Discussion
After reading all the threads on out rigger failures and trapped corrosion issues. Could anyone explain why the manufacturers installed corner triangle sections (Front end) with holes in them to allow standing water and wet road debris to accumulate ? Surely it would have been better to use enclosed box section - thus eliminating a major failure point. Expanding foam in void maybe? or am I missing something ? Just wondering thanks GG
As a general rule its virtually impossible to create a hermetically closed space without significant expense. Is also difficult to apply a protective coating, completely, inside a fully enclosed space, which would be required unless you built the chassis in an inert environment. If you build the chassis in normal atmospheric conditions then you have moist air and inside the box section, providing the necessary oxygen and water to rot the box form the inside out. Creating an inert environment big enough to build a chassis would cost a fortune - I think Ariel have done it to build Titanium Chassis... So the idea of the open section is (should be) to accept that its going to be exposed to air and water & rather than fight it design for it, allowing for good drainage and protecting the thing properly in the first place....
There isn't an open section, at least on mine. The chassis tubes are closed at the corner with the plate across the corner to both strengthen the joint and give something to bolt the body to.
The problem with the tubes rusting away at the corner is due to a combination of crap original powder coating and water and muck getting trapped above the tube in the channel in the body that the outrigger sits into. I can't see anywhere that you could either box section to improve it?
When I replaced my outriggers the insides of the tubes were perfectly corrosion free on the corners that hadn't rotted through from the outside. I cut the old outrigger apart to check.
The problem with the tubes rusting away at the corner is due to a combination of crap original powder coating and water and muck getting trapped above the tube in the channel in the body that the outrigger sits into. I can't see anywhere that you could either box section to improve it?
When I replaced my outriggers the insides of the tubes were perfectly corrosion free on the corners that hadn't rotted through from the outside. I cut the old outrigger apart to check.
Tanguero said:
.....When I replaced my outriggers the insides of the tubes were perfectly corrosion free on the corners that hadn't rotted through from the outside. I cut the old outrigger apart to check.
I'ts been our experience that the chassis rots from the outside in. We have examples of removed outrigger tubes that are paper thin and pitted on the outside but as good as new inside.Steve
I kept a really good eye on mine, cleaned, waxoiled, they rotted from the top down and by the time I was able to put a screwdriver through from the bottom the top was very rotten. It's impossible to stop the muck accumulating but you can attack it with a hose every now and then to get the worse out.
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