Alright guys so in the past the warpspeed designed stage 1 SFCs connected to the chassis in the back by the jacking point, and connected to the frame rails in 3 spots and then just stopped abruptly and didnt connect to the chassis anywhere in the front. Well I think I found a place forward of the frame rails that would be an awsome place to tie the stage 1 SFCs into.

If we welded a plate to this area and then welded the stage 1 tubing to it, it would add just another step in strength to the design. Check it out. I didnt resize these pics purposly because I want to show details and so people can read the text.




I have pretty much decided that 1.5in tubing for the stage 1 would be great and I mocked it up on the car today and I would lose no ground clearence with 1.5in tubing.. I dont know how thick the tubing should be for the cross supports though of stage 2, and I dont know if I should use mild steel or chromoly.

 

Nice, how much is yours costing so far?

 

Well I'm not gonna spend over 400$ but my view on how much SFCs should be has really changed. I remember people complaining about the fact that warpspeed SFCs were 300 installed and that they wanted them for 200$ and stuff, when it would probably cost you around 500-700 to really do this job right and make it as strong as possible if you were making them custom.

Right now I havent decided which fabricator to go with so I dont know how much it will be.

I think I am gettin it stuck up my *** in a couple of these places I've gone to. I am thinkin about seeing if I can find tubing myself so the fabricators cant rip me off on the cost of material, and also thinking about going to a machine shop and getting the parts I need machined there and bringing them to the fabricator and just asking them to install them so they cant whack me on labor costs.

 

I am still lookin for a reply on this. I need to know if this is a suitible location to weld a plate to and connect the SFCs to. Please if you have the knowledge or a strong educated opinion on it please share your opinion and/or knowledge. As you can imagine creating and designing something custom is never easy, especially when your not exactly and expert when it comes to chassis/suspension modifications. So please I have a much better chance of creating a great product with the collective knowledge of the board.

I sent this question to Matt Blehmco but havent heard back yet, I am guessing he doesnt check his e-mail on the weekends or something

I am still trying to also figure out what kind of tubing to use, diameter of the tubing and wall thickness of the tubing. The last guy I went to though mocked up 1.5" round tubing with a .090 thickness wall and it looked like the right size and strength and fit with no loss of ground clearence. As for the cross bracing diameter and wall thickness thats still up in the air. As is whether to use chromoly or mild steel tubing.

So Please lend any insight you may have. I am working on getting this done every single day and if it can be done I WILL do it and soon.

 

The ones I am putting on my other car, which were designed by a chassis/suspension shop, are 1.75" diameter, with .120" wall thickness.

As for chrome moly vs. mild steel, mild steel weighs more but is less expensive.

 

Wow thats pretty beefy/heavy stuff. Are you doing just the stage 1 or stage 2 as well? Are they going to be chromoly or mild steel?

Mild steel is lighter than chromoly, but chromoly is used in drag racers because they can run a much thinner sidewall and smaller diameter tube because chromoly is much stronger(meaning less weight) while still having the same strength.

 

Different car, and there's not really a Stage 1 / 2 option though I would like to put on a second set,
however I don't see my exhaust plans clearing.
The car needs a lot of help. Unlike the Maxima, it has no formed "frame" running front to back, just a seperate
front and rear subframe connected only by the floor pan.

In the pic, where it is marked ASC subframe ( convertible only ) is where the set I am installing is going
along with the triangulation parts. The Alston sunbframe connectors would be option 2, but again
the exhaust would need to clear, and it's already tight for ground clearance as is.

And that basically what I meant, to get the same strength, the mild steel would end up weighing more.

 

I would definitely err on the side of too thick and stiff. You can hold a piece of steel tubing in your hand and think, wow this feels really solid and should do the trick, but there is going to be an awful lot of force on these tubes.... The stiffer the better, I don't care if it weighs 60 or 70 pounds....

 

I've had the opposite problem lately. Supposedly 1.5in with .090 wall is some pretty rugged stuff and when I picked it up and held it in my hand I was kinda unimpressed but every fabricator I talk to says with assurity that, that stuff is really rugged stuff. 1.75in diameter .120 wall mild steel tubing is what they use as the main braces in race car roll cages so its tougher than we'de ever need. I couldent imagine using any wider diameter tube under the maxima, but I could go from a .90 wall to a .120 wall thickness without any negative effects except extra weight.

 

Just because race cars use .120 for roll cages doens't meant that .120 is overkill for subframe connectors on a street car! I say definitely go with .120, theoretically it will only weigh about 33% more but may be more than 33% stiffer due to the structural properties (just a hunch).

 

I I think I would rather take the weight and strength I would give up by going with .090 wall tubing and make the wall thickness of the cross bracing thicker because of a couple reasons.

1. If I ever do bottom the car out I would rather the cross bracing be so strong that I get stuck on whatever it is I was trying to go over and have the SFCs be able to hold the weight of the entire car withought destroying them.

2. The tubing of the cross bracing will be thinner diameter thus to get similar strength from it I am going to need to run a thicker wall

Now that I've decided I'm not going to bolt anything in, that everything will welded together the cross bracing being stronger really will make the stage 1 rails stronger because they are all tied together as one unit.

Let me look at what the difference is in weight and strength between the .090 wall thickness and the .120 wall thickness tubing and that will be what I will base my decision off of.

I e-mailed and PM'd Matt Blehmco about this about a week ago but he hasent responded, anyone know where he is?