The Chromoly Confusion

There is a large misconception in the motorsports world that chromoly tubing is lighter than mild steel. Don’t be fooled by myths or others’ sales gimmicks with chromoly suspension parts concerning weight. Mild steel and chromoly suspension parts are generally made with the same diameter tube, same wall thickness, and therefore weigh the same.  Most of the confusion on this topic stems from roll cages.  For a roll cage to certify 8.50 (NHRA/IHRA) a chromoly cage can use 1-5/8 .083 tubing whereas a mild steel cage needs to be a larger 1-5/8 .120 tubing.  The thinner allowable wall thickness on chromoly leads to the misconception that chromoly is lighter.  Mild steel and chromoly materials in the same volume/size are the same weight.  Also note that chromoly is a harder material, therefore making it more brittle which is not favorable for street applications. If someone is insistent on chromoly material for a suspension component (to tell friends that they paid more for no performance gain or weight loss) we do have the option available for most products at an additional cost.