Shorty Thompson
Well-Known Member
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- Oct 17, 2009
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Who got the best place to get some from ?
OP probably already knows, but they are not a "fit and weld first time" deal. If you do it yourself, be prepared to do some trimming to meet the contour of the floor pans and install them multiple times. Worth it, though.
Has anyone tried to measure the improvement from subframe connectors? I get that intuitively, thicker tubes and designs that follow the floor would be stronger but how do we know if lighter pieces might not do the job well enough?
... Other than that it's just welding...
I disagree. I've done US Car Tool stiffeners both ways rotisserie and on a hoist. The only trouble is getting undercoating off or not knowing how to remove if. Other than that it's just welding. The trouble area on sub frame connectors is not placing the weld on the US Car Tool sub frame connector and rolling the weld into the floor pan. Once you learn that, it's easy. Just takes time and a good welding jacket.
I believe that you don't see this as a big deal...but (correct me if I'm wrong here) the trimming and adjusting to get these to fit perfectly along the floor pan then prepping/welding the entirety of the length is orders of magnitude more troublesome than bolt-in/weld-in options.
It certainly doesn't sound like rocket surgery but doing it right is time consuming and daunting to people who don't have welding experience, proper working space, extra time, etc.
Are these better? Most people seem to think so! They certainly look way better. Is the level of improvement over more accessible options proportional to the additional effort/expense? That's not a forgone conclusion, IMO.
If anyone wants to offer up their Mopar for me to practice on, come on over!
I was talking about the home made type that don't weld to the floor OR the prefabbed ones that do.
My Brother and I made mine with .085 wall 2x3 box steel that are not welded to the floor.
The 1x little baby bolt in type I don't care for.
Here's what we did that cost about 50 bucks and took a couple of hours.
View attachment 1715167952
I just bought 1.5x3 .125 rectangular tubing to make a set for my 68 Dodge Dart. I appreciate you posting the diagram as I'm doing a similar design. I am curious though, was your car a Dart Sport aka Demon? Unless the 73 Dart coupe body style really shortened up the underside my 2 door 68 Dart coupe (not a post car) needed 50 inch long pieces not 40~ inches.
Convertibles and Big Block cars with the 4 torque boxes.....This is a little trickier at the rear to attach the frame connector.
The US tool item works, but not what I want. I am looking at Chrome Molly round tubing, slight bend to follow the floor and incorporate the driveshaft loop. This is for my 69 Dart Convertible. Convertibles really benefit from the frame connectors. I figure round tubes place just right will allow emergency brake routing better.... any thoughts, anyone tried?
Dart Swinger hard top here.
Well if I did mistype that I better measure it again and make sure.
I know for fact that they extend a good 6-8 inches over the rear frame rails, so you may very well be right.
Yeah my best guess is it must have been a typo because I think our cars unibody should be identical (2 door coupe Darts). I just would hate for someone to see that diagram and order based off the measurements if they are wrong lol. I almost did but thankfully I thought I better go measure mine just to be safe and that's why I ended up ordering 51 inches instead of 41 .