Front end work

[R.J.]

im wondering the same thing IZ

figured i'd ask Travis when i pick up the beams.

Nodnard, how thick do you use for plating?

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

Plate thickness depends on the application...for something that needs to conform to a surface like those pics, 1/8" is about all you can do. Weld it down where it touches, then clamp the next spot to be welded & weld, clamp, weld, beat with hammer, weld, get bigger hammer, clamp, weld.

if you need more strength on a contoured surface, weld 1 1/8" plate down, then add another on top. it looks good and is super strong.

on flatter surfaces, 3/16" is usaully plenty.

 

[R.J.]

thanks brandon backwards

i was thinking 3 1/6" but wasn't sure how well that would conform to the different shaps, and thought it might get a bit heavy. do/would you use just a hammer, or also a torch to heat it up to bend easier?

 

[Dannyboy]

3 1/6" is pretty thick, you might want to start with 3/16" and see if you like that.

 

[R.J.]

im probably gonna run 1/8"

i really don't need it to be that thick, since there's gonna be so much of it

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

This is Travis on my brothers screen name.These beams are built by SOLO Motorsports.Robbie,post pics up when you get closer to getting those beams all plated in.

 

[R.J.]

well on the way back from the cleghorn run on saturday i gave Travis a call and ended up picking the beams up around 11pm saturday night. i didn't want to post without pics so thats why im a little late with this.

i give BTF 10 out of 10 gold stars. Travis is great guy. nice, layed back and understanding. good honest work without ridiculous prices. (best prices ive heard of)

dont expect any fab form me anytime soon. life's busy with school ad other projects i need to work on.

 

[carlover]

Nice. At least now you know you can beat on it even harder..

 

[cybergasm]

Hmmm i always thought there was a bit more to em the just relocating the lower ball joint on a cut and turn beam.:scratch:

 

[Dannyboy]

Wow, okay, explain exatly what you have done for everybody. (myself included).

I see you moved your lower ball joints outward, is this to change your drop brackets to a lower drop or eliminate them?

I've heard all kinds of stories, you and I are a lot alike, we both launched tons of hubs when we had drop brackets (not sure why that matters). But you seen I've hammered my truck as much as anybody and so far it's held up with this mod. Rumor has it it's due to this mod of relocating the ball joints out. I don't totally understand why, but I'm glad I don't launch hubs like it did on the old truck.

What have you heard about drop brackets failing front ends?

 

[IZwack]

For better camber?

Yes please explain the "Cut and turn" doodad. I see some cutting but where'd the turning part go?

 

[OldRedB2_84]

subscribing!

 

[Dannyboy]

Is this cut and turn? i thought this was cut and turn

 

[Willard]

That's what I've always thought, too.

Oh yea, subscribing

 

[cybergasm]

^^^^ now that's what i thought cut and turn meant

 

[OldRedB2_84]

same here.

 

[R.J.]

hopefuly brandon will chime in and explain everything.

but here's what I know:

moving the lower ball joint is all that they do for "cut and turned" beams, thats the way any baja/desert shop does it. when running from the stock axle pivot brackets and adding taller coils, the beam angles downward and the tire moves with it at the same angle. to align the wheel ptoperly, they relocate the lower ball joint out to make the wheel straight up and down while the beam is at angle from the stock pivot bracket to the hubs. its kinda like when you lift a ttb 2", you just align the wheel with cams, same idea with cut and turned beams.

danny, those would also be cut and turned beams, but instead of adjusting the the ball joints to correct alignment, they leave the ball joints and half the beams stock and cut and turn the pivot end to make the beams level at the hubs. thats the way alot of people on here have done it, such as the zimmerman's (the ones posted above) 410Fortune, a few others.

i haveno clue if it helps with breaking hubs. its supposed to be stronger than drop brackets and reduce frame fatigue, while helping the steering.

 

[mounty71]

I can see that relocating the lower balljoint would give you the same camber as would the cutting and turning that everyone was expecting. But doesn't the other type of cut and turned beam allow more travel without binding? Because the way i imagine it working in my head, when these beams are at their normal position, wont the axles already be 'drooped', and cause premature binding where the two axles meet in the middle? I tried to draw a picture to explain it better, with yours on the right and cut and turned on the left, and the axles are the red lines....

 

[R.J.]

the zimmerman's got 19"s of travel and camburg got 22"s of travel. so it doesn't seem like either way bindes. im not a geometry expert. im sure if you talk to someone like john at autofab, he'll explain in depth what happens when cycling suspension. i see the point in what you said matt, im also thinking that maybe when the beams droop, the style on the left might binde because the beams move closer together as they drop and farther apart when they stuff. did i make any sense? not sure if its right or not, but just a thought.

 

[R.J.]

oh and thanks for the drawing matt. cleared up what i was trying to say