horchoha wrote:
rumbles wrote:
Since the Tiger 700 will only weigh about 800lbs with me int it, I think it will be OK.
My concern is that when the welded critical steering component fails, is that I hope you survive, but that you don't take the life of the innocent person driving their vehicle near you or walking along the road.
Do me a favor, this will cost you nothing. Your build will have to be inspected. Contact the inspection agency
now and ask them if they will pass welding steering components. This costs nothing, may save you from rebuilding, and may save someones life.
I'm not pissing on you, my main concern is safety. Like it or not, us builders like to over engineer our build to keep us and the public safe. Welding critical steering components is not allowable, thats not my opinion, it's illegal for a vehicle that drives on public highways.
This great site, and members, all look out for each other, all advice is to be taken in a positive manner.
At the end of the day, every builder wants to pull into their driveway, turn off the key, and wipe that sh1t eating grin off their face.
I really do appreciate your concern! I agree that welding on a forged part is not as strong as on mild steel. For example, I started to reuse the donor Raptor A-arms, but the ball joint angle was wrong for my application, so it bound up when the suspension compressed. I could have cut the forging and welded it in the correct angle, but I didn't think that would be safe because of the amount of force on the A-arm ball joints. So I started all over again and built 4 new A-arms...Yikes!
On the other hand, my steering components were designed for far more demanding forces that it will ever experience in my little Tiger 700. There are 2 welded areas in my steering rods:
- The weld between the Mustang II steering rod and the Raptor steering rod. Both rods are mild steel, so a good weld is as strong as the metal around it.
- The weld to correct the forged steering ball joint angle. If there is a weak point in the steering system, this is it. I think I have a solid weld with good penetration here.
Action: This coming week I will tear down my steering system and test the welded areas. I will apply 5x-10x more force than it will experience on the car. I'll let you know the results on this forum.
BTW, welded steering components are not illegal in the North Carolina nor any other state to my knowledge. That rule came from the British MOT system and spread to many of its previous colonies, including Canada.