Topic: Welding plates to floor
How much welding needs to be done? Does it have to be completely around it or is an inch of weld followed by a 2 inch gap repeated acceptable?
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How much welding needs to be done? Does it have to be completely around it or is an inch of weld followed by a 2 inch gap repeated acceptable?
weld all the way around
Weld it all
I had this same question, seems like it would be stronger and less likely to punch through if it were in a stitch weld instead of 100% around.
If you're worried about distortion, leave 1-inch gaps then "back step" to fill then in
Replace your whole floor with 3/8" stock sheet. That way it is plenty strong and you'll be able to handle small arms fire from below.
Replace your whole floor with 3/8" stock sheet. That way it is plenty strong and you'll be able to handle small arms fire from below.
Like hitting a wheel:D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmz3PJGDaEg
Riktor wrote:Replace your whole floor with 3/8" stock sheet. That way it is plenty strong and you'll be able to handle small arms fire from below.
Like hitting a wheel:D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmz3PJGDaEg
ROFLMAOPIMP!!! That coul have gone wrong in som many ways but the balance was perfect... Alomst looks like something from a video game.
I already started welding to the floor. I just didn't know if that was something that had to be welded all the way around or just to hold it in place, like what the bolts would do. Thanks guys.
For bolt in cages, there should be a equal sized pad(recommend 1/4" thick at least) used on the underside of the floor pan to "sandwich" it. By design, this method spreads the load equally around the entire pad. Since you are welding, do the entire pad....welding wire is cheap and your life isn't.
I don,t think it is a matter of cost savings and I do believe it is a matter of safety. you state a plate under a bolt in cage, like a sandwich, and if it is of the same size as the one above it also has a chance to cookie cutter its way through. It should be slightly larger so it dose not have the same shear point.......just saying.
not being much of an engine guy, i do know a little about fabbing metals together, shadetree style. as long as the plates are sitting on the pinch welds in the floorboards, the sandwich idea isn't needed.
no matter how you do it, tho, be sure to get good penetration without blowing out the floorboard.
I don,t think it is a matter of cost savings and I do believe it is a matter of safety. you state a plate under a bolt in cage, like a sandwich, and if it is of the same size as the one above it also has a chance to cookie cutter its way through. It should be slightly larger so it dose not have the same shear point.......just saying.
Ehhh..... Not so much.
warpony wrote:I don,t think it is a matter of cost savings and I do believe it is a matter of safety. you state a plate under a bolt in cage, like a sandwich, and if it is of the same size as the one above it also has a chance to cookie cutter its way through. It should be slightly larger so it dose not have the same shear point.......just saying.
Ehhh..... Not so much.
Agreed. The main point of sandwiching the chassis between the plates if to make it a uniform part of the cage/chassis.
The main function of the cage is to prevent you from being crushed/decapitated in a rollover event. So the brunt of the force is going to be placed on the interior feet of the cage; therefor a lager plate on the OUTSIDE will do relatively nothing. What you want to prevent is THIS:
http://jalopnik.com/5390934/mustang-cov … -tire-wall
Seems to be a common thing... Mustangs commiting suicide
Best course of action so as not to end up like the blue Mustang is to buy some 18ga or better sheet steel and make a large plate, 8"X8" minimum, bend it to form up with the contours of the inside of the car, weld it completely around and then weld the roll cage to it.
Hope that guy was OK despite the epic fail.
Best course of action so as not to end up like the blue Mustang is to buy some 18ga or better sheet steel and make a large plate, 8"X8" minimum, bend it to form up with the contours of the inside of the car, weld it completely around and then weld the roll cage to it.
Hope that guy was OK despite the epic fail.
Driver and Passenger actually walked away, amazingly enough.
Remember, the floor pans are usually weak, especially in the crapcans we race! Adding a thick plate on top of it can help, welded and/or bolted.
Bolting a backing plate will only help if somehow the cage is "pulled" away from the floor, where the pad on top helps keep it from "punching" through the floor(like on the blue car pictured). In this photo, you can see the bar that punched through the floorpan:
On our car, we built a platform that rested on our door sills, these are much stronger than the single sheet floorpans as they are thicker, and in most places will be doubled up or even triple layered sheetmetal. 1/8" thick plate welded on top, and this is the least of our worries.
For the front windshield bars, they land on 1/8" thick pads as well, but again we chose to tie to the door sill once again, with the pad being stitched, bend 90*, and re-welded. From here the vertical is welded to the sill, and the horizontal again welded to the floorpan.
There are many other ways to do it, but spreading the load to more than just the floorpans will help immensely. Any route you take should include thick mounting "pads", I'd never weld a tube directly to the floorpan.
That was a 4-pt roll bar, not a 6+ point cage. When the "downward" force of the ground was pressing on the bar, the only resisting force (besides the roof) was focused on those two mounting points. This is the exact reason that we have 6+ point cages and that there needs to be 360* welds on all the meeting points - especially the halo bar to main hoop to front legs.
That was a 4-pt roll bar, not a 6+ point cage. When the "downward" force of the ground was pressing on the bar, the only resisting force (besides the roof) was focused on those two mounting points. This is the exact reason that we have 6+ point cages and that there needs to be 360* welds on all the meeting points - especially the halo bar to main hoop to front legs.
It can still happen if the mounting points are not properly reinforced.
An even better addition with cumulative effects is doing this:
RobL wrote:That was a 4-pt roll bar, not a 6+ point cage. When the "downward" force of the ground was pressing on the bar, the only resisting force (besides the roof) was focused on those two mounting points. This is the exact reason that we have 6+ point cages and that there needs to be 360* welds on all the meeting points - especially the halo bar to main hoop to front legs.
It can still happen if the mounting points are not properly reinforced.
An even better addition with cumulative effects is doing this:
Yeah those cage to frame gussets are SICK, and a great idea! They make for a stronger cage as well as tightening up the body of the vehicle even more.
Here are some great pictures I found over at corner-carvers:
American Iron car
String them down A,B and C pillars and you'll have a strong ass chassis. Hope you softened your sway bars though.
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