Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey guys... designing new hoops, want something to look BLING....
any one got something a bit different??

OME N76. Not "Hoops" per se but mounts nonetheless.



Steve.

Steve, how exactly is the top of that shock secured. Is there a bolt running right through?

Here you go , Cheers Paul

I am in the process of fabbing some hoops. Will post up end results when completed.

Gwagensteve wrote:OME N76. Not "Hoops" per se but mounts nonetheless.

Steve.

VERY nice...
idea TAXED!!!

they look BLING!!!
im guessing its just 2 bits of plate, and a fancy jigga at the top?

i run f250 mounts on my sierra there about 300mm high with 31in ranchos's dont now how to put up pics but brought them from here $100 a pair brand new

zooker wrote:Steve, how exactly is the top of that shock secured. Is there a bolt running right through?

Yes there is, a 1/2" bolt with a crush sleeve for the bush to ride on. Here's a photo of a rear one, not welded in place. I make them out of 3mm plate. I know they are easy to work with and offer a good strength/weight ratio, but tubular shock hoops aren't generally very space efficient. JMHO.



Remember too that the maximum loads Sierras can generate are quite small compared to a heavier and coil sprung car, so they don't need a very heavy shock mount. I'm tempted to make my next set out of 1.6mm plate to drop the weight even further. It'd be interesting to see if they last.

Steve.

i wouldnt - its not something you really want to engineer to snap off when you're in the middle of no where! haha 3mm is plenty lightweight - just dont eat that donut before you go out and you got your weight reduction! =P

Who says I drive in the middle of nowhere, any way, sierras drive fine with a shock missing.

I didn't say its a good idea, but the factory front shocks would not be over 2mm thick in any case. I did say I'd do it on MY car. For anyone else, 3mm would be fine.

Steve.

You don't need to go stupid on every mount, bracket, hinge etc etc

3MM is fine .. these things are not desert racers and dont have shocks that take 100kgs to compress.

In my experience people love to "over engineer" stuff as it is way easier working with thick heavy plate in terms of welding (A skill sadly lacking in many who mod their vehicles) ...

if the mounts are well designed ( as Steve's are) why weld a couple of bits of 5mm plate to a 2mm thick chassis ?

Sure if it were a coilover moynt, beef it up a bit, bu tthese mounts should only ever take a relatively small load. The Spring mount\s and bumpstops etc should wear the brunt of most of the force.

there is a difference between over engineering and not wanting to go back to it, if it dont work.
with out being stupid I'd say go a bit further at least where it joins chassis rail, that way you know it wont brake, especialy if your mounting your hoop much higher of your chassis, i used f250 and the eye of the shock is 280 mm about the top of the chassis rail, thats a lot of leaverage to twist rails.

I got hoops cant post picks but just the standard 2 maybe 2" tubes welded to chassis with hoops welded to them. First offroad trip ripped out driver side, 1yr later ripped out passenger side on road. Plated the area top to bottom 6" wide rewelded on. Cracked driver side so rewelded and gusset between hoop and chassis went out today ripped out passenger side on a dirt road.
Point being I dont think big shock hoops should be welded to zuks chassis without additional support as there is alot of leverage + the shocks are very firm 2hands stuggle to compress (pro comp I think).
Wasnt MY design and Im not bagging the person who done it just lettin others know stiff shocks lotsa leverage and 2mm steel dont mix well
Nik

I'm not bagging what anyone has done, but IMHO shock mounts (are any significant structural chassis work should be attached to the chassis in 2 planes.

My mounts weld to the chassis on the full height of the rail, and the full width of the rail. There's nearly 800mm (yes, 800mm) of weld holding each mount to the doubling plates, and another 800mm of weld holding the doubling plates to the chassis.

I don't believe it's possible to the mount to break off the chassis without the shock breaking out of the top of the mount - a much less severe failure form the point of view of the structure of the car.

All the factory mounts on a suzuki are very light and have very little weld holding them on, but they are all welded in more than one plane. Factory engineers are quite clever It pays to look at the way they do things.

Steve.

I forgot to say in the last post your mounts look . Mine BEFORE they cracked would flex just shaking them by hand.
Nik

Just picked up an OME 2" suspension kit cheap ($300). Rugged Trail (US) Nitro Cell shocks front; no name shocks rear (red). Has been fitted to a car for 2 years but it's been of the road for a year.

Q1: What your thoughts are on the SHS shock mount the guy had fabbed for the front (see below). The shocks have a screw mount and two horizontal bushes at the top rather than an eyelet and bush as per Ranchos. If I took this approach, I'd weld two gusset plates on the back of the mount and weld to the top of the chassis rail too as this is the weak point in his setup.

Q2: Noob question. I'm looking to fit 31 x 10.5 'Pedes at some stage, probably on 8" rims. Will 2" OME + bumpstops + existing 2" BL and seam bash clear these? Guy I bought the OME off was running 2" OME + 2" shackles + 2" BL to fit 31's which seems excessive.



PS The guy I bought these off has a grey WT soft top tub (incl bonnet, gearbox and stuffed GTI engine, no doors, no diffs, no transfer) that he's sending to the wrecker next weekend. If anyone in Adelaide wants it, PM me and I'll give him your number.

nice simple 8mm plate attaching to 3 positions on the chassis.

Nice setup Joe, but you better go easy on those cigarettes
Like your set up too Steve. Simple, yet functional. Will be taxing your idea too when I finally get my car to the stage I can play with the suspension.