Frame Safety

Frame building is the foundation of a Rod . A member here in the Duece section had a frame and a castrophy . The bung being welded only to the outside boxing plate . When im thinking and working on the frame i think of inner strength as with the outer . I'm not building this type of suspension but if i was this would be what i would use .

This insert setting inside the frame will hold the upward force on the front of sleeve as with the downward force on the rear . Welded in then just placing the boxing plate over it and welding outside of bung looking like what he has . One other frame mentioned there has the longer sleeve going thru frame but still only welded to thinner boxing plate on inner and outer rail .

To me this is where a home builder will spend that xtra time reinforceing where production built has proven weaker in some points .

I have a IFS and where the control arms mount this is similer they stick out about 3 inches . I have read where some have seen stress cracks at this location . My plan is to gusset this area to eliminate this situation in my future . May not look superclean but the strength will be there and so will my peace of mind .

So guys i know its a good idea but do many go this far to build frames. I am useing my original frame so these ideas come into play at anytime i think it needs just a little more .

We're like you Bobby, we overbuild our stuff by 300%. Even insignificant little brackets get welded not only on the top side, but underneath too. We have even added a fourth side to brackets that could have gotten by with two sides.

I think a big part of it is that the engineers who have formal education in these things know the stresses they will take and can design a part that is adequate, but we hobbyists rely on our gut instincts and our desire to make sure nothing breaks. That is probably why a lot of the prebuilt stuff we get from some vendor is 1/8 inch thick and not fully welded, whereas we would have done the same part in 1/4 inch thick, fully welded and boxed.

Don

Don with me i just want to know that cruising i dont want to see parts behind me like in the cartoons LOL. I get alot of ideas here and watch builds with my full attention .

I am an engineer, and I'm still pretty careful. The photo is of the rear axle 4-bar bracket on the A-Bone that I built back in the mid eighties. This happened when I hit second gear.

Note that there's no boxing at all to support the lower bar. That might be fine in tension, but when you hit the loud pedal, the pinion tries to rise, and those two flat straps have nothing to stabilize them under compression.

I was able to bend them back into shape, then I welded boxing plates on the front and back.

That bracket came from TCI, but I see that P&J still makes them that way.

Certainly not the first set of them store bought brackets I've seen do that!!!! They really seem to dislike 4 speeds!!!!! Dang near tied a set in a knot hitting second with street tires!!!! Heck, even the 'maro is getting 3/16" moly brackets....

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