Was wondering how people felt about this subject. I know some will have the opinion that square tubing is more period correct for ladder bars back then. But looking back at old magazines from around/close to that time I'm kinda getting the impression that ladder bars with square tube VS round tube might have been somewhere around the 50/50 range VS one being a massive favorite over the other.
Availability of square tubing opposed the round tubing, was it easier to access and cut square tubing then weld plates and mitred tubing together rather than cut round, notch the ends and make them fit?
I think square tube was a bit easier for the home/garage gasser builder as opposed to a shop that was set up for chassis work like Blairs, Chuck Finders or Jim Kirby. Either is appropriate and acceptable to me.
Heh, after thinking about it for a while I realized something. Even though I have seen both round & square tubing used for ladder bars, I don't think I have ever seen anyone take the square tubing & rotate it an 1/8th turn diagonal (from square ■ to diamond ◆) and make "diamond" tubing ladder bars. Could be interesting, but a lot more work to clamp it to a jig table & grind/fit the tubing weld joints.
Square tubing is really easy to lay out on a garage floor, especially when you don't have the luxury of a jig table or welding table. When you are 17 or 18 years old you don't have access to many "luxuries".
Not as strong when rotated into a diamond. Kinda depends on the look you want. As stated above, probably more about garage vs shop. I went with tube, but it was based on looks and availability.
I've done 100's of chassis with round tube ladder bars. 7/8th 156 wall seamless dom tube. They are more attractive and I believe round tube if built right is stronger than square. I have my custom ladder bars made by P&J and for the higher horsepower cars they use double vertical gussets instead of a single. Full circle brackets on the rear end with high strength clevises and urethane bushings at the front with a double shear mounting tabs. Haven't had a failure in almost 40 years.
The Jalopy Journal
