Outrigger Material

[iamrtl]

Anyone know what the outriggers are made of.

I have to replace a few bits and have been trying to source T45 or CDS in Ireland without much luck.

Assuming the the original tubing was 38mm dia, 3mm thck and welded.

Those who have done replacements, what did you use?

cheers

[Tanguero]

I used 1.5" OD 16 swg mild steel tube as per the advise of someone that worked on Cerb chassis at the factory.

[TimJM]

^^^ Yep. When I checked it was 1.5" external diameter 1.6mm wall thickness ERW but most people go for CDS when replacing.

[iamrtl]

Thanks for the reply, i'll check whats available and take it from there.

I gave willow sports cars a call and they use 38mm dia 2.0mm thck ERW.

[Superjuiced]

has anyone tried using stainless steel as a replacement? Seeing as the outriggers are the most susceptible to corrosion surely this would be a much better option. Pipe follows all the same standard and its widely available and stainless steel isnt that expensive. I pay about £6 per meter for 42mm stainless which has about a 2.7mm wall on it.

[Tanguero]

Its lighter and a lot cheaper to use mild steel then have it zinc plasma sprayed before its powdercoated. It has the same protective effect as hot dip galvanisation but without the weight gain, having to drill closed tubes or the risk of distortion.

[GT6k]

The ideal material if you can get it would be 3CR12 which is a corrosion resistant steel. This is as tough and as easy to weld as mild steel but will only corrode very lightly, its designed for things like mining equipment. I did find out that a bus company in Blackpool uses it to build chassis (there's a joke in there somewhere I'm sure)

[carsy]

Superjuiced said:

has anyone tried using stainless steel as a replacement? Seeing as the outriggers are the most susceptible to corrosion surely this would be a much better option. Pipe follows all the same standard and its widely available and stainless steel isnt that expensive. I pay about £6 per meter for 42mm stainless which has about a 2.7mm wall on it.

Has to be the best solution by far but I always thought there was a problem with the welding of the stainless to the mild steel chassis. Surely must be doable tho. Any welding experts out there.

[gluedl]

I would not combine stainless and normal steel. If the welds are not top notch, the contact surfaces of both material will act as a galvanic element and will be prone to rusting.


My 5 cents - Cheers

[jamieduff1981]

That's a metallurgical nightmare. Don't go there! Getting a satisfactory weld is hard enough structurally, let alone considering the materials issue. Stainless is also heavier, relatively brittle and relatively weak.

[fr0zent0ast]

How is it that no one has/is making new chassis for cerbs? Surely it can't be that hard to replicate them and there is certainly enough demand out there....

[Superjuiced]

There is no problem welding stainless to steel, providing you use the correct dissimilar electrode, many people here will have exhaust manifolds where the flange is mild steel welded onto stainless pipes. Stainless absorbs impact better but is does not have as strong a design strength, but its whether the outriggers take much load or whether they are more to accommodate the body. The biggest problem is the no matter how well they are powder coated, how exposed they are means they are always going to be susceptible to corrosion

[portzi]

fr0zent0ast said:

How is it that no one has/is making new chassis for cerbs? Surely it can't be that hard to replicate them and there is certainly enough demand out there....

The cerb chassis is the worst to do a body off, as bad as the SEAC . Most earlier cerbs and tuscans are showing signs of requiring a body off refurb, and in 5-10 years time the T350's and sags will follow suit, depending on the cars usage, and whether lts a garage queen . !!. Unfortunately TVR powder coat was not renown, and with new improved techniques like spray galv , chassis are getting better protection.