Hey that's cool!! Your 1/8" comes in at .125" wall thickness so I'm even a little heavier than what you guys are running. Yeah, I looked at that 3/16" stuff and said, "Darn! I could push down power poles with that! I'm thinking that's a wee bit heavy! Got anything lighter than that?" He had a piece of the 10 Gauge there 3 feet long, on the short stock cart, picked it up and thought it looked and felt about right. So I took that and had him cut 2 more just like it.
I ain't no rocket scientist, but there is such a thing as overkill. If you hit something hard enough to bend the front end and it doesn't bend, something else is going to give! And, I would assume it's much easier to replace a front end than to try and straighten a chassis! There's a fine line between durable and it's gonna wreck something else!
Know what you're talking about on thin wall as well... 14 to 16 gauge steel, or .075" to .060" wall thickness, ornamental railing material.