Front Suspension Nightmare!

[Coburn_Performance]

I bought a Corvette C4 IFS subframe from a supplier that will remain nameless and it's no better than scrap. I tried to get it to work, but it's so out of square (LCA mounts are pinched 1/4"...1/16" on one side and 3/16" on the other) and the entire thing is 1/4" to one side of the car. So I'm building my own. Here's my problem - I had just finished fabricating a 2 X 3 120 wall frame for the front clip and now that this cross member is going to be recycled, I could use a little more frame rail kick (6" would be perfect) to shorten the UCA mount and get the frame away from the tie rod.



What I need to know is what is possible for companies with mandrel benders to bend. I made this frame with weld up parts and they don't fit very precisely and if I have to do it again, I'd rather have a bent rail. So what is the standard for bend radius? Someone has to know.

[Build-It-Break-It]

Contact Art Morrison. They sell frame rails and have the equipment to bend custom square tubing in a mandrel.

Also a company called Auto weld does frame rails,but they're not friendly.

[fordsbyjay]

Contact Art Morrison. They sell frame rails and have the equipment to bend custom square tubing in a mandrel.

Also a company called Auto weld does frame rails,but they're not friendly.

I never had a problem with my rear rails from Autoweld but they were off the shelf not custom.

One thing I am curious about is how consistent mandrel bends are from piece to piece. If you bent 10 pieces would they all come out the same?

[raustinss]

there is no standard for forming it all varies on wall thickness as well as die opening ... and ... lastly the size of the upper die . you would be best to figure out exactly what you want and find someone to give you that

[Coburn_Performance]

Cool - thanks. I'll contact AME on Monday morning with my requirements.

[Ron Sutton]

We offer 45° kick ups for 2"x3" frame rails for DIY frame builders. They are laser cut and come in a variety of spacings. Sounds like you would want the 6" drop. See them HERE.

[Mean 69]

AME will take care of you. They are super good dudes and have really good equipment.

That said, strength comes with 3 dimensions - subframes and even full frames are by definition more of a 2d structure - stiff (sometimes) in bending, but horrible in torsion. Are you building a cage? Then the actual rails used are more "lenient" in terms of construction approach. Looks like you have some good fab equipment and abilities from photo, with appropriate coaching, you can pull this off. Just need the right coach.

M

[Coburn_Performance]

The front of the car will have a tubular structure to tie it all in. I'm already implementing a design that I think will work - I just have to finish off the CAD drawings and get them sent out for laser cutting. I'll call AME in the morning.

@Ron - If AME can't help me out - I'll give you a call. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to putting this thing together. Thanks again for your help with the initial suspension analysis all those years ago.

- Craig

[Ron Sutton]

The front of the car will have a tubular structure to tie it all in. I'm already implementing a design that I think will work - I just have to finish off the CAD drawings and get them sent out for laser cutting. I'll call AME in the morning.

@Ron - If AME can't help me out - I'll give you a call. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to putting this thing together. Thanks again for your help with the initial suspension analysis all those years ago.

- Craig

Sounds good

[Coburn_Performance]

AME will take care of you. They are super good dudes and have really good equipment.

That said, strength comes with 3 dimensions - subframes and even full frames are by definition more of a 2d structure - stiff (sometimes) in bending, but horrible in torsion. Are you building a cage? Then the actual rails used are more "lenient" in terms of construction approach. Looks like you have some good fab equipment and abilities from photo, with appropriate coaching, you can pull this off. Just need the right coach.

M

I really should bump the build thread - it's hard to keep this rolling on so many forums. I'll take all the suggestions that I can get! I am starting a YouTube channel just to keep it all straight.