Cracking Up 2b Chassis

[Dave R]

noticed this while taking the tank out today

 

anyone else has cracking issues on the rear diff mount?

where the right angle that holds the back of the diff joins the tubes, one of mine has the start of a crack

 

 

nothing serious looking, it does not look like it was a very good weld in the first place

 

tried to take a photo, but it does not show up in that

[Guest SEgan]

Mine seems OK, but worth keeping an eye on.

Did you have more torque than you thought Dave?

[fry61]

How many miles has your 2B covered & what power engine?

[Longboarder]

I remember another chassis that had bracket(s) that cracked at the heat zone from the welding. I think it was a bracket that attaches the rear suspension to the lower side rail of the chassis. Can't remember who it was but it was a couple of years back. Simple weld fix and the owner beefed it up as well I think. Do a search Dave and get the welder out or the duratec will have the diff sitting in the passenger seat or on your lap.

 

Nigel

[Grim]

That would have been me, but i think the problem was exacerbated by a poor choice of spring rate by the previous owner (i went up from 160 to 300) causing excessive grounding out.

I also had to get the engine mount plates welded back on about 6 months ago.

I haven't checked my diff hanger but i probably will soon! It wasn't obviously broken the last time i had the diff out, about 18 months ago. I've now got 46k on the clock.

[Dave R]

pinto with 285 cam and dgas, 135hp according to northampton motorsport

its done a fair few miles, none of them that easy

 

 

nigel i was aware of the front brackets failing, mine are already modifyed, though not to the extent andy did his

 

 

sean - more torque obviously than you, as i seem to remember its quicker than yours at barkston

re the diff crack i will tig it sometime in the next month or so , possibly mod all around that area, and whatever idiot (me) built the boot floor didnt make it easy to get the tank out!

 

will addressing that issue too, and possibly squeezing a few more inches of boot space while the tank is out

[Grim]

aarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[Tazzzzman1]

Not again Andy ...You ain't having much luck at the moment

 

Looks like a bit more welding and a few more checks whilst you are at it.

[Grim]

a couple of webs either side and a blob of weld should sort it methinks. If it's that big after 46k miles, i don't think there's a huge panic to sort it.

[Dave R]

thats taken from underneath? front of car to the left ?

 

thats how mine has cracked, though possibly not quite as far....

 

you got the pictures of what you did for the front mountings ?

 

wont be wanting to take the side panels off of mine, as mine has full grp wings and i will never get them to fit again!

 

dave

[Grim]

image taken from underneath passenger side toward driver's side, it's the passenger side that has cracked.

 

 

Re: the front subframe mounting points - i did take my wheel arches, internal and external panels off to get to it. It's a big job, only really worth it if you've got cracking of those subframe plates.

 

 

original thread (without any photos) here.

 

I thought i had posted the images of the modification but i can't seem to find the thread.

passenger side from front

 

 

 

Driver's side internal

 

 

 

Driver's side from rear

 

 

 

Image of the rear/top plates i made which were welded onto the chassis, plus there were two link plates which dropped down to the trailing arm bolt.

 

 

 

And this is what the plate looked like before i had it welded up the first time (it promptly started cracking again until i fixed as above).

[agent_zed]

Hi,

am i correct in thinking that these are both stainless chassis's? I think they are a little more brittle than mildsteel aren't they?

 

think i'll check my mild steel chassis anyway next time its over the pit but i hope i don't ever have to weld it as its powder coated!

 

Hi Grim - was it you that put a plate all the way across between the subframe mounts? i know i've seen it done, they replaced the 2 plates with a piece all the way across, which seemed a good idea as it then could be used for the handbrake and seat reinforcing.