Uging 3x3 for s-10 Stock Floors?

So i have a 00 s-10 that im going to want to start stockflooring sometime in the future. This is my quiestion, Please dont start arguing w/ me or eachother upon reading this. Ok- So i dont really see the point of using 3x3 when your stockflooring an s-10 other then on that Red s-10 crewcab longbed. Why would you use 3x3 on other s-10's though? It seems to me like it would be mass overkill. why not just use 2x2, you'd keep out of the floor and theres no way its not strong enough with enough gussetts and bracing to be fine out on the road. i have a buddy that build dirst track cars and races them and andi asked him why he didnt make anything as burly as i usually build stuff and he simply said because you dont need it. The first thing i thought was "well if he gets in a wreck he prolly wants the car to be able to absorb impact" He said No to me. He simply put that things dont need to be as burly as i thought they needed to be to work. Im all about building things right and thats why im also asking all your guys opinion on this since u guys do it all the time, Im not arguing anyone point and i dont want that to turn into this, But i realistically want to know if were building things way overkilled w/ all this 1/4" sheet here and 3x3 reinforced frame here. I mean with an s-10 if you cut the top of the frame off and drop some 2x2 in it and weld it all up and gussett the ends it seems to me that it would be WAY more thenstong enough even at 3/16" inside wall. So gimmie all your guy's two cents on this subject - Thank you

I've always wondered about that as well, even a 2x2 is thicker than most stock frames. It would also give a lot more room that using a 3x3. Also, is there a difference in using a 2x3 upright or on its side?

2x3 at least .120 wall is fine. think of it this way, 2x3 .083 wall is what we use to make our frames fro 1000hp pro street cars.. (of course they have cages built also...)

Rectangular tubing is stronger than square.
This is why stock frames are rectangular and not square. Use 2X3" 1/4" wall and 3/16" wall on shorter runs and crossmembers.

so is there a difference in using a 2x3 with 2" high instead of 3" high?

I am doing 2x3x3/16 on mine, but only under the cab, the back half will be 2x3x.083. Using 7 ga for plating.

I am doing the 2x3 with the 3 up though.

Factory Frames are highly engineered. Every bend, contour, and dimension has a purpose.
The average guy building a minitruck in his driveway isnt taking much into account other then body mount placement and keeping it level and square. Overbuilding compenastes (somewhat) for the lack of engineering.

That being said, 2x2 simply does not have the vertical strenth you need and it will flex. 2x3 standing vertical 3/16 wall is the minum i would build with from the front to the back of the cab.

What is the point of running 2x2 anyways?? You might save your floor pans, but you still need more then 2" to run exhaust and it doesnt give you much space to build bodymounts etc..

Originally posted by Russ-D



I am doing 2x3x3/16 on mine, but only under the cab, the back half will be 2x3x.083. Using 7 ga for plating.

I am doing the 2x3 with the 3 up though.

rusty i hope you are putting a 12 point cage on that frame, that 3x2 .083 will flex like a mother, i just built a frame from 3x2 .120 wall and used a bit of round tubing to triangulate the rear of the frame behind the cab and make sort of a "backbone" down the center to take alot of the flex out of it.......

3/16 and 1/4 wall are needed if you are going to drag the piss out of it. If you are not going to drag it you can use thinner tubing with proper cross bracing. Most race cars use the roll cage to keep the car from flexing. with out a roll cage your frame needs more bracing to keep it from twisting and bowing. 2x2 or 2x3 laid on its side will bow and twist unless there is some kind of bracing through the cab.

thanks for answering all the questions, so are you guys taking into consideration that the tube is welded on both sides and gussetted at both ends? are you guys judging flex with or without solid ends and also w/ prolly 3/16" 1/2way boxed around it also? i wish someone would take there old frame that there build a firewall back, cut it right behind where the cab would end and the bar be gussetted and then cut it out and attached it to something and do a real world test of how much weight the truck would put on that peice, cause all these flex calculators dont put all this into consideration it seems like. i realize that cage and triangulation strengthen the hell out ofrace car frames but still. like ILL said arewe just making up for not completly understand what were doing? I use 2x3 standing up, i wasjust simply asking if 2x2 would work, but aparently it flexes too much.