Has anyone out there ever considered trying to stiffen the Falcon's 'chassis'? I know in the US its common to use 'sub frame connectors' on Mustangs, Camaros and even Maximas.
But other than strut braces, I have never heard of anyone doing similar to a Falcon or Commodore.
I was thinking something like this? Im guessing it would have to be totally custom built...But are there experts out there that know what they are doing when it comes to this?.
Martin, I think you will find that an Australian Ford chassis is already alot stiffer than Mustangs, Camaros etc simply to cope with the state of our roads and the way we use our cars. The last time I was under one of my Falcons I seem to recall it already had full length chassis rails. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Well full length chassis rails or not, my car feels as rigid as a paper bag. Going up driveways it creeaaks, and I also noticed it did that when I was doing some hard cornering the other day.
When I bought the car 15,000kms ago it felt nice and stiff and certainly did not creak from anywhere but these roads I drive on have totally changed that. It feels no stiffer than my EA that had 150,000kms when I sold it honestly (my ED has 165k kms)
I always thought that the falcon chassis was pretty strong. Alot stronger than commodore at least. I don't reckon it would be worth it in the long run. Are you sure its not just some bushes??
My ED creaks when i go over bumps hard and very occasionally when i pushing her hard around a corner.
Strut braces are good (and cheap) for what they do. Not only does it complete ur suspension geometry, as you said martin it also increases ridigity(sp?). I have heard it will also reduce the amount of damagein a side on collision, dont know if this is true though.
I also have heard that a sump guard also helps chasis strength. i dont know what a sump guard looks like.
XA coupe said:
seam welding is always an option .. as is a proper non wank type roll cage/bar
my ED Futura has done 257'000 kms. it was great untill about 180'000 then got a few suspension noises. but found all the noelethane bushes up the front and back were old and got em fixed, and put some koni adjustables and its been great ever since !
Sump guards are cheap too ($85 from Ford as I recall). I will take a happy snap later this week of the one on the NB and post it here. As a bonus they protect the sump from stones, rocks and kerbs as well. The self tapping bolts Ford supply to fit them last 5 minutes though and the oil drain hole is a bit small (I enlarged the one on mine so my fat fingers could get at the drain plug).
Yeah the suspension bushes do creak, but there is creaking definately coming from the body of the car also. The doors also shake inside their frames on rough surfaces.
Ill be adding a strut brace soon, but I dont think it will actually make the frame of the car tighter, just the front end. Same for the Sump guard.
But Im going to chuck the car on a hoist and see what kind of bracing can be done under there, it certainly wouldnt do any harm, and shouldnt cost too much either.
Thanks again everyone!
Aussieblue, looking forward to the pics of the sump guard setup :s2:
I think a suspension freshen up will do the trick. Don't think ford chassis's will fatigue over km's.
My EF felt abit loose etc around 150k mark but when shockies springs swaybars were done it felt like a new car.
Trust me at 150-160k if the shockies are original they would be stuffed.
White Line make some tower braces for E Series falcons at a good price. I think that and coupled with new stiffer sway bars you should be pretty right.
Seam Welding: Done in the right places this can make a difference, done poorly it is a big waste of time. We have only seam welded around the suspension pick-up points, and the K-Frame (Front suspension cross-member - which incidently is very weak for different reasons on every falcon since the EA - ditto for the Watts link mount on the Diff). I don't think Falcon Chassis' suffer from fatigue. Drive a retired Taxi with all new suspension bushes and they usually feel fine. Sloppiness and groaning is prolly from tired suspension.
Sump Guard. Mine is made from 8mm Alloy plate, bolted in 6 loctions using 12.8Mpa Bolts into nutserts (flanged ones, welded for extra strength) in the K-frame. I dont think that it makes much difference at all to chassis stiffness, but does a great job of protecting the sump.
IMHO Strut braces are a bit of a toss on a Falcon, since they don't have Macpherson Struts. It does virtually nothing for the suspension geometry, and in any case would not work terribly well because they are all bent, and therefore deflect easily and compress under load. The top mount for the shock absorber does not have to be located terribly precisely. I have found that the there is no problem with the shock-absorber top mounts moving toward each other (which is essentially all a strut brace would fix), but the mounts bend in a way that is not easy to prevent or fix due to the constant heavy landings I subject them to.
Roll cages: Falcon chassis are pretty stiff to start with, but I have found a fully integrated 23 point FIA spec chrome-alloy cage does help somewhat. A bolt in cage will do absolutely nothing for chassis stiffness, and in any case you are flat out getting anything with one registered.
Much better to stitch-weld the car: run a - say - 2cm bead of weld, then leave open for 3 or 4 cm. Don't do the welding 'stitches' consecutively, as it can lead to distortion in the shell. And the gaps in between the welds prevent stress cracks travelling along the weld.
Id be happy to give any non-beleivers a ride in my car to let them hear for themselves the frame of the car creaking like a rusty gate. (ok it isnt that bad but you can definately hear it with the radio off)
I remember taking an AU Wagon for a drive about 2 years ago and it creaked a little also, so please dont tell me a Falcons chassis is stiff.
(well going by the ones ive driven and ridden in anyway....)
I remember someone posting up pics of an EA with chassis cracks around the front end, I could be wrong but I think it was BOF351?
Actually the stiffer the suspention the more chance there is of Body flex.Though a tightened up suspention will make it feel better, with good tyres and some power it will flex.The road up the blue mountains which I love it can be done easy..
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