[nick_bj40]

How thick is everyone going Im thinking 3-4mm for engine, transmission and transfer and 4-5mm for suspension (i.e links) and same for exo's am I on the right track? Or not quiet??

[Gwagensteve]

3mm for anything attached to a chassis. The engineers I have worked with spec not more than 50% thicker than the base material. Stock chassis is 2.5mm, so even 4mm is too thick.

I use 5mm for axle brackets.

Steve

[nick_bj40]

Why thanks mr steve exactly what I needed to know

3mm is on the thin side though that's the rules

[It's a Zook, Honest]

Hey guys, On a related note. How thick steel plate should I get for my winch bar. the bit that runs parallel with and bolts to the chassis. the rest is tube. Its for a sierra btw.

[DarkHorse]

Anywhere from 3-6mm depending on design I reckon. If it's just flat plate go thicker, if you're incorporating folds and/or bracing you can go thinner.

[Trypt]

^^^ saves me starting a new thread

[Hybrid]

Gwagensteve wrote:

The engineers I have worked with spec not more than 50% thicker than the base material.
Steve

There's a government modification pdf floating around that says exactly this. It also talks about the preferred end shapes of the fish plates relative to where they are placed and also crush tube info if I recall correctly. It seemed to be directly targeted at hot rodders and ICV's.

[just_cruizin]

Really depends on what you are doing. Most plating applications are to reinforce the chassis where it has been modified such as shortened or extended and not the application where you are welding addition brackets etc to it. It's to return integrity in the form of homogeneous material across the embrittled heat affect zone of a weld.

[Red89]

Gwagensteve wrote:

3mm for anything attached to a chassis. The engineers I have worked with spec not more than 50% thicker than the base material. Stock chassis is 2.5mm, so even 4mm is too thick.

I use 5mm for axle brackets.

Steve

just_cruizin wrote:

Really depends on what you are doing. Most plating applications are to reinforce the chassis where it has been modified such as shortened or extended and not the application where you are welding addition brackets etc to it. It's to return integrity in the form of homogeneous material across the embrittled heat affect zone of a weld.

So for stuff like mounting links, brackets etc to the chassis does the 50% rule still apply or is that simply for cutting and shutting the chassis. ?

[alien]

everything on mine follows that rule... although my spring mounts / hangers and shock towers are 5mm.

[KEENSY85]

Good tech guys

[Gwagensteve]

Red89 wrote:

So for stuff like mounting links, brackets etc to the chassis does the 50% rule still apply or is that simply for cutting and shutting the chassis. ?

My take is that anything welded directly to the chassis can't exceed 3.75mm. Anything welded to a doubling plate can be any thickness you want, so if you want a 5mm shock mount (and I have no idea why you'd want one that thick, but anyway) you are free to weld the 5mm plate to the <3.75mm doubling plate welded to the chassis.

Here's a couple of real world examples from Piggles.

Doubling plates in this instance are 3mm thick. The crossmember isn't welded directly to the rail at any point - it's doubling plated on all sides.

Mocked up



and in the car



Panhard bracket is all 3mm, onto a 3mm doubling plate, then onto the chassis. It encompasses 3 sides of the rail, plated on all sides.





But the vitara coil bucket, which is approximately 2.5mm thick, I welded directly to the rail, excactly as it is in a vitara.

How light is it possible to make something like a shock mount? Well, I'm quite sure these mounts (which have been used in a few cars) would be made much thinner than the 3.0mm I make them from and still be durable. Remember, there's almost nothing in a stock sierra that's over 2.5mm thick.



Steve.

[Red89]

Thats what I was after cheers Steve.