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Home > Forums > Automotive Engineers > Activities > Automotive body engineering Forum

What is the purpose of holes in chassis frame longitudinal members?

Read More Threads Like This One

heltaher (Automotive)

19 Sep 11 10:23

Hi,
Can someone please, tell me:
What is the purpose of holes in chassis frame longitudinal members?

Someone suggested that they are reducing the chassis weight, another suggested that they are to allow for homogeneous distribution of the stresses along the members.

Thank you,
H

TVP (Materials)

19 Sep 11 10:53

Those are both valid reasons.

MikeHalloran (Mechanical)

19 Sep 11 11:38

Additional reasons might include:
Holes punched for mounting optional accessories, or additional frame members for other models based on the same chassis.
Sometimes a hole is punched in a blank in order to allow an odd or severe draw in forming, to prevent cracking or wrinkling.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

Tmoose (Mechanical)

21 Sep 11 12:15

Like these ?
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/entries/3488/Ed_Roth_Mysterion.jpg

CoryPad (Materials)

22 Sep 11 21:00

If the parts are hollow, then another common reason is to allow liquid paint into the inside to prevent corrosion.

swall (Materials)

23 Sep 11 9:27

Or to provide for hook/hang points for conveying through the paint or primer bath.

blacksmith37 (Materials)

26 Sep 11 10:31

And , before you guys were born, GM used an "X" frame ; the drive shaft, exhaust, etc, ran through the holes.

GregLocock (Automotive)

5 Oct 11 4:34

I imagine that the life of a body designer largely consists of trying to say "no" to people who want to put holes in his chassis rails, for reasons that seem perfectly sensible to them.

Cheers

Greg Locock

New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

stimpy1966 (Automotive)

6 Oct 11 0:14

also used for the jigs as they have line up finger on the fixtures when they weld the bodys together

making people scratch there heads for 40 years and ask me why??? ..

EngMark (Automotive)

20 Nov 11 20:49

E-Coat drain holes
Water / road salt drainout
Welding / assembly fixture locating holes
Tie down holes for rail transport
Measuring holes for collision repair (unlikely)
Recommended attach points for tow truck use
Adjustments made late in development program to tweak crash performance

Guesses, but highly educated guesses after 8 years experience in body design at one of the Detroit 'big 3'.

Mark

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