It's seems like I've changed my shock hoop idea several times now, but fabricating things like this is a process of trial and error. Not having any guidelines to follow sometimes it's more error, but I think I'm getting closer to my goal. Now that I've decided to combine my last two ideas to make up the shock hoops it's time to get on with it. Sticking with the 1.75" tubing  with the 1/4" steel plate, this would be the raw materials used. The photo to the left shows the 1.75" tubing at a 180 degree bend. This piece will make up the main shock hoop. With it being so big I'm going to have to chop it and section the tubing. You can see the first cuts I made removing a large portion of the center section. Once the legs were formed I made the center sections. I cut both the legs and the center sections at angles so they would fit nicely and eventually sectioning them together so they would look like one pipe. 

Since the three pieces of tube will be welded together, it alone wouldn't be strong enough to support the shocks. So using the triangular plate that I had made earlier, it would be used as a backbone running all around the inside of three piece shock hoop. I thought it would make the hoop even stronger if I could somehow run the plate inside the hoop, literally.

 Now it was time to breakout the old trusty circular saw with a fiber blade designed to cut metal. This was somewhat of a crude process which was very nasty and very messy! You had best wear a respirator to keep the dust out of your lungs, if not you'll be blowing black crap out of your nose for weeks! Cutting metal in the fashion is awful, it left a nice film of dust over everything in my garage! A little side note on the respirator, I used one made by 3M which I mail ordered from The Eastwood Company. During my quest for a respirator I found that there are several types that do different jobs. There are some respirators that filter dust and there are some that filter fumes and vapors. Make sure you use the right respirator for the right job.

Alright, enough about the respirators and back to the job at hand. If you look closely at the picture on the left you can see a slot cut into the tubing. That slot was cut using the circular saw while I kept the tubing firmly in place using a vise. This was a difficult way of cutting it, but it took no time at all compared to my pneumatic cutoff wheels which would have taken for ever! Now that the slot is open I can fit the steel plate/triangular backbone into the tubing.

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