++ Group Buy: Dirt Designs *2nd or 1st Gen* Shock Bucket Top Engine Crossover Bracket ++

X2

 

It's not going to add any more rigidity to the frame coil buckets. Too much of a 90 degree, the frame will still flex. Figure it this way, the more you lean shocks the less body roll you experience. Apply the same physics, with the way the cross tube bolts in it doesn't add rigidity. The angle would have to be 60 to 75 degrees and the mount would have to be flanges on both sides to add any rigidity to eliminate coil bucket flex.

 

The top plate alone will help tie my bucket together at my reservoir hose notches, no?

I know there's only a few ways you can improve a spaghetti noodle frame...

 

X3!!!

 

I don't want to keep crapping in a group buy thread, even though I disagree with the geometry and design of the product, so I'll post on your build thread.

 

I don't think its to keep the coil buckets from flexing. Its the overall frame. To stop the coil buckets you need the coil bucket gussets is your best bet.

 

Any little bit will help imo. .188 wall tube is pretty resiliant even at that bend. I understand what you're saying Drew. No its not ideal but its something

 

I ordered the 2nd gen version for my 4R, I don't see any reason why it would not work.

 

There is a way to make it better Marc and be more functional with very little work.

In this first picture, you would want to weld in the cross bar tube int the Dirt Design coil bucket top mount to make it solid instead of using the grade 8 bolt. If the bolt was turned 90 degrees, then maybe you'd have more strength and rigidity, but it's still going to flex more then you think and it's not possible with the design. Now scroll down to the next picture.


You would want to weld in a disconnect on either side of the cross tube, maybe about the level of the oil cap or just bellow it (see photo below). The disconnects will allow you to remove the cross tube for service and give you more strength. A flange on either side would be best, but my friends race team uses these in the engine bay, so they can remove tubes to yank a damaged or blown motor. They're pretty strong and convenient.



Now if you want to add more strength, run a second cross tube off of a welded in secondary shock tube to the DD coil bucket tower top mount and weld in a plate between the two cross tubes to tie them together for more strength. You would have to cut out more of your inner fender and rotate your fuse box 90 degrees, but it would be a pretty solid setup (see picture bellow).


Not trying to crap on a vendors product, just trying to help make it better.

 

Ha. That's what I was going to do anyways. Well. The second picture

 

I like your ideas and what your saying. Where would one find the disconnect piece that we weld in? I really like the fact of easily being able to take the support crossover bar out.

 

TMR customs and I believe Ruff Stuff makes those tube clamps.

 

Great...thank you!

 

Camburg makes em too

 

You can weld in the tube ends and run those tubes clamps, but the flex at the bolt is minimal as most of the flex will actually come at the bend in the tube. We have tested this design on a few trucks that drive very hard and it does work as is. The first taco we had these on got our LT kit but no crossover tube and his frame tweaked within a few weeks. The camber got so bad that we had to make longer upper arms to fix the geometry. When we built the new uppers we added one of these crossover tubes and he ran the truck for another year or so without any more frame flex and he did not drive any easier. Joel Hitch is also running one of these and has not had any frame flexing issues.

Rotating the bolt 90deg means that the tube ends will be very hard to get in and out. The tube end tabs would have to be vertical so they can be pulled straight up together to get them in/out. Any angle on the mounts, even a few degrees, will make things difficult/impossible to get apart/back together (I can draw a pic if needed to explain this). The way the bolt/mount is now you can have the engine crossover tube at any angle and still get them in/out very easily. You can bolt one side in and then slide in the other side.

The big problem I have with those tube clamps is when you get into the 1.75" sizes they are usually interlocking style and even just after you weld them in they can become a pain to take apart and put back together. The metal shrinks after welding even if its welded in place, so your tube will be just a little shorter then before welding. After some hard driving things can flex a little you will be using hammers and ratchet straps to get them back together......maybe not, but I have had enough bad experiences taking and putting those clamps together that I avoid them as much as possible when building trucks. Weve had people bring in trucks (that we didnt build) just so we could get the tube clamps back together. The owners hammered them out to swap something on the engine and then could not get them back together. If they had an X-brace with these tube clamps I almost always talk them into letting me using tube ends+tabs with a single bolt. Either that or we cut off the tube clamps, bolted them together, rewelded them in place, and did not remove them.

Using a heavier wall DOM/chromo tube and only welded at the ends is the way to go whether you use the tube ends we supply or add in the tube clamps.

 

Also we will be building these Wednesday!! So everyone should be seeing theres Fri-Mon

 

Now I gotta buy a new die for the bender..haha

 

Very good clarification. Actually make better sense with how you explained it.

 

Sorry fellas, had to back out. Truck is going up for sale.

 

Ran into a problem yesterday with weld washers. We do not have enough to make all the crossover brackets with 1/2" bolts BUT we do have enough to make them all out of 5/8" bolts. Does anyone care about us going up to 5/8" bolts so we can get these done today?