wall thickness

Im looking at some mandarel(sp) bent rails for a s10 to use as a starting part for my chassis. But they are only 11 gauge. What size wall thickness is everyone running for there chassis.

11 gauge (1/8") is fine, I would recommend 2x4 over 2x3 especially with that wall thickness though

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the only thing i dont like about 11 ga is its not as uniform as 3/16", the taller sides are usually bowed out, 3/16" looks better IMO, but if you do the 11 ga, i would recommend 4x2 if you are just doing a simple frame, the 3x2 can have some flex if not braced, and the companies that offer 3x2 .120 wall mandrel bent rails recommend you use a rollbar or rollcage with them.....

.83- .120 deppends where you get it.

maybe a stupid question but if i due run 2" x 4", ill have to do a small traditional body drop correct or can you still stock floor it

From my past experiences, 2x3x.120 wall frame rails work just fine. They do flex more, but so does the factory frame rails. If you plan to do ANY towing though, I would definately go with 2x4.

Bag placement also plays a big part in the stresses that are being "seen" by the frame rails too. For instance, A reverse 4-link will have more frame flex than a foward 4-link if the bags are leveraged. But if the bags are directly over the axle, the stress will be the same. The way that we built "low Life" Mike rear frame section, we could have used 2x3x.065 because there is little to no stress on the frame except for the weight of the bed.

im running a jag irs, not quite sure how i want to lay the bag placement out. thanks everyone for the help... so if i did run the 2 x4 i would probably need to either raise the whole floor an inch or just channel the truck

we use mandreal bent rails all the time...and most have been .120 wall...sometime they do flex and if they have we have plated the outside and then smooth it so you couldnt tell..but on most then we try and use some of the tubing to make it not flex...we our in the works of 3/16 rails.