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Reinforce rear sub-frame

M

MadDog

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
618
Location
Augusta, GA
As I now have a spare rear subframe (thanks contour-r-us), my plan is to reinforce it before putting it with the new components, into my car. I read the Solo how-to on cutting out the old bracket and putting a new one using square tubing.

As I havnt done any welding in some time, I asked a friend who would help me with this and I showed him what I wanted to do. After inspecting the subframe, he suggested that instead of cutting out the old bracket, it might be a better idea to reinforce the existing one. To do this, we would fab out an "overlay" out of an appropriate metal (carbon steel 1/8" thick ?). This would be welded to the frame in 3 new spots, and welded to the old bracket along the edges.

I sketched out a paper mockup (see below).

IMG_0280..JPG

The idea was to overlay the new part onto the old one, and in the process, add 3 new welds to the frame. This way, I can avoid any potential screw ups with cutting.

IMG_0281..JPG

This should give an idea of what I was thinking of. The PRT sway bar links I have look to be adjustable so I can account for the 1/8" difference.

Has anyone gone this route before ? Or am I over thinking this and should go with the Solo method ?

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
That should work and others have done similar. I still recommend welding a nut to the slotted end and using a energy suspension bushing and bracket as the next piece that will break would be the stock bushing bracket. The main reason I start from scratch is that I was dealing with factory mounts that were no longer in 1 piece.
 
I was planning on drilling out the slot a bit and go with the welded nut. I have the bushings from BAT for the 21mm BAT sway bar, but I guess I should go with the ES bushings.

Should I go with 20.5mm greasable or 21mm non-greasable ? The BAT part measures to be 20.64 mm.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
MadDog said:
I was planning on drilling out the slot a bit and go with the welded nut. I have the bushings from BAT for the 21mm BAT sway bar, but I guess I should go with the ES bushings.

Should I go with 20.5mm greasable or 21mm non-greasable ? The BAT part measures to be 20.64 mm.

thanks,

Mad Dog
Click to expand...

I used the ES poly bushing with the stock retaining bracket. Basically a non-greaseable, though you do use the ES supplied "grease". I have had no reason to question integrity of this set-up (stock mounting tabs, no rust) I used, as I am only running a stock SVT rear bar on my '95 Zetec Tour.
 
MadDog said:
As I now have a spare rear subframe (thanks contour-r-us), my plan is to reinforce it before putting it with the new components, into my car. I read the Solo how-to on cutting out the old bracket and putting a new one using square tubing.

As I havnt done any welding in some time, I asked a friend who would help me with this and I showed him what I wanted to do. After inspecting the subframe, he suggested that instead of cutting out the old bracket, it might be a better idea to reinforce the existing one. To do this, we would fab out an "overlay" out of an appropriate metal (carbon steel 1/8" thick ?). This would be welded to the frame in 3 new spots, and welded to the old bracket along the edges.

I sketched out a paper mockup (see below).

View attachment 16426

The idea was to overlay the new part onto the old one, and in the process, add 3 new welds to the frame. This way, I can avoid any potential screw ups with cutting.

View attachment 16427

This should give an idea of what I was thinking of. The PRT sway bar links I have look to be adjustable so I can account for the 1/8" difference.

Has anyone gone this route before ? Or am I over thinking this and should go with the Solo method ?

thanks,

Mad Dog
Click to expand...

btw - I for one like your approach. Local hot-rod fabricator also uses this approach!
 
Well, I am still new to this, and heavily reliant on the know-how of others. So, thanks in advance.

I was asked to forward this question (from my friend who is helping me): Is the subframe hot or cold forged carbon steel ? (he has a background in metallurgy and corrosion) I was kicking my idea to him and he pointed out the possibility that welding onto cold forged material could be detrimental to the metal strength near the welds. Enlarging the grain size, if I remember correctly.

Mad Dog
 
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