Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I've done a bit of searching about this and most of what I can find is about extending the front. What I am talking about is extending the rear of the chassis. Now common sense suggests that just butt welding a length of steel to the chassis rail is a bad idea, so what's the "right" way of doing it??? Will this work?

EDIT: BTW, this is for my zook which has a SWB chassis. I can't push the wheelbase back any further because i've run out of chassis.

First cut chassis rail and new piece to a taper and weld together.





Then reinforce each side with another tapered plate.





EDIT: Or would this be better? Profile is different, but the process is the same. Cut & weld...




Then reinforce

I've done it using the first method on a narrow track,just like the 1st pic with good results.Fish plates aren't necessary but won't hurt.Used 100mm x 50mm x 2mm RHS.

there's a guy on pirate that converts swb zooks to lwb including the tub. he had detailed pics of the chassis extension as well as the tub extension using door skins.

Any links for that nem?

THE 109 wrote:I've done it using the first method on a narrow track,just like the 1st pic with good results.Fish plates aren't necessary but won't hurt.Used 100mm x 50mm x 2mm RHS.

cant see an engineer approving it without fish plates :S

Every truck chasis extension/repair ive seen has always had a fish plate.

PJ.zook wrote:Any links for that nem?

heres one completed:
http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/show ... ost1221796

pm zukzilla4x4 and OKIE ZUK as they have both done the conversions

Shadow wrote:

THE 109 wrote:I've done it using the first method on a narrow track,just like the 1st pic with good results.Fish plates aren't necessary but won't hurt.Used 100mm x 50mm x 2mm RHS.

cant see an engineer approving it without fish plates :S

Every truck chasis extension/repair ive seen has always had a fish plate.

Yeah I will def. be putting a plate on each side.

N*A*M wrote:heres one completed:
http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/show ... ost1221796

pm zukzilla4x4 and OKIE ZUK as they have both done the conversions

Thanks for that Nam. Mine will be a little different as i'll be extending it behind where the rear spring hangers are. Where the chassis rail comes up, as soon as it flattens out that's where i'll cut (thereabouts). I am also thinking about cutting the rear crossmembers out and pulling the chassis rails in so that they are parallel.

Hey Damo,

The second one is the go, just make sure the cuts on the two rails apose each other ie Drivers side top cut at front going down backwards, passenger side top cut at rear going down forwards. Put a couple of plug weld holes in as well.

Greg

Damo,

the second way is how we have done it with eng. approval in Vic, but with the fishplates fitted on the inside, and puddle welded into the sides. The top and bottom of the box are doubled externally, back about 250mm onto the orgninal chassis. It was a lot of work but looks a lot less hack than external fishplates, and the eng. was happy.

Steve.

Gwagensteve wrote: the second way is how we have done it with eng. approval in Vic, but with the fishplates fitted on the inside, and puddle welded into the sides.

OK, so you only put a fishplate on the inside of the chassis rail. I thought I was going to have to put them inside and outside.

Gwagensteve wrote: The top and bottom of the box are doubled externally, back about 250mm onto the orgninal chassis. It was a lot of work but looks a lot less hack than external fishplates, and the eng. was happy.

By doubled, do you mean just a flat plate across the joint?

Thanks for your input Steve!

g'day mate there are a few different methods u can adopt for a chassis extension, as always (without sounding smart) half the responses u have gotten seem way wrong. I have all the current tafe body building and chassis mods modules that I could copy the relevent parts for u, I am also currently helping a mate extend a 45 series cruiser and we have detailed pics of it so far. We are both trade qualified and would be happy to share our ideas with u.

Stulux wrote:g'day mate there are a few different methods u can adopt for a chassis extension, as always (without sounding smart) half the responses u have gotten seem way wrong. I have all the current tafe body building and chassis mods modules that I could copy the relevent parts for u, I am also currently helping a mate extend a 45 series cruiser and we have detailed pics of it so far. We are both trade qualified and would be happy to share our ideas with u.

Just out of interest Stulux are you involved in this sort of work professionally, if you say half the responses are way wrong explain yourself and your theory behind this statement.

I have been involved in this feild for over three years from an engineering and design point of view and has had my designs approved by industry leaders. I don't pretend to know everything so I can't say anything is wrong, I just go by what I've done and what I've had approved and things I've had knocked back.

Greg