Coilovers?????

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USCG..
I know I'll take heat for it....but read the RULES....

Section A) Coffee Getter Class

Rule 1)...NO visable roll bars allowed....however frame stiffeners/connectors thru the floorboards and other X bracing chassis stiffining permitted...as long as tastefully done
 
So many fixes for something that is not broken.

IMO.
 
Badart said:
This is something I threw together tonight when I couldn't sleep. This is one of 3 options that I have for bracing the inner fenders for coilovers. This one most likely offers the least amount of support, but there is tons of clearance. I think that it may be for someone who doesn't want J bars in the engine bay or the other option that Louis is doing.

Imagine the landings along the frame rail and the top of the brace being cut into and welded in the factory mount frame. Bailing wire would be an option too. :D I think the second bar will offer a little more support and help the frame rails from rolling in. What are your thoughts?
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that looks pretty good to me,but i think i would still figure out a monte-carlo bar or something to tie it together side to side. i guess it would make a difference if you were drag racing or auto-crossing to me whether you needed it or not.
 
HemiDenny said:
USCG..
I know I'll take heat for it....but read the RULES....

Section A) Coffee Getter Class

Rule 1)...NO visable roll bars allowed....however frame stiffeners/connectors thru the floorboards and other X bracing chassis stiffining permitted...as long as tastefully done
Click to expand...

Exactly it has to be 100% custom and tastefully done before I do think about doing it... of course this comes with that price called time and money... Lol
 
USCG..
whats a few roundbars with 1000HP?...glad your taking this info with the right perspective

Denny
 
HemiDenny said:
USCG..
whats a few roundbars with 1000HP?...glad your taking this info with the right perspective

Denny
Click to expand...

Well it was always in the plans to do a cage; I was just thinking I would do one later though... but with all the suspension mods I'm doing I might as well do one now.. I was talking with the chassis guy yesterday about it and what I want s kinda big money but it's very tasteful. all bars are as within a knuckle from roof, a pillars, etc... He said he would cut a hole in the floor to drop the cage to get to those tight welds.
 
USCG CHARGER said:
Well it was always in the plans to do a cage; I was just thinking I would do one later though... but with all the suspension mods I'm doing I might as well do one now.. I was talking with the chassis guy yesterday about it and what I want s kinda big money but it's very tasteful. all bars are as within a knuckle from roof, a pillars, etc... He said he would cut a hole in the floor to drop the cage to get to those tight welds.
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This is the way all custom bent cages should fit. It does cost a little more due to the time involved, but its the right way to do them. Make sure, if your planning on running a headliner, that it is in before he does the cage...because it will SUPER tough to get it back in there and looking right. To avoid burning the headliner, he can slide in some scrap aluminum sheet between the tubes and the headliner itself. I TIG weld everything...chromoly or not, so the sparks are not there, but the heat can still reach up and scorch the headliner.
 
What are your thoughts?

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Would definitely help, but if you could carry it past the coilover mount and tie it into something behind the mount, you would be golden. What you have is a considerable improvement, but being single sided, with the "leg" sticking out there, it will have movement still.
 
curleysracecars said:
Would definitely help, but if you could carry it past the coilover mount and tie it into something behind the mount, you would be golden. What you have is a considerable improvement, but being single sided, with the "leg" sticking out there, it will have movement still.
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I just asked him about that too.. Tory is willing to listen and accommodate towards safety.. He like baddart just threw this together today. I think his primary goal is to have a bolt in piece that exceeds the safety and performance standards to provide us Mopar enthusiast with options.
 
I have thought about making doublers for the top of the inner fender that go around the top shock mount from the inner and the out sides to incorporate a monte carlo bar. There is no doubt that the front sheet metal is weak. Both of my darts have stress cracks in the cowl area near the roof pillars.
 
So I was looking at my car and noticed that the firewall sheet metal is super thin. no way I would attach a snout bar to it b/c I'm sure it would flex or crease the fire wall... I think the only way to do a snout bar is to have it attached to the cage inside the car.
 
USCG CHARGER said:
What are your thoughts?

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That is an okay design but slightly complicated for no real added benefit. See what I drew up. It's a one-piece tube with two bends (1-1/2 mild steel .120" wall) with plates a each end and a dimple-died 3/16 plate, notched and welded at tube side and frame end. You could make it a bolt-on I guess too.

As an example concept look at what off-chassis builders do (especially twin I-beam Ford Rangers) and how coil-overs are supplemented to work. You could go with a 1" DOM instead of the 1-1/2 mild steel tubing, but it looks odd and harder to bend. Mild steel will work just fine.
 

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Any shear, moment, and deflection calculations been done on any of these designs? Over built is almost as bad as under built.

Don’t forget the 3/4th inch wrench needed to align the car when it is all cobbled back together.

My 2 cents: I don’t see the need to reengineer the torsion bar suspension Chrysler designed for road use, or drag racing. Pop in the correct torsion bar for the job, and you're done.


Oh, perhaps stiffing the lower radiator cross member would help reduce deflection of the cantilevered frame rails.
 
HemiDenny said:
oh...one more thing, ...when looking to see how much weight got saved in the coilover conversion....

don't forget to weigh these and the coilovers....sometimes they get missed
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I weighed everything when I switched from /6 T-bars to coilovers. I saved a whole 5 pounds with NO bracing added. If I add any bracing, it will undoubtedly gain weight over the factory setup.
 
Back in the day(late 60's, early 70's; little $, but tried. I have broken so many cars). But then got a job at a roundy-round shop, learned chassis and suspension more than I could get out of a book. No depending on sheet metal.

The chassis is one, from the rear bumper to the front bumper. And tons of gussets and triangles. Minimum of bends, weak, unless you want to add more triangulalation=more weight. Taking that to drag cars; add the roll structure/stiffening to the rear first. Main hoop braces angled down to front of rear spring mounts, main rear bars to rear trunk.

Hoop; add under-floor supports, with 2 diagonals to sub-frame connectors (or back then, just a real frame). So far, no bends. The front is harder; hoop bent, halo bent, a pillars bent. But from the a pillars, right at the under-dash horizontal bar; straight into engine bay, and that requires a another bend.

But you have no choice, There, the triangulation is important; halo protects driver, front is tying the car together. then under rad loop, and the boss always wanted x-bracing around the front coil-overs side to side(now it is a major botch to work on the engine) but boltin tubes are legal now.

Hope this kinda helps.
 
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