met. tubing wall thickness could go from .090 too .125 depending on material used.
I really think there is some type of communication error happening here as roll cage tubing with a wall thickness of 3/4 inch does not exist, think of what the tubing you describe would look like.I have no idea what a 530 pipe is.
“I have no idea what a 530 pipe is.”
Maybe it’s a mfr designation, like Reynolds 531 was a popular manganese-molybdenum, medium carbon steel tubing for bicycle frames.
530 ci engine is what I’ll put on the pipe frame I make! thanks for your imput it will help emencely!
You might want to research the NHRA regs on their site.