Drive shaft hitting bottom floor
- Thread starter Rick T
- Start date
blownt
Member
I had sorta the same problem. When I built mine using the CCR 15 body it is alot skinnyer than a regular 23 body and the radius rods were right under the body. I had some slight cracks right after just a few miles. So I added a 1" spacer between the leaf spring and rear spring mount on the frame. That did not get it up high enough and I did not want to add more spacer and longer bolts. So I cut the body some. It is not really noticable from the side too much.
If you added a spacer it would get your frame and body up higher by lowering the rearend.
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/blownt/Problem1.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/blownt/Problem06.jpg
If you added a spacer it would get your frame and body up higher by lowering the rearend.
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/blownt/Problem1.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/blownt/Problem06.jpg
blownt,
Thats exactly my problem...The pics looks just like mine. We were thing about the spacer thing on the leafs, but thought about shimming the body up or cutting out the spot where it's hitting the floor and put a little tunnel over it.
Thanks so much for the quick reply and the pics were great.
Rick.....have a safe 4th!!!
Rick T,
I trust your seat belts are fitted to the frame and not just the body.
There was a thread a few months back that showed an accident where the body was ripped off the frame.
Francis Blake
Active Member
Thats exactly why you do not want the seat belts anchored to the frame. If the body comes off and you are belted to the frame, well need I say more.
EX JUNK
Moderator
Take a look at any factory car and you will not see the belts connected to the frame. They are bolted to the floor. However the floor is a structural part of the body and is meant to hold the belts. Take this into consideration when you construct your body and floor.
My body has the floor cast as part of the body. It is made with a very strong construction fiberglass and is quite thick. There are a total of eight bolts holding the body to the frame and they go through 1/4x2"x6" square plates that are cast into the floor which distribute the forces that would try to tear the body loose from the frame over a large area. The rear portion of the body is constructed the same as the floor and the seat belts are mounted there. They are bolted to a 1/4"x2" flat bar that mounts through the body to another 1/4"x2" flat bar that sandwiches the body and spreads the forces over a large portion of the body making it very difficult to allow the belts to break loose.
Here a some pictures that might help explain what I have said above.
I know that there are many brave souls that would rather be "thrown clear" in an accident but I would rather be able to stay in my seat and steer clear of an accident. In my opinion, with the strength that I have built into my car by using only steel reinforcement and thick double wall, foam filled construction I feel very safe.
Jim
My body has the floor cast as part of the body. It is made with a very strong construction fiberglass and is quite thick. There are a total of eight bolts holding the body to the frame and they go through 1/4x2"x6" square plates that are cast into the floor which distribute the forces that would try to tear the body loose from the frame over a large area. The rear portion of the body is constructed the same as the floor and the seat belts are mounted there. They are bolted to a 1/4"x2" flat bar that mounts through the body to another 1/4"x2" flat bar that sandwiches the body and spreads the forces over a large portion of the body making it very difficult to allow the belts to break loose.
Here a some pictures that might help explain what I have said above.
I know that there are many brave souls that would rather be "thrown clear" in an accident but I would rather be able to stay in my seat and steer clear of an accident. In my opinion, with the strength that I have built into my car by using only steel reinforcement and thick double wall, foam filled construction I feel very safe.
Jim
Francis Blake
Active Member
Jim your car is one of the best built cars I know of, having said that I have seen tbuckets that were bolted down with 4 bolts and common washers and two big men could tear the body off, in this case attaching your belt to the frame could be bad. I will be putting the body on mine when it gets out of the transmission shop, it will have two 3/16 x4 straps the length of the body with 4 bolts on each side going into gusseted mounts.I believe this will be strong enough with the belts bolted into the metal strap.
"Thats exactly why you do not want the seat belts anchored to the frame. If the body comes off and you are belted to the frame, well need I say more. "
Francis
Yup, that makes sense. So, maybe a body sould be attached to the frame with more than just four bolts.
Francis
Yup, that makes sense. So, maybe a body sould be attached to the frame with more than just four bolts.
Francis Blake
Active Member
Yes sir you got that right. That is the point of seat belts in the first place. :thumb:
blownt
Member
This seat belt discussion (frame or body) has been going on on these two T bucket forums for many many years. So do whatever you want to do. These T buckets are HOT RODS, they are not your typical daily driver with crush zones, engines and trans designed to fall under the car in a crash, energy asorbing materials, etc... My feeling is T bucket seat belts sole purpose in life is to keep you inside in case you you hit something like a curb or road bump. Like that guy that was doing a burnout and ran into a garbage dumpster. If he had been wearing a seatbelt he would prolly still be here today. I feel (my opinion only) if you are involved in a serious crash in a T bucket you will not survive anyway as opposed to your daily driver.
Francis Blake
Active Member
The main thing is to put enough thought and design into it to be safe as possible.
