The Roofus Special

[GPster]

Looks like a place for a shock absorber /headlight mount. Maybe something out of solid round (3/4") with flanges welded to the mounting surfaces to be bolted on. Your radiator shell will cover parts of it. GPster

[enjenjo]

A plate like you have drawn should be strong enough. The flange on to adds a lot of strength. You could also cut some holes in it to make it lighter, and belling the holes would make it much stiffer.

[Rocket]

You could also cut some holes in it to make it lighter, and belling the holes would make it much stiffer.

         

Oooooooooooo Yeah!!
Especially if you have them in different sizes  
Holes don't have to weaken things (if you add those flanges as enjenjo has mentioned) SEXY !          

[Flipper]

A plate like you have drawn should be strong enough. The flange on to adds a lot of strength. You could also cut some holes in it to make it lighter, and belling the holes would make it much stiffer.

I was thinking the plate should be 3/16".  Anybody think that is overkill?  What should it be?

Belling the holes in 3/16" is probably beyond my ability.

[enjenjo]

3/16 should be fine. you can bell the holes easily if you want. To bell 2" holes you could use a piece of 3 1/2" pipe, and a 2 5/16" hitch ball, in a press, or even with a hydraulic jack.

[Flipper]

3/16 should be fine. you can bell the holes easily if you want. To bell 2" holes you could use a piece of 3 1/2" pipe, and a 2 5/16" hitch ball, in a press, or even with a hydraulic jack.

That sound simple enough.

[Flipper]

Even though it is way too hot in Memphis to be in an un-airconditioned shop I played with it a little this weekend.

The inner rod ends did come off quite easily.





I don't think scraper style seals will work worth a darn.  It needs boots.  I hope to find something that looks cooler than stock toyota though.

Did more figuring on how to get the rack inside the crossmember

[Flipper]

And then went after it with a torch.





After a little grinding.

[Flipper]

Then I remembered I still need to trim the crossmember more so it sits lower.  The rack needs to go up more to clear the inner frame rails at that height.







The rack is not really hidden under the crossmember.  This is where I stopped to think if this is really what I want to do.

[Flipper]

I did a little more fitting this past weekend.  I still need to make nests and clamps to secure the rack.

Oh yeah, the crossmember is upside down in these pics.







room for boots.  



It's a good thing this thing is going to have the big web mounted on top of the crossmember...'cause I'm butchering the hell out of this crossmember.

[Flipper]

Worked on mounting the rack to the crossmember.  I had to come up with nests to hold the rack in the proper location.

more cop car roll bar to the rescue.







a whole lot of grinding and hand filing






mocked up to the crossmember



little piece used for the other end.  had to tighten up the radius to fit the rack tube.



both ends mocked up.



everything cleaned up



bzzzzzzzzz





This what it will look like on the car (I still need to make clamps to hold it in the nest).

[Flipper]

Actually mounting the steering rack was one of things that I somewhat dreaded doing.  

The arched front crossmember looked cool, but was not a very friendly location for clamping down the rack.  But it was something that had to be done.  ...so I did it.

The plan was to mount it with two clamps.  One clamp would control front to back and sis to side posioning.  The other would just be front to back.

Once again, the raw materials were junk from the barn.  I think this piece of heavy wall tubing used to be a physical therapy machine that dad bought cheap at an auction (for the metal).





I decided to use 7/16 bolts for mounting it.  He I am checking to see if I have room for these nuts.  I ended up welding the nuts to the underside of the mounting bracket.


Here it is welded to the saddle that the rack tube rests in.


Now the other side of the saddle is tied to the crossmember


Even though this was some pretty heavy material, I gusseted one of the sides.

[Flipper]

Same thing on the other side.







Now to start fabbing up the straps.

I started on the end that I just made the bases.



The other end of the straps will be secured by nuts and bolts through the flange of the crossmember.


just connect the dots.




...and then gusset the hell out of it so that the bends in the straps stay where they are supposed to be.


Other clamp done.  Guset was done differently (clamp on this side is farther outboard...less ground clearance), but should be plenty beefy.






Boots look like crap.




But they are necessary


The spring should block out most of the view


Oh yeah, the u-bolts I bought were too small.  They won't work

[unklian]

Get  some steel tube big enough for the boots to fit inside,
then split it lengthwise  and weld to the cross member.

[Flipper]

Get  some steel tube big enough for the boots to fit inside,
then split it lengthwise  and weld to the cross member.

Yeah, somebody else already suggested making hoods to cover the boots.

I need t wait until the suspension is built to see how much angular movement there is as the steering is turned and the suspension cycles.