Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 So since I'm pulling the motor this winter, I want to take the opportunity to get the frame straightened. That being said, I also want to fix these cracks I've noticed on my upper frame rails. Fixing it I don't think is an issue, just straighten the frame and weld her up with but does anyone have any insight as to what could of caused this? There are cracks on both sides of the car, could these be because of coilovers taking extra stress in the front strut tower and not transferring the load down to the lower frame rail?The car was in a front end accident before I owned it that looks like it hit a pole. I've put it into a curb once but it wasn't straight on, maybe like a 45* angle when I jacked up my passenger BBS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 That crack strikes me as the result of a force acting on the front of the frame, most likely with a bit of an upward motion, not from coilovers pushing on the strut towers. What side of the car are we looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 That's drivers side but there's one on passenger side too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95opal Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Throw it on the frame machine to have it straitened and squared. Take it home and weld up the cracks. No sense fixing the cracks till the car is straight. Re square your kmember also as the frame pulling may throw off the current set up if its out that far IDK how bad its off but a quick measurement will tell you how off the frame actually is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Throw it on the frame machine to have it straitened and squared. Take it home and weld up the cracks. No sense fixing the cracks till the car is straight. Re square your kmember also as the frame pulling may throw off the current set up if its out that far IDK how bad its off but a quick measurement will tell you how off the frame actually is.That was the plan Rich! When we installed the k member in the spring we couldn't get it exactly square and I believe it is an issue if squareness on the front end. Definitely well be resquaring it since it wasn't square to begin with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 was the car in an accident @Det_Riot? assuming thats why its outta whack a little bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 was the car in an accident @Det_Riot? assuming thats why its outta whack a little bitMentioned that in the op Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Mentioned that in the op Did you ninja edit that.. i dont remember seeing it haha. either way, gotcha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Did you ninja edit that.. i dont remember seeing it haha. either way, gotcha Lol nope!! It was there in the og post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Make sure you drill a hole here at the end of the crack before you weld it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Make sure you drill a hole here at the end of the crack before you weld it up Yupp definitely! It's like repairing a beam crack lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted December 29, 2014 Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Yupp definitely! It's like repairing a beam crack lol I keep forgetting you're an engineer... Carry on lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleeperstang1994 Posted January 1, 2015 Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 im not an engineer...But i like knowledge! Can we explain why we are drilling holes before welding? @Det_Riot , @Steve-Oh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted January 1, 2015 Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 Drilling a hole at the end of the crack just stops the crack from spreading further, it relieves stress from the material before you weld. It's a trick I've been told to do many times, and it's never failed me yet @Sleeperstang1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted January 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 Yupp precisely what @95riosnake said. By drilling the hole at the end, you're relieving stress in the area and allowing the material to flex some. Drilling the hole is usually for when you don't plan on going back to weld it together but when you're doing the repair, you drill to make sure you're eliminating any microscoping stress cracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 @SublimeRT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SublimeRT Posted January 26, 2015 Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Ah, man. Well, good thing you caught that. Has me wondering about my car now even though I've been up close and personal with this area and can't recall seeing anything. I hit a curb straight on in the snow once. I like and agree with your plan of action though. I've been thinking that these cars could use some reinforcement in these areas. Other unibody cars have similar construction and design and I've seen reinforcements available from the aftermarket. I've also seen a few computer analysis of cage design and chassis reinforcements and huge improvements came from braces in this area. Since you're an engineer perhaps you could design something fairly lightweight and efficient for this area. Here's a few I've seen.http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0060.htmlhttp://store.uscartool.com/B-Body-66-70-inner-fender-brace-kit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted January 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2015 Ah, man. Well, good thing you caught that. Has me wondering about my car now even though I've been up close and personal with this area and can't recall seeing anything. I hit a curb straight on in the snow once. I like and agree with your plan of action though. I've been thinking that these cars could use some reinforcement in these areas. Other unibody cars have similar construction and design and I've seen reinforcements available from the aftermarket. I've also seen a few computer analysis of cage design and chassis reinforcements and huge improvements came from braces in this area. Since you're an engineer perhaps you could design something fairly lightweight and efficient for this area. Here's a few I've seen.http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0060.htmlhttp://store.uscartool.com/B-Body-66-70-inner-fender-brace-kit.htmlHmmmm very very badass thought! I dig the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
