Am currently in the process of installing a 53" piece of 1/4" wall 4" square tube that will be welded in place to the rear of a 72 Runabout.
This will be the base for the rear spring shackles as well as the bumper.
Has anyone ever done this?
The install will also be the anchor of one side of a box for a fuel cell.(//)
sounds reasonable.
Someone welded in 6" I beam in place of the impact absorbers on my '74, then backed the bumper with 4" channel!!!!
Thanx Brad for the upload info. Too much in mine so I'll do it over.
6" beam and 4" channel sounds as though it should stop a train. I could have gone with 3/8" or 1/2" wall on the tube, but with everything else in my project, my Runabout would be sittin' real close to the asphalt in the rear.
What I have weighs about sixty or more pounds. Add to that an 8" rear plus a muffler box where the rear passenger seat used to be, plus a fuel cell box that I haven't even got started on yet, and perhaps a battery box behind the driver's seat, we are talking some serious extra weight.
Anyway, when the tube is in place and is a complete welded extension of the car, I'll locate 1/2" plate on the shackles, jack the rear end and them up to the tube, and weld them in place. That way the rear shackle mounts will be attached to a 3/4" steel pad.
If you could only see what this arrangement replaces !
If you look at that box that your rear spring shackles bolt to, it ties into the rear unibody, that is about 2 & 1/2" wide and 12" long?
Well guess what, that box is only 14 gauge sheet metal, ( and I'm being REAL generous here), and inside that is a piece, (the thickest on the whole car that I have as yet to find), of 1/4" steel bent 90 degrees. On one side your spring shackle are attached, on the other, the lower bolt for your bumper bracket. That folks is what ties a 72 Runabout rear together.
I do not think that later versions are all that different
The only other instance of 14 gauge sheet that I've seen on my vehicle is the front suspension foundations and the shock and motor mounts. Everything else in the floor and interior is 16 gauge, and the skin is even thinner.
Anyway, I have to set my camera on a smaller setting, (less resolution?), and try taking some more pics. I ask for a little 101 concerning the text and face buttons on top of the letter format. How do they work?
Al Rose
Al, the best way to find out how the text/face buttons work is to start using them. ;D, just click on a face after a sentance. :o then .click on a text bar and insert the text
between the ] [ bars like this , ] text go's here[ and it will look like this
like this. or like this
Ive got to move, hehehe
.
I hope this helps
Before tube
Tube installed ;D
It's tough to discern it from the rear skin but it's there.
At least its shiney......... ;D
Yes it is. Not the best for contrast while taking pics, but for welding, essential. And it is now ready for a LOT of welding.
Thanx again for your help ::)
my pleasure
well the hi-test steel in the back of my car makes for a good mounting point for my trailer hitch. (I'm not going to pull more than a few hundred pounds of trash on a 4x8' trailer)
Never thought of a hitch, but with all else involved,
I don't want to scratch the pavement.