To make lower control arms 3/8" or 7/16" thick?

[chadjans]

Chad, I may be missing something here, but doesn't your box have a weld seam on the inside... it'd be a nightmare to try & machine it out or force the 1 1/2 - 3/16 inside won't it?? I thought about sleeving my arms to & figured it's be more hassle than it's worth.

Come on man, think like a shadetree. Torch, ice, salt, 8lb sledge and a grinder.

[Kraqa]

rotating the CA 90 degree's will help bu tthe sharp edge will push fom side to side and will wear out your bushings faster.


i'l run the numbers on all of them.

[matts96zj]

Come on man, think like a shadetree. Torch, ice, salt, 8lb sledge and a grinder.

roflmao!!

[chadjans]

i'l run the numbers on all of them.

Thanks. Hopefully it doesn't take too much effort. Mallcrawlin: a truly tech board.

Chad

[ILikeMud]

Mallcrawlin: a truly tech board.

Amen, not many of them.

[Kraqa]

i'l try to do it tonight,. i hope your notplanning on working on it today.

[chadjans]

Too late. Your heat and warpage comment got me. I welded on some 1" x 1" x 1/4" angle to the bottom. The movement and heat input was just enough to move it slightly. After that there was no way I was going to get a perfectly straight tube inside the 2" x 2" x 1/4". I was hoping to use the heat generated by the welding to my advantage and try to slide the ice shrunk 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 3/16" inside. I had the whole fixture clamped down and it still all moved.

I would still be interested in what the numbers come back as Kris. Especially the setup below. Unless there is a huge difference and then I don't want to know.

Should have just bought 2" x 2" x 3/8". Bad thing is I bought enough of the 2" x 2" x 1/4" to do new lowers front and rear.

So my arms are only this: (Still happy with the way they came out. No time to snap pictures.)

[Kraqa]

all that work all that weight and you could have just bought some 3/8" 2" DOM

[ATL ZJ]

all that work all that weight and you could have just bought some 3/8" 2" DOM

no kidding..

so far you've added weight, sacrificed ground clearance, increased your ugly factor, and spent unnecessary time.. large OD heavy wall DOM would have let you avoid 3 of those..

[chadjans]

so far you've added weight, sacrificed ground clearance, increased your ugly factor, and spent unnecessary time.. large OD heavy wall DOM would have let you avoid 3 of those..

Weight: not that much. And what does a 2" x 3/8" DOM weigh per foot? I don't have my materials book here but the approximate weight between my engineered arm can't be that much greater than a piece of 2" x 3/8" DOM. One would have to use a 2" OD to get the correct ID.

Ground clearence: all .88 inches. Besides the arms are in front of the tubes. Even with my added .88 inches they still do not hang below the tubes.

Uglyness: Kiss my ass.

[chadjans]

My ugly, low hanging and heavy control arms can be found here: http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/sho...&postcount=436

I added the angle and a strap from the arm to around the lower part of the endring.

[KevinF]

My ugly, low hanging and heavy control arms can be found here: http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/sho...&postcount=436

I added the angle and a strap from the arm to around the lower part of the endring.

LOL. Thems is som arms, ya'll.

I like Brent's idea of the angle iron under the arm. I'd considered doing something similar years ago, but never pulled it off. I also like the idea of mixed shapes solidly welded together, kind of taking advantage of all aspects and strengths of each design. Here are a few other ideas I considered, which may help someone else out, as Chad seems like he may be done already.

1) A square outer portion of the arm, probably 2" or 2.25" OD, and thick wall...maybe 1/4", with a piece of 1.5" OD or 2.0" OD thick-wall round (rosetted every 3-4" or so on all four sides) inside. You'd have the anti-bending capability of the tall side-walls, and have the resistance to flex of thick round on the inside.

2) A thick-wall round arm with a long "backbone" welded along the top...something like an I-beam or a laser-cut piece of 3/8" steel like a dorsal fin on top.

3) A thick-wall 2" OD round arm, rip-cut long-ways, separated apart slightly, and then welded to a 2.5" or 3.0" wide piece of thick flat bar...maybe 3/8" thick...which is a half-inch or an inch taller than the tube. A cross section would look like this: (|) , but would have a "dorsal" fin on the top mostly and the bottom slightly, giving you even more bending resistance. You'd have the up-down rigidity of both a round wall AND a thick-wall side-wall of 3/8" flat-bar. This concept would be my preference for the next time I build arms.

4) I'd also like to experiment with thick-wall rectangular tube or I-beam material...far taller than wide, for weight savings and a tall side-wall to resist bending.

Anyway, some ideas for you guys. If you borrow any ideas, I'd love to see pictures of the outcome!

-Kevin-