Cascade Crew

90droptoproc

hey guys, I am in the middle of working with a fabricator over here on some tubular parts for my car, it looks like he will be very affordable, and he builds roadrace cars at his shop so I trust his craftmanship.

he will be working with me to build jigs so this is a repeatable item, is anyone else interested at all, I may be able to work out a nice price for us

so far we will be making:

tubular front cross member
lower control arms (made to work with stock spring setup, not coilovers)

it will all be much lighter then stock, stronger, and give you lots more room in the engine bay

the crossmember will work with stock A-arms and vice-versa

anyone interested in this stuff? let me know thru PM's and I will see if we can get a price from him

QwkTrip · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject:

How much is he charging. Not sure if you've shopped around yet or not, but tubular K-members cost a little over $300.

izcain · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject:

Where are you finding tubular K-members for 300? I see spohn's is about 500.....

Dewey316 · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject:

Its all about the design. IF you can design it with enough lateral support, there could be a market. I won't put any of the current ones, on my car. heck I wouldn't even put them on Mikes car. Wink

.

EDIT...izcain, I think he is talking about PA racings, or AJE's. They are probably cheaper tha Spohns.

izcain · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject:

So you wouldn't even recommend spohn's then dewey?

RSFreak · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:35 pm Post subject:

Art Morrison has tubular control arms, A-arms, cross members etc... for thirdgens and they are right down the road in beautiful Fife, WA! I haven't checked pricing lately, but as I recall they were comparable to Spohn.

QwkTrip · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject:

I would consider a tubular K-member for weight reduction only. If you want to corner then keep the factory piece.

PA Racing has a mild steel K-member starting at $289. Adding SB Chevy motor mounts and spring perches bumps it up to $389. Or you can forget the spring perches and use the adjustable coil over kit. They also have a "road race" option for another $150. Not sure what that means. You might give them a call and find out.

www.paracing.com

I have a PA Racing chromoly K-member with spring perches and a 2-inch drop cross support to protect large sump oil pans. Brand new and never used. I would sell it for $400 plus shipping. It's one of the few parts that I am willing to part out from the car.

Dewey316 · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:22 pm Post subject:

izcain · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject:

After looking @ it, it would seem that the engine mounts are not going to be as strong as a stock k-member they look like they are just plates welded to the member wheras the stock k has them mount right to it. I think Tubular A-Arms is where Im headed next.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:24 pm Post subject:

I can vouch for the stocker K member being pretty light based on metal size and how easily it dents Rolling Eyes

90droptoproc · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:15 am Post subject:

the idea with this is to have one that can withstand street use, and hard driving, so far spohn's may be the only one that might be comparable, if it is up to the challenge

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:56 am Post subject:

I think that this is on topic... I would like to understand why these K member would not be good for anything other than straight line. I am in no hurry to get one several of you are aware of the clearance (or lack thereof) between my K member and the larger Moroso oil pan. I was wondering if the smaller cross section of these aftermarket K members would open up more area for the exhaust to cross over from the driver side.

Thanks,

-Schultzy

izcain · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:01 am Post subject:

From what i have seen and heard it will open up all sorts of clearance for exaust and oil pans. I have yet to try one though to see for myself..... I too have the moroso deep sump with trap door. It is close but I still have a pretty decent amount of clearance.

Dewey316 · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:02 am Post subject:

the problem is, they way they are built they are not very strong an multiple directions, they all have a single tube that ties things together, they need a better designe, with some triangulation and more then 1 cross tube, to make it stronger with twisting, and bending foces, that the K-member will see when you are doing lots of cornering. I also question their strength on a car that takes lots of impacts, such as a daily driven car, that has to deal with pot holes and such.

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:08 am Post subject:

Thanks John. The sled will definitely be thrown into the twisties. Not interested in anything that will weaken that capability.

-Schultzy

izcain · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:09 am Post subject:

After looking @ the motor plates I dont think I would want to strap my stroker motor to that and launch @ 4k off the transbrake with the gas flowing.... Something tells me it just wouldn't hold but im sure it has held for plenty of others.

Xophertony · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:13 am Post subject:

it's the control arms that scare me. on TGO i have seen a few posts where they just break. redraif (the chick with the v6 firebird that looks like it went on a JCwhitney shoping spree) broke one just daily driving. the spring perch just brke out of it at 45 MPH Shocked

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:27 am Post subject:

Rich,
To get back to your original question, I would be interested but it would have to be a proven product before I would be willing to participate. Let me know how things progress.

-Schultzy

Twilightoptics · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:47 am Post subject:

More cross tubes? What about metal and a welder Cool

I'm 3/4 of the way done with my tig class, and we haven't even reached the halfway point. Wink

Dewey316 · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:55 am Post subject:

haha, I have a copy of SolidWorks on my computer at home. We could design in, and some testing on, get a good FOS on it, and go to town.

I bet, we find out, that for the strenght, the GM design is going to be the lightest design we can find.