Is chrome moly as strong as stock steel a arms?

[kinger]

Wondering about the strength and durability of chrome moly over stock a arms. Thanks!

 

[maxdlx]

Stay stock

 

[Black 1000]

why stay stock?

 

[YamaMikeRTX]

Chromoly is an abbreviation for "chromium-molybdenum steel". Chromoly is a range of low alloy steels used, for example, to produce tubing for bicycle frames and race-car roll cages. It is not as lightweight as aluminum alloys, but has the advantages of high tensile strength and malleability. It is also easily welded and is considerably stronger and more durable than standard (1020) steel tubing.

I had aftermarket chromoly A arms and swingarm on my Banshee. They were much lighter and took plenty of abuse.

 

[Black 1000]

I completely agree with the above statement

 

[Shootinstick]

Chromoly is also used to make rifle barrels. To say one is stronger than the other would however require comparing apples to apples and not oranges.

If one was to compare solid billet aluminum A-arms to very thin tube chromoly or to the heavier mild steel factory A-arms would yield widely varying results.

Jim

 

[Mikey]

Is it also not true that Chromoly is more brittle than mild steel and will be more prone to cracking insted of bending where mild steel will bend before cracking.

 

[RTX]

chromoly has a higher tensile strenght then a standard hot or cold rolled steel.
they will be stronger than a standard steel arm and you really should not need to worry about durability.
they will also be lighter but it won't be a huge difference.
if you are looking for a stronger arm then go with the chromoly.
be aware that a stronger arm might not bend when it is hit or abused and could transfer the abuse to the bulkhead or other areas causing that area to break.

 

[Maddog]

Don't forget about those crappy stock bolts. I had cromolly A-Arms on my warrior for a while but I kept bending the bolts into a snake. Finally I had to cut the A-arms to remove them. They a with out a dought stronger, but at a price.

 

[bjowett]

All steels have the same stiffness (modulus of elasticity). The 4130 arms we use have a thinner wall tube and less guesseting to reach their lighter weight objective. Thus, they may actually flex more than the stockers, this could explain why the Maddog was bending the stock bolts.

I have yet to see any issues with my arms, though it would be nice if they were built with larger diameter tube and some gussets.

 

[kinger]

You guys with chrome moly arms what type of riding do you do, would they take ditch riding and rough trail riding? I really don't want to mess with the front end any more so am looking for a one time fix and be done with it. thanks!

 

[kinger]

Maddog, what arms did you have and what did you end up doing to stop bending the stock bolts?

 

[bjowett]

I'm a mogul masher, love the whooped out trails... As mentioned, no issues, THOUGH they've always been run with with the long travel Fox Floats which take hard hits extremely well. I've also only run them for 400 - 500 miles...