something to think about....

Edited: 5/6/2008 8:25:48 PM by Severed701

this is something thats always been a thought in the back of my head, and with some of threads lately about unsafe work, and things being on the same road as there family,etc... i figured id see what people think about it. have any of you actually stopped and thought about the fact that a minitruck with a full stock floor b/d frame thats stout as hell,with wheel wells cut out..etc.. is probably not very safe either? regardless of how nice the work is and the welding/bracing.etc. what people don't think about is the fact that vehicle manufactures design and build vehicles to NOT be that strong in certain areas.they design weak points to act as crumple zones. wheel well areas are one that i know for sure, another that comes to mind is steering...ever wonder why your steering shaft is ribbed? its so it crushes instead of coming through and impaling you into your seat...whats gonna happen to your fancy new sold rod shaft with hiem joints? back to the new frame thing...whats gonna happen when you slam into someone..or someone slams into you whatever the case may be..and your frame that wont budge goes right through there car into the passengers? now who's fucked?or maybe since your frame wouldn't crush and you had no engine compartment to absorb any energy, you may be flying out of the truck..who knows... i'm not an engineer of any kind and my knowledge of safety features build into cars is kinda limited..but i really think this is something to think about if your that concerned with safety...now dont get me wrong..i'm not saying minitrucks should be banned or anything..id hate it if something like that would happen...anyone else have any thoughts on this?

i agree with your thought process, and know all about crumple zones. i work in a body shop, i see the results of those harder hits. but, as a counter point, alot of older cars and trucks didnt have as much thought or design into that. like older pickup trucks or full frame cars. yeah, most had some sort of anti-killpost steering columns but as for weak spots on purpose, i dont know. and typically most of these trucks sit the frame level much lower than the average car/truck, so us hurting them isnt much of an issue since it goes under them. and there will always be something bigger and more solid for other people to run into. semis, concrete walls, trees, ect. so, good thread. lets see where it goes. pictures of examples are welcomed.

I have thought about this plenty of times. So many years have been dedicated by engineers and the manufactures to put out a safe solid vecicle. Sadly most of the normal shit a minitrucker does to a mini is obsurd in the eyes of an engineer. He would probably have a field day picking out all the unsafe crap that a mini has, even the best designed truck out there. What can we do though...we aint stoppin!!!!

im sure they would love nit picking all of it. not even including the stuff that gets shaved. lights, handles, windows, bumpers, antennas, ect. haha.

thanks for the replys....hopefully this thread stays like this lol...and yeah i should have reworded that instead of sayin "weak" spots on purpose..more of..areas meant to bend or give under alot of force rather than not moving at all

i agree man!

i wrecked my yota back in high school when it was static. and ironically i ran into the ass end of a lifted truck. needless to say both vehicles were altered. i went under his bumper and slammed into his rear end. not to mention my truck was demolished in the front end., if both were stock height it would have only been a fender bender....

just a food for thought man.

^^^ yup exactly...oh yeah..i wrote this while letting some welds cool on my SFBD frame im building back to work

Originally posted by Severed701



thanks for the replys....hopefully this thread stays like this lol...and yeah i should have reworded that instead of sayin "weak" spots on purpose..more of..areas meant to bend or give under alot of force rather than not moving at all

Crumple zones. Most new vehicles have them. The truck I am working on now seems way over built. The outside frame rails are .150" thick, and the inside boxing plate is .115" thick. Not to mention there are .188" internal braces throughout the frame. I have not found an area that did not have them yet.

very good thread, ive thought about that while i was riding in my cut tha fug up truck

Edited: 5/6/2008 9:22:15 PM by low blazer

I'm less concerned with overbuilt stuff with no crumple zones slamming into me, and more concerned with cobbled together shit boxes rolling down the freeway next to my family. Getting rear-ended, or taco'd at an intersecion...that happens, I'd consider those accidents. Twists of fate, hapenstance, reletively unavoidable. A booger welded revese 2-link failing at 65 mph on the freeway, slamming a "built not bought" mini into my my wife and kids....that's where my concern lies. Guys draggin there trucks into burning piles of rubble on the interstate, endangering not only themselves, but others...that bothers me. Those are the kinds of things that are gonna get our hobby in trouble, not the occasional fenderbender with a soccer mom's Expedition.

Please don't get me wrong. I drag my ride every now and then, and am all for doing your own work...but common sense has to enter somplace. I mean really, why would you build or drive something like this



Even the untrained eye can see that's not right, but it's still on the road...

And really, if your gas tank is as low or lower than your frame rails, dont lay your truck out at 60 and just kinda hope for the best...

On a side note, Seth is right, some of the factory frames out there are rediculously over built. The Full size Chevy frames are built like tanks, a dually I crawled around under not too long ago had 6", probably .150 wall rails, and more gussets and crossmembers than I could count. I can't imagine getting hit by one of those things..lol. I think I'd rather have a body dropped mazda slide under my bumper