I am just about to get into welding for my second job the first thing I wanted to start with is frame rails. I am not welding them onto the cars but I will build them so you can slide them over the existing frame.
The steel is 22G with a reinforced inside for lifting. these are very strong. and will work well. I have done up a prototype for my own car. this is not the final design. The final mold covers more area. I leave about 1 inch at the ends unwelded just so you can push the ends tight agents the frame to get a very clean weld.
Here’s a photo of the prototype. Again this is not final.
Yeah I was thinking of make it a 16g steal but that steel is about twice the price. I figure I can keep cost down by using a thinner gauge steal. And just reinforce the important parts. it’s still the same design and thickness of steal Nissan uses all over the car.
I will look into making the reinforcing larger. Thanks for the tip.
I believe factory uses a double layer of 16 gauge thick steel…
better rethink of using cheaper materials before you loose your legs in case of an accident. (and Ive seen couple frame rails go through the floor of the S13)
I have checked the factory steal on an s13 and have yet to find a spot they ever used 16 gauge steal. (Other than maybe the bummers? but never seen it any where else. and even that I’m doubtful)
It is double layered yes. but for 16 gauge steal that would have to be 4 mm think. I’m sorry but that’s way over engineered for that type of car.
An other way to look at it is your seat rails are built from 16G steal that’s meant to not brake in the event of an accident. think about that type of steel double thickness on the frame rails. That car would be a tank.
As my prototype sits you need a solid swing with a hammer to get that thing to bend. I am not worried about it at all.
you’d be surprised then… i’ve worked at a collision center for over 2 years and have seen plenty of frames that gets opened up, pulled then closed back off. its called a frame for a reason, and that reason being its a structural part of the uni body. the quarters, floor boards are probably made from 20-22 gauge steel.
2 layers of 16 gauge steel is right around 3.2mm which is reasonable, since the car is subjected to thousands of pounds of shear and torsional loading. on top of that if you can bend your prototype with a good swing with the hammer, wouldn’t you say its not strong enough? collision centers use oxy acetylene to heat it real good and hydraulics to get the frame to deform.
im not bashing on your work (looks pretty good actually), but i personally think its unsafe to sell it on the market, and could potentially risk other people’s or your own lives just because 22 gauge steel is cheaper.
I will have a look tomorrow and measure it. It will settle it. no scene in discussing this and getting into any fights. Its an easy one to prove or disprove.
I wouldn’t sell something to someone if I thought they could somehow damage their car down the road. Makes me look bad. lol
That’s also true randy. You can look at it both ways. The main thing is I am not building truck frames I am simply making a cheep yet strong solution for people who are not rich and can pay a body shop hundreds of dollars to get full cut and fabed frame rails from scratch.
I just installed my rail looks great. and works well. All though after looking at the frame and measuring the rear is 22G and the fronts are 16G that means I will have to find a cheep suppler for 16G steal. And I will have to edit the price depending on the cost of steal.
So Fungc is right. I retract what I said before. Sorry man.
Who knows of cheap steal supplier’s? the closer to the East end the better. I know of one place so far.
was that made from 3 sections welded together? When I had mine made I had them bend it all and then for the kink i cut the wall, and bent to shape then welded just the wall to reduce the ammount of welding. Just my 2 cents. Ill try and find a pic later… I think it was 16g too.
Boss steel in richmond hill did mine from a cardboard template and some measurements.
