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Help with bending the roll bar

Skybolt Al

Skybolt Al

Well Known Member
I did a search but didn't find anything on how to bend the roll bar. Mine is about 5/16" too wide so I need to bend it in narrower. I screwed a couple of heavy wood blocks to my workbench top to hold one end and pulled on the other but that large diameter tubing really springs back. I haven't even got it to move 1/16" yet. Anybody have a good technique?
Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Hi Al,

I put one end on the floor and the other end in my chest, my body weight pushing down did the trick.

I tried the same thing with the slider frame but just could not get things right... until I bought a conduit bender from Home Depot. Some garden hose slit lengthwise will protect the tubing while you wrench on it with the bender. Turned out real nice.

pk
 
I had the same problem- it was about 1/2" too wide- but mine was pretty stubborn. I weigh 200 pounds and no way was I going to do it with body weight or muscle power. I used a ratchet strap, and had to pull the ends together several inches in order to make any difference. The stored energy in the strap was scary. I got it eventually though.

850911986_jPgAt-XL.jpg
 
If you have a floor drill press (as opposed to a bench model) it can be used as an arbor press. That's how I tweaked my roll bar. The steel is very springy so you have to flex it a lot to get any measurable reduction in width.

Stewart Willoughby
6, finishing
 
Lars said:
I had the same problem- it was about 1/2" too wide- but mine was pretty stubborn. I weigh 200 pounds and no way was I going to do it with body weight or muscle power. I used a ratchet strap, and had to pull the ends together several inches in order to make any difference. The stored energy in the strap was scary. I got it eventually though.
Click to expand...

I used a similar technique, although I used a ratchet cable puller with an anchor shackle around each end of the roll bar. I tried a ratchet strap, but I couldn't develop enough force with it.
 
My first try was with a ratchet strap, but also couldn't develop enough force to get a permanent bend. I'll try to find a bigger strap. I'm only 165# and I've tried bending it using my weight but the roll bar just laughs at me. I can hear it saying now: "Get off of me little boy".:eek:
 
So I went up to Harbor Freight and

bought one of their 3300# ratchet straps for $15.99 + 20% discount and a free flashlight (my wife loves them, but that's another story). Still had to pull very hard, even using a big screwdriver to get more leverage on the handle. Pulled it in to about 38.5" and could feel the steel tube just 'let go'. After releasing the strap, it sprang back to 42 5/16. Perfect! Thanks for the help. Here is a pic of that monster ratchet strap.
IMG_0014.JPG
 
Skybolt Al said:
bought one of their 3300# ratchet straps for $15.99 + 20% discount and a free flashlight (my wife loves them, but that's another story). Still had to pull very hard, even using a big screwdriver to get more leverage on the handle. Pulled it in to about 38.5" and could feel the steel tube just 'let go'. After releasing the strap, it sprang back to 42 5/16. Perfect! Thanks for the help. Here is a pic of that monster ratchet strap.
IMG_0014.JPG
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I did (except for the flashlight). And just think, now you'll have a strap strong enough to withstand the immense thrust from your prop when you tie the tail for initial engine start :cool:
 
Ratchet straps also worked for me !

My RV 7 rollbar was 1/4" too wide and using a tip from a previous thread (sorry I don't have the link) I also used the strap idea. That thread said that the rollbar might need to be compressed by as much as 6 inches....eek !

So....I strapped mine upright to the bench with one end restrained against a block and marked the bench at the other end in increments of inches and then used the cargo strap and ratcheted away (I also had to use a large screwdriver for leverage)

As also mentioned it is quite scary when you see the amount of compression required but after 5 1/2" lo and behold the rollbar was at the correct dimension.
 
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