Mike,
In addition to Smitty, Tom Hall and Dale Akuszewski have their own methods
of strengthening the crossmember. Several years ago I had Smitty do his
thing to mine. In fact, my cross member may have been the first one he used
his strengthening procedure on. Anyway, I inadvertently did a stress test
on the crossmember by driving over a berm at about 60 mph taking an offramp
off the 210 freeway in L.A. on my way to Tigers United in Bakersfield. The
bump did enough damage to require a tow back to S.D. Not a fun way to start
a weekend. All four Centerline wheels were bent somewhat, but repairable.
The crossmember was seriously tweaked though, and I wound up replacing it
with one that Dale did for me. It was interesting that the crossmember in
the accident bent cleanly on each side along the outer edges of the
aluminum pads. Neither the center section or the shock towers bent any
discernible amount. I interpret this experience as indicating that Smitty's
strengthening method works as well as is needed out to the mounting pads,
and anything more, internal or external, is redundant. I expect there are
some contrary opinions though.
Another point to consider is that up until, I believe, the Series III
Alpine, the shock tower was braced against the frame rail just behind the
upper control arms. Shims are used between the frame rail and shock tower
as well as to set camber/caster, so it is a bit more complicated
arrangement. But bracing the shock tower at this point would seem to add
strength outboard on the crossmember and may have prevented the collapse
that occurred in my case. I had previously toyed with the idea of adding
this type of support on my car, but decided not to because of other
modifications that interfered.
Regarding fulcrum pins, Dale had Global West make up upper and lower
fulcrum pins for the Tiger/Alpine. I would recommend these to anyone
considering replacing the original ones, which are notorious for braking on
Tigers - especially while backing up and turning simultaneously -
presumably because of the peculiar Ackerman geometry on the Tiger.
I hope this anecdote and information is helpful Mike.
TTFN,
Bob
At 08:19 PM 11/1/99 -0800, Mike Sutter wrote:
>Listers,
>
>I have been in contact with a new member of the Tiger community and he has
>asked me about crossmember strengthening. The only method of strengthening
>that I have seen first hand is the "Smitty" method. This method includes
>the re-welding of the shock towers and rack mounts as well as the addition
>of (2) 2 inch wide formed steel plates to the forward surface of the
>crossmember ajacent to the mounting bolt holes. The plates cover an area
>about 10 inches along the forward edge of the lower half of the
>crossmember.
>
>I have heard of other methods that involve the opening of the crossmember
>and installation of stiffening ribs. If you could post some info on the
>list of different methods and their merits it would be appreciated.
>
>Any info on fulcrum pins would be of help also.
>
>MS
>
>R.I.P.G.M.
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