ROGUE TROOPER Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 No this may sound rather stupid, but saving weight I thought it may be a good idea......... Could it be possible to cut chunks out of the chassis to lighten it! Bear in mind that this LR is built for the road and not the usual stresses of offloading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Not keen on this IMHO... In the aircraft industry the usual way of lightening stuff made from sheet is to put round holes in it with raised lips. Certainly not any holes with sharp corners - these would act as stress raisers and cause cracking. But in any case I wouldn't think that a standard LR chassis with any significant 'weight saving' holes holes would be a ) Worth the effort b ) Safe c ) Legal I few years back people of my generation used to drill holes in motorcycle components in an effort to save weight... The usual comment heard when one of these pulled up outside the cafe was "He'd save more weight if he went on a diet!" TwoSheds two pen'th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muzaz Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Agree with twosheds, that way you got a lot of corners there and you'll get it cracked in no time... I've seen a modified offroader with a holed chassis tho. For weight saving I dont think theres much one can do on a landrover, maybe start grinding the axles, gearbox, engine....... On aircraft weight is saved in many ways, different materials like composites, titanium, cres, aluminum (heat treated- will almost match steel's strength for its weight) but thats an aircraft...which is meant to fly, not a landrover...which is meant to stick to the ground! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Agree with all of the above - circular holes only and then do a little maths: (coz we alll like a little maths don't we ) Assume the chassis rail is 2mm thick and you take 100mm dia holes out of both faces. Weight saved per hole = pi x .052 x .002 x 2 x 7850kg/m3 = 0.25kg. That's assuming you don't then sleeve the hole with tube to seal the chassis rail. So a lot of work for negligible gain - you may as well spend 10 minutes on the throne before you drive her than go cutting holes in the chassis!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeSheds Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 So a lot of work for negligible gain - you may as well spend 10 minutes on the throne before you drive her than go cutting holes in the chassis!! Well I was trying to be polite above, but the actual saying was "He'd save more weight if he had a s**t" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Cut off every bracket and outrigger you're not using, the rails themselves are very light (and relatively strong for it too being big and square) so not really worth hacking about. Also it's an area where you don't really want to compromise the structure given what you're doing with the thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway_Star Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Construction and use? Type approval? Kiss your insurance goodbye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 you may as well spend 10 minutes on the throne before you drive her than go cutting holes in the chassis!! Wouldn't it be best to sit on the throne first and drill the holes - therefore doubling the weight saving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Construction and use?Type approval? Kiss your insurance goodbye! Have you seen what he's building? I believe it's going to have to be SVA'd whatever happens so that's not really an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will_warne Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Cut off every bracket and outrigger you're not using, the rails themselves are very light (and relatively strong for it too being big and square) so not really worth hacking about. Also it's an area where you don't really want to compromise the structure given what you're doing with the thing Totally agree - the only holes worth drilling in the main rails are in the bottom face which allows all the mud out easily - this is what makes the chassis heavy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROGUE TROOPER Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Have you seen what he's building? I believe it's going to have to be SVA'd whatever happens so that's not really an issue. As far as I can tell I have 8 points........JUST enough to keep the Original RRC reg. Thanks all, it was a "Red wine idea" (I get those!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 A Land Rover chassis is made up from four sections welded together its not like drilling through 2mm plate its two 1mm together and its not welded all the way round or rather the shape gives its strength but its not that strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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