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IC: Stewie Bars rear lateral control arms

CrazyTalkSVT said:
lol ;)

Best of luck to you in your GB endeavors. Just my 0.02, I'd be a little leery of grinding the weld beads down flush...especially on SS which is more prone to cracking. Otherwise, they look pretty good.
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The convex face reinforcement adds no strength to the weld joint, so removing it isn't a big issue. However, if grinding creates a concave surface in the joint, then you can have issues with reduced section loss leading to cracking. On that note, by not grinding down the weld completely flush with the tubing, you're creating small stress risers along the toes of the joint.

Best option, save the time (read: money) and leave the final weld bead alone. Good welds are fun to look at anyways.
 
offthewallds said:
The convex face reinforcement adds no strength to the weld joint, so removing it isn't a big issue. However, if grinding creates a concave surface in the joint, then you can have issues with reduced section loss leading to cracking. On that note, by not grinding down the weld completely flush with the tubing, you're creating small stress risers along the toes of the joint.

Best option, save the time (read: money) and leave the final weld bead alone. Good welds are fun to look at anyways.
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What the hell are you talking about?
 
You were worried about the welds cracking. As long as they weren't welded too hot and had a backing shielding gas, and as long as the welds weren't poorly ground flush, you shouldn't worry about cracking. Sorry, I wasn't trying to sound pompous, just wanted to provide good info.
 
offthewallds said:
You were worried about the welds cracking. As long as they weren't welded too hot and had a backing shielding gas, and as long as the welds weren't poorly ground flush, you shouldn't worry about cracking. Sorry, I wasn't trying to sound pompous, just wanted to provide good info.
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This isn't a dig at you personally, but I'd like to meet the moron who taught you what you "think" you know. :laugh:
 
FastFord said:
And i'd like to meet the moron that made you think no one else knows anything but you.
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I welcome knowledge above and beyond what I know, but by quoting me as if what I had to say was inferior and then give ignorant instructions about grinding welds and cross section loss on a part with this type of function is stupid. I don't doubt he has some knowledge on the topic which is why I wasn't attacking him personally. I was more so attacking his teacher because heat penetration and backflow are not the parameters one should use to determine whether it's safe to grind the welds flush or even feather the welds out on a part like this, considering the material used and the gauge thickness. To me he was speaking with just "general" text book knowledge rather than actual field experience, but what the hell do I know...I only did chassis design and fabrication for 10 years so I guess everyone else is the expert.

Here's some mashed potatoes being thrown in your direction :lol:...who are you to talk down on me, Mr. I hacked my alternator housing to fit my crappy exhaust? Keep up the good work. pppfffttt
 
I wasn't quoting you as an insult, I quote so that people know what my response is relating too. Eeesh, sorry. But why would you say that Stainless is known for cracking, without providing any sort of info as to why, and what the causes of cracking are? For christs sake, I was agreeing with you.

Using too much heat, and/or improper shielding gas coverage can cause incomplete fusion and carbide precipitation, amongst other defects, in SS. I'd say those are detrimental parameters to consider in a welding procedure.

As for grinding the face of the weld flush, I could learn more about how stress is applied to this part. I assumed it would be under tension, compression, and torsion through its range of motion. All of the strength of a groove weld is through the section thickness of the part. Removing the face reinforcement and leaving a flush face weld shouldn't detract from the strength of this part. That said, leaving the face reinforcement isn't hurting the part either.

My point was, leave the weld untouched to save time/money.

I appreciate your knowledge and experience and hope to learn as much as I can from everyone. But attacking someone, and their educators, and holding a "hollier than thou" attitude is not professional at all. I would have been happy to elaborate on my reasoning if you had asked, rather than bashed. I am still a student, but felt I had a worthy 2 cents to throw in.
 
offthewallds said:
I appreciate your knowledge and experience and hope to learn as much as I can from everyone. But attacking someone, and their educators, and holding a "hollier than thou" attitude is not professional at all. I would have been happy to elaborate on my reasoning if you had asked, rather than bashed. I am still a student, but felt I had a worthy 2 cents to throw in.
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Well said


@ CrazyTalk, All I have seen you say here is talking bad on other people, makes you look like an experienced 12 year old child. And thanks for the comments on my exhaust, funny cus you havent got a clue what I am planning on doing with that. Why dont you relieve yourself from the contour community already Mr. I'm better and know more than everyone. That way we wouldnt have this thread full of nonsense because someone had to

CrazyTalkSVT said:
What the hell are you talking about?
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How is that not personally attacking someone??
 
FastFord said:
@ CrazyTalk, All I have seen you say here is talking bad on other people, makes you look like an experienced 12 year old child. And thanks for the comments on my exhaust, funny cus you havent got a clue what I am planning on doing with that. Why dont you relieve yourself from the contour community already Mr. I'm better and know more than everyone. That way we wouldnt have this thread full of nonsense because someone had to



How is that not personally attacking someone??
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Then you haven't been reading it all.

The original poster quoted me from a previous thread of mine about my lateral arms and me not joking about the expense being more than most people's SVT's on here. I laughed, not because I wanted to make fun or "talk bad" about him or his project/group buy or anybody else, but because he now understood where I was coming from originally. I even wished him luck with his group buy.
I didn't say they would crack, I just said that SS is "prone" to cracking and to be leery of grinding the beads down. I didn't feel a lengthly explanation of why this is the case was necessary at the time because quite frankly, I don't care if they do crack. I don't need the bars because I have my own. I just figured if he wanted to know more or gather more information to possibly make them better he would've asked, being this is his thread. At which point I would gladly explain where I was coming from and/or my experiences.

I get that offthewallds was agreeing with me now, but the manner in which he quoted me and then gave his explanation was taken by me as, "no, you're wrong and this is why I am right" even though I hadn't given any information or explanation on my own behalf. If he would've simply stated from the beginning, "I agree with you and would like to add..." or something to that effect I wouldn't have jumped on him with the "What the hell are you talking about?" question. That's not personally attacking him, thats asking him just what the hell are you talking about. LOL I wasn't saying or intending it like a grumpy old man or anything.

What else you got for this experienced 12 year old?
 
offthewallds said:
Best option, save the time (read: money) and leave the final weld bead alone. Good welds are fun to look at anyways.
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You must have missed this part then^

CrazyTalkSVT said:
I get that offthewallds was agreeing with me now,
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Perfect, we can all be friends now. I wasnt understanding why you were saying that crap to someone that was agreeing with you, thats all.

And just so you know, the hacked alternator and dented headers will be fixed at some point. I just wasnt ready to buy a whole new alternator setup and do the wiring, and dont have the tools available right now to heat those primaries up enough to compress sand inside of them to push the dents out. Let's get back to the Stewie bars!
 
Beers all around!

I'm curious on pricing for these. I'll be earning enough $ this summer to go through my neglected suspension and would be interested in a set of Stewie bars.
 
Happy Easter all. Sorry for ignoring this thread for a while, weeks been a bit crazy.

I had specified that only the welds on the side of the arm near and parallel to the bearing were to be ground, and that was to make sure that they cleared the subframe without binding, the production version will not have the mitered welds or any of the knuckle side welds ground.

As to price, I can say that they will be less than $600, which was my price per set at 3 sets. Until I get confirmation from the parts testers that everything works and that nothing has gone terribly wrong, ie car falls apart, I won't be bothering the machinist with premature quotes.

As to bushings, no, these won't come with bushings for the knuckle. A solution to these would be either burning out and pouring poly bushings, or you could burn out the old bushings, tear out the old liners, and use a set of trailing arm bushings cut down. I forget who did it, but someone did, probably on NECO.

And no, the end link mounting point is not reinforced beyond being thicker, I've never seen a bushing pull through the stock arm, let alone damage the steel of the it, so I don't think reinforcing it was necessary, did I miss a thread here?
 
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