Settle an arguement....Is this front end safe?

Safe?

 

It looks good to me, and it has shocks, which is always good. The spring is a little far back on the bones, but I suspect the engine would overheat before a bone snapped.

 

If it fails you could be pole vaulted in to the air. So I would say no but it looks cool.

 

I want it! looks safe to me

 

do you have any other photots/angles? i see where the steering ties into the driver side but no tie rod going acrosss to steer passenger tire/wheel.

i dont think i would run this on mine but it certainly looks different.

edit: i see it now.

 

It looks cool as hell and very basic but I'm not so sure how safe it would be

 

The dust kicked up from those headers are more unsafe than the suspension. Sucker would be like a weedeater/sandblaster/streetsweeper depending on the road surface. Or maybe the pipes just let it hover in front? Then the suspension design is moot!

 

I'm talking about the spring mount on the frame.

 

There is going to be a huge amount of weight by leverage on those bones, and a lot of pressure on the rod ends locating the bones. So long as the welding is first class it should be OK, but I would feel happier if the spring mounts were closer to the axle.

 

Haha!

I don't see any problems with the spring mount itself. Like everyone else says, I would be more worried about the bones.

 

If there Grade 8 bolts then they should be just safe as (if not safer) than U-bolts.

 

He could be talking about the idea that only the plate itself is what is holding the spring to the frame. I personally like the design of the entire front suspension, as it has a very cool look to it.. and unique as well.

However, I too would tend to question that particular mount. Is there enough penetration in the weld to completely trust for the full weight of the car on compression after a bad bump in the road?

The bolts may be strong enough, but would they still be through the plate when/if it comes loose?

 

Same here, I think it's dangerous just because of the bones. Even though it looks cool, doesn't mean that you should leave the chance for something so serious to go wrong.

 

how does the spring rebound?? Looks like the only motion available is the distance the weight of the car and passengers, and bump will deflect it. Or put more simply how much droop is ther when you jack the tires of the ground??

 

If i'm seeing what I think I'm seeing the spring is only utilizing the areas outside of the frame. That puts a lot of stress on the ends of the spring. I can't see how it is attached to the bones, but if its not done right its unsafe, It looks like it is to far back or in a thin area of the bones. For that setup to be safe they need to be attached close to the king pin. As far as the spring it will be a very rough front end and will brake the spring after a while.--TV On second look it looks like the mount for the u-bolts is 1/4" plate welded on each side of the cross member, it doesn't look strong enough to hold the whole weight of the front end.

 

Looks to me like it depends upon the quality of your welds.

 

looks alright to me... then a again i dont want to be responsible for someones death

 

Yeah right, as if this is the right place to settle an argument like this.

Marty McF.

 

I would agree. The farther the spring is away from the axle the more force/pressure you are putting on the rpd ends; I would worry about them failing.

 

Is any part of the frame below scrub line?

 

I put the photos on my computer to enlarge them and see what you did. too pixelated.

spring on top is not a good idea. but it could be done, just not the way you did it.

what the heck is the spring bolted to? a plate welded to the top of the frame? it looks thin in the photo. post a closeup of the spring mount if that is what you want an opinion on. you can't tell what's going on there.

I might trust my buddy Dave to weld something like that. are yoiu certified to weld on helicoptors or submarines?

 

It's just welded to the top of the frame.

I have nothing to do with the build. Just a picture I stumbled across and questioned.

 

I wouldnt trust the 4 bolts, i would make a heavy duty bracket thing to go over the spring where it connects that wraps around it with thick steel. What are those bolts rated at?

 

At least you don't need a tetanus shot to look at it!

 

looks a little late now to be wondering if its safe. i think if anything the bones would bend a little before they broke, find a set of 5 or 6 railroad tracks and go back and forth wideopen 10 times.

 

Similar to mine only my spring sits under the crossmember. I think the bones are OK



But I agree with Marty McFly. You know that posting that pic was never gonna SOLVE an arguement

 

Without seeing photos of the cross section of the front crossmember to be able to tell how it is built and if it is built strong enough and well enough to stand up to serious road driving.
But then with those pipes I seriously doubt that it will ever any driving except in and out of the trailer and a few laps around one fairground's grounds or another. It has a serious look at me pro fairground look to it.

 

That's quite a lot of engine set-back, so there can't be that much weight on the front end. Only thing I might do differently is use two U-bolts across the spring and down through/around the crossmember with lock nuts on the bottom. I don't think there's enough weight there to bend the bones, so I'd U-bolt it and run it.

 

He stated it was not his work! And for the record, Pinkees and many other builders over the last few decades have donne the same thing.......some of them auto manufacturers.

 

Bear with me on this question as well since I'm still learning....aren't the bones hollow? And How were they made, stamped, cast???

I personaly think that using the bones, especially vintage ones, as a load bearing point is not a good idea period.....but I'm no engineer so correct me if I'm wrong.