alternatives to an 8.75- what about an explorer 8.8?

Knock on wood - my tube is butt welded and is holding fine, I had the ends of the tube beveled in a lathe and welded them up, one of my friends thats a fabricator told me the weld is the strongest place in that tube now.

I reworked a set of 3" perches to fit the larger tubes- had a friend open them up on his bridgeport and cut a 45* bevel for weld penetration.