It all depends on what you encounter on the road...
A big enough bump will break anything...
If you get steel struts stronger than the shock mounts,... particularly the top ones,... all the energy that they resist is transferred to the mounts... and they will bend or snap...
In other words,... over-engineering the struts simply breaks something else...
If you go that way,... just try to avoid rough roads, don't over-inflate your tires, and go slow...
I wouldn't want struts stronger than the mounts or frame... if they bend, they're cheaper and easier to replace...

...and a hacksaw will cut a 1/4" easy with a decent blade...

PS,.. don't do anything irreversible, you probably won't like it.  But, give it try if you like,...  I know some people swear by it...
And show us pics and give us a review...  Positive or negative, I'm sure it will help others...
...

12 gage sheet metal?

no way

12 gage tube, maybe 1" diameter, ok

maybe... http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=10295&step=4&showunits=inches&id...

verslagen1 wrote on 05/26/10 at 23:11:21:



It wasnt exactly sheet metal, it was a lowes, more like a thin bar, and was rated at 12 gage............ Here we go, its not the exact one i was looking at, but it looks like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_44160-37672-11674_4294925642_4294937087?productId=305...


and what i want to do is pretty much what this member did:

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1274490832

The link you posted was for a flat bar. Personally, I would not use flat stock for struts. The flat bar does not have good rigidity and will bend/flex. I would use some round tube and weld round ends on either side perpendicular to the strut. Picture a shock w/ round eyes at either end. I would then fit bushing on either side. This will provide plenty of strength and the bushing will lessen the shockload on the strut, mounts, and your backside when a sharp bump is hit in the road.