Originally posted by Aero Steve:
To get the same durability the aluminum will have to be thicker and the weight will go up. Being thicker it will be more difficult to bend. Also welding aluminum requires more expensive gear than steel and that will drive up the cost. This is a case where steel is probably the best choice.
ChuckH, what happens when your design bends? Will your reinforcement ribs impact on any of the delicate bits under the body? Overall I say good job. That's good work even if the welds don't look absolutely fuckin' perfect. Speeking from my experience, I would crush them at some point.
I have a SR skid that is bent to the point it's resting on the transmission. Whenever I come to a stop in Drive it rattles pretty badly. I wish there were more reinforcement in the middle of the skids.
The ribbing isn't in areas where anything fragile is in close proximity. However, on an automatic they might be close to the tranny pan. My next version will have soemthing a little different going on but still be reinforced. I'm also going to change the area around the engine pan drain plug because I'm afriad that area may be too sharp and could be driven into the pan. I'm also going to redesign the mounting system to be more simple. It just seems no matter how much thought and design you put in beforehand, the first version has things to work out. It's just too cold out there now to work on them!
Oh yeah; I agree about aluminum plates. You need to be able to do TIG welding, which not only requires special equipment, but is more difficult. Plus the strength issue, although there's no reason the front plate couldn't be aluminum since there's mostly just empty space behind it.
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