Joe
It's worth taking a look at the sort of modifications that we do to the TR4
chassis for rallying.
Clearly the sump guards and belly plates etc which are there to protect vital
things from flying rocks and damage from heavy landings and two wheel
adventure are not required, however the reinforcement work is all done to
preserve the integrity of the frame and proven by my gentle driving.
In terms of the front suspension and towers; even the Works Rally TR4s which
were nowhere as tough as say my TR4 Beastie had a number of filleted plates
added on the joints and corners, all sides filled in on anything that looked
like a box, the main cross member plated up with another 3mm of steel and the
welded joints all reinforced using triangular fillets. You should all be doing
this as the majority of cracking and failures are due to fatigue, not from
impact loadings.
Bear in mind that with one exception you are adding very small segments of 2mm
thick steel, so weight gain is a few months of not eating at macDonalds.
If anyone wants I have a bare TR4 chassis on the ramp that is in be process of
being repaired and taken from 1960's Works spec to 2013 Tony spec right now,
so can give you chapter and verse with pictures.
Best regards and Happy New Year to you all.
Tony
Sent from my iPhone
On 9 Jan 2013, at 21:41, Joe Alexander <n197tr4@cs.com> wrote:
> FOT:
>
> I got a nice email from Henry Frye this morning. Henry, knowing that we are
> reworking our TR4, pointed to inspecting the shock towers and anchor points
> for the cross member. He is exactly right.
>
> Although most everyone understands this, it bears drawing attention to it.
>
> This is why we are totally dismantling the TR4. Sean and I detected
something
> amiss with the front suspension as we discussed winter storage. That led to
> moving the chassis to Niehaus Restorations. Keith is a master
> welder/fabricator.
>
> We did some gusseting twenty years ago that helped for a long time, but
> finally the shock towers were exhibiting large cracks. The anchor points
for
> the cross member is light gauge sheet metal and they were crushed and torn.
>
> All of this was fixed and reinforced with better materials. The x-member
was
> showing rust and fatigue so it was redone.
>
> Sean painted the frame in an industrial grey so that we can better see what
is
> happening with frame.
>
> There has been some on track frame failures with TRs in the past. We
noticed
> something going on when #197 came off the track the last race in 2012.
> Ignoring it would have resulted in a serious failure in 2013. Perhaps a
free
> ride to medical, as well.
>
> Anyway, unless you are investing in a RATCO frame, this is a good time to do
a
> close inspection.
>
>
>
>
>
> Joe Alexander
> A. R. E.
> 645 1st Street
> Jesup, Iowa 50648
> 319.464.4711 (cell)
> n197tr4@cs.com
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>
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