First-Gen S10 Corner Carver

[greencactus3]

I'm not so sure about the cage being lighter, but it will definitely have more of an effect. I will definitely have at least a roll bar in there so I can mount harnesses, and a cage is only 3 bars or so away right?

less mass per % increase in rigidity in all axes.
im not sure how you count bars in roll cages, but bare minimum for stiffness, i would do
main hoop, ,
diagonal in the plane of main roll hoop,
diagonal forwards down (across the door sill)
and the rear diagonal bars to stiffen the underbed frame

[jerome]

Reclocked alternator case so the stud doesn't hit the valve cover


Welded-in a crossmember for coilover mounts




Welded-in sleeves for panhard bar mount so it doesn't crush the section when you torque the bolts


had to rework the chassis-side upper link mount because I made a mistake. front suspension was 2" too high because springs were unloaded, so I leveled the frame knowing the rear was 2" too high. However, I made the chassis-side link brackets forgetting this fact, so their range of adjustment is 2" too low.

should have some better updates end of the weeked. going to pick up my rearend from the welder tomorrow. I cut off the top portion of the panhard bracket and had him weld it lower. He also is welding on swaybar tabs and making the panhard bar. Ordered materials for the actual 3 links, should be done late next week. Exhaust materials coming in on Friday. The goal is to get everything under the cab done quickly so I can get it on and start mounting pedals/column, seat, wiring etc. That way I can possibly drive it before summer is over.

Jerome

[dusterbd13]

making good progress, jerome. youre going to need to re-powdercoat the frame anyway at this point, so are you thinking about boxing it?

and im looking forward to seeing the three link done and also seeing how it clears the bed.


keep at it!
Michael

[HectorM52]

making good progress, jerome. youre going to need to re-powdercoat the frame anyway at this point, so are you thinking about boxing it?

:werd:

And let me just re-iterate to you how much you will NOT want to be yanking the cab back off the frame once it is up and running. Trust me, get it done now.

[jerome]

Biased Ford videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zRfE_XAk2mE
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/25/v...re-test-track/

first test could have easily been rigged by tare-ing the deflection meter when the frame wasn't exactly vertical, but point still stands

clearly boxing it would help stiffness, but theres so many things that could go wrong:

I don't like the idea of boxing it, because those welds would be highly stressed and prone to cracking. I'm also not sure how the frames are made, but if they are cold-worked, welding on them takes all the hardness out. I'm just gonna not think about it, insert the plate about .75in into the channel and then weld short sections(so that I can't get one continuous crack).

Any thoughts on how to exactly level the frame in a garage? This part makes me uneasy too, because as you see in the first video, the frame easily be off by an inch at the end, and you box it and you have a permanently twisted frame.

I'm still not completely sold on boxing the frame as I think a well-installed cage would take care of these problems...I've tried pretty hard to level the frame too, but the left rail probably takes 30lbs to pick up while the right is 150lbs at least (at the back). Keep in mind, this is after I leveld the frame to get all the measurements for suspension...it's impossible to get the frame to be neutral.

having bare metal in a boxed-off section also bothers me

As you can see, I like the idea of boxing it, but not how wrong it could go.

Jerome