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Cutting Out Long arm crossmember area of Frame stiffeners????

B

brianglawson

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Greensboro, NC
So, Im about to install a long arm kit from Froehlich Suspension with mounts that confrom to the frame rail. I also have HD offroad frame stiffeners to install. Im thinking about sectioning the frame rail stiffeners so I don't run into a lot of fitment problems with the lower arm mounts/crossmember.

Woud I be losing a lot of the effectiveness of the stiffeneres doing this??? or would the gains be little from leaving them whole?

what are the thoughts????
 
Fitment will be pretty tight, and it will involve trimming the pinch seems on the interior of the frame rails, and possible grining on the LA brackets as well.

I did think about putting some stitches on the long arm brackets, but id rather not... but i dont rule it out
 
i just got done putting my long arms mounts on and i have HD stiffeners as well

since the material is so thin i would go ahead and mount X member over stiffeners and stitch weld as you mentioned... this would be the best and less of a headache route
 
so leave the stiffeners whole and stitch weld???
 
still makes me worry about fitment on that aspect, (sorry for the doublepost mods*)
 
ehall said:
makes me worry about ripping through the 10-gauge stiffeners that are only attached to the body with rosettes
Click to expand...

Welding to the stiffeners? i would bolt thorugh the stiffeners if I were to leave them whole....

but back to the original question...
 
You have to trim the pinch seam a little either way brian. You can cut 3/16 (or however much needed) off the crush sleeve spacers that are welded on the inside of the frame mount. Then slip the frame mount over the sliders and then drill through the stiffners. This is what ben did. The only bad thing about that is then you might have to lengthen the notches on the outside of the center crossmember.
 
redrider2911 said:
You have to trim the pinch seam a little either way brian. You can cut 3/16 (or however much needed) off the crush sleeve spacers that are welded on the inside of the frame mount. Then slip the frame mount over the sliders and then drill through the stiffners. This is what ben did. The only bad thing about that is then you might have to lengthen the notches on the outside of the center crossmember.
Click to expand...

the will the notching of the crossmember center create any "slop" in it? I see they are already slotted to an extent... I dont suppose it would really matter..lol

the stiffeners are totally intimidating.. haha

Kris, I'm about to send you a text too!
 
I installed my RE LA's and Treks unibody stiffeners (3/16") at the same time. While it was a HUGE pain in the ass, it all fit and lined up nicely. A few minor mis-alignments, but nothing stripped during installation, and everything's holding up well after a year of being beat on.
 
JeeperMatt said:
I installed my RE LA's and Treks unibody stiffeners (3/16") at the same time. While it was a HUGE pain in the ass, it all fit and lined up nicely. A few minor mis-alignments, but nothing stripped during installation, and everything's holding up well after a year of being beat on.
Click to expand...

Do you think it was worth it in the end?? Kris and BenDiesel's install have me pretty convinced to just do it the hard (right) way..lol
 
ehall said:
directl welding gives an opportunity for solid bead all the way around, as opposed to welding to an area that is only secured with 1 or 2 rosettes
Click to expand...


when welding to the unibody you don't want solid beads. you want to stitch everything so there is some flex to prevent the metal from fatiguing and tearing.
 
souske said:
I thought welding the perimiter was undesirable due to the HAZ?
Click to expand...

this is greatly dependent on materials. if we are dealing with something like a 1020 "mild steel" then there is not enough carbon content to really have much if any effect in the HAZ. what you may end up with is distortion issues with a solid weld. that being said, i am not sure what grade steel the Unibody or HDO stiffeners are made of, so it is probably better to be safe than sorry, and typically some good stitch welding is more than sufficent for the application.

G
 
brianglawson said:
Do you think it was worth it in the end?? Kris and BenDiesel's install have me pretty convinced to just do it the hard (right) way..lol
Click to expand...
Personally I'm quite pleased with everything. As peeps have been saying, I stitched the stiffeners on to avoid fatiguing the metal and to allow for some small flex. Stiffeners still made things noticeably more rigid, I can open and close all doors while flexed out.
My LA's installed a bit differently than most kits though (arms have separate mounts, skid plate is it's own removable piece). You may want to run a different way for ease of future maintenance. My skid drops out without moving or touching the arms, so the tight squeeze wasn't an issue after the initial install.
 
My mounts and skid are the same way :)
 
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