Bad Chassis mods

[Ed]

Hey Guys,

Just browsing the net and found something which defies common sense and safety...

This is what the kiddies are doing these days and IMO is just stupid and unsafe.

this is a chassis rail which has been sectioned (shortened), rewelded and the welds ground flush.

no fish plates.. done by a backyarder, the vehicle probably wont go thru engineering either.

the chassis was shortened in the name of looks.

other stupid things going on include the ridiculous "C-notching" of chassis rails using sheet to get the vehicle riding low.  I'm refering to "mini truckers" here...

What annoys me is eventually one of these death traps is going to get somebody killed and then all modified cars will be grouped together, and again the laws will be tightened up.

Pics for your amazement.


Ed

[FC427]

Ed he has given himself a substantial increase in welding area with the stagered joint the way he has cut it ...the chassis material only looks to be around 4mm  so a big fillet on the outside of the rail would not do much to ad strength to the joint the way I see it .......but still I would have liked to see some form of compensation plates used even on the inside of the chassis and plug welded..... BUT WHAT WOULD I KNOW I AM NOT AN ENGINEER .........FC427......

[Ed]

yep big increase in area of weld using the staggered cut.

I'm no engineer either, but this cut is midway in the chassis.

maybe, I just like to know structural joins won't fail over time.

Cheers

Ed

[rat]

as they say 1inch of weld will hold a ton ::)

[Ed]

ok... delete pointless thread...

[TTV6FC]

I'm with you Ed,although the pictures probably don't show the problem with the mods.The way the chassis has been cut gives the most possible area to be re welded,but the problem is that the strongest part of the weld has been ground off.Fish plates at least on the back would have been an important addition I would have thought.Or drilling a couple holes either side of the join and having the plates internally also an option.I guess the other consideration would be what sort of load they need to support (not very much on a show ute) and maybe they are just backyarders as you said that don't think that far ahead unlike you,me and a bunch of others on the forum.Either way,not a useless thread. ;)

[Ed]

Thanks Jamie  :D

A cut and shut thru the centre of the chassis is unsafe for me until somebody busts this myth...

Cheers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

I'd say it's OK as long as they got good penetration on the welds, at TAFE they used a hydraulic press to break apart welded metal to reuse, the good welder's pieces just bent or broke at the parent metal.
I guess it depends if the person welding was any good, it's a bit hard to check if they got good penetration on the welds  :-\

[EffCee]

Many years ago (mid 1980's) I used to do a lot of Chassis work on cars and trucks. I worked for a company which "stretched" Cadillacs and Lincolns, We also did chassis work on trucks where the wheelbase would be lengthened by the required amount. This type of weld would not be permissible as a "stand alone" repair. On the cars this type of repair was done to maximise the joint strength and then reinforced with fish plates or similiar.

In the time that I was there there were two different engineers that were used, one required fish plates with holes that were plug welded, the other required a join that was plated on all four sides of the chassis. In the case of the trucks, again this type of joint was used, then the chassis laminated (another section of chassis inside and out) to ensure strength was retained and that at no time did the vehicle strength rely totally on the welded section.  

It should be noted that on the trucks the sections of chassis rails were riveted on, after the rails had been welded, as welding the chassis sections was not allowed as this led to a weak section within the chassis. Both engineers were the same on this.

If you have a look at a truck (prime mover) that is rated for road train use the chassis is double or even triple laminated for strength.

Keith