Frame bracing.

I was out in the garage looking at the frame, and wondering if it would do me any good to modify the middle braces? I was thinking of maybe removing the old ones, and making a x-brace type support.But i have no idea what effects different support types have on handling. I know very little about frame engineering, so i figured i would ask you guys. Would it make any noticable difference in handling? Im not running alot of hp, so i should not have to worry too much about frame twist. Plus i would like to incorporate a driveshaft loop into the frame also.

It looks like the crossmembers are riveted in... I never did like that, part of the reason the facory did that was to allow a bit of flex when the truck was driven over uneven ground...

Kind of depends on how much work you want to do, ideally you could remove the crossmembers ONE AT A TIME, box the frame about half way to the next crossmember and put in either a round tube or rectangular tube crossmember, then move on to the next one, etc.. I usually do my truck frames in that manner at least to the area of the transmission crossmember.... If you do this, be careful with your welding, don't weld the boxing plates in one long pass but rather skip around and weld about 3" at a time so the heat doesn't start moving the frame rails around.... Another thing I like to do at the front of the frame, if it doesn't get in the way, is put in a piece of rectangular tubing between the rails at the end of the rails, ties things together very nicely.

I have some pics in my gallery of a chebbie frame I did for a guy...It has IFS but the build process would be the same regardless of the suspension used....

I was planning on boxing the front section after i attach the sub frame again. On a almost stock build, does it really matter if the frame has some flex? Or do you get a way better ride quality by stiffening it up some? I think i want to do an x type system, but like i said ,i have no real clue as to what will help, or hurt! Ive read some books on chassis and suspention, but im still unclear on what the final goal is on frames.I guess for performance you would want less twist, but on this house, what difference will it really make? Its always going to have a high roll center, by me lowering it some should help with body roll, i think.

Well, lowering the cg will certainly help the handling... The main reason I like a solid frame is that I want the suspension to do the work, and not have the frame flex and twist... With a flexy-twisty frame, you will always have door gap issues and a bunch of rattles and squeaks that get rather annoying...

X-bracing is good, if it can be done in such a manner that it doesn't interfere with the exhaust and other componets under the car... Some boxing plates with good solid crossmembers welded in and a few gussets to support the crossmembers are a lot less hassle to install and easier to build the rest of the chassis around as opposed to an X-brace....

Thanks Dave, i will start thinking of ways to do this, i would like to get the twist out of it, it seems pretty flimsy to me, the way it is!!

Yeah, they are!!!! You'll thank yourself later for the extra work and expense now!!!!!