Amazon Front Beam Alignment

red122 · Feb 3rd, 2019, 14:39

I had a spare beam blasted and painted whilst i had my car painted . Ive just tried to offer it up and it doesn't align with the bolt holes in the chassis .
Its only about 2mm out but I don't want to enlarge the holes on the beam as the bolts would then not be centrally such a snug fit .

Any ideas on how I can sort this out . I was thinking of using a jack and some wood to gently force apart the chassis rails to give extra room but suspect this will maybe stress the frame .

I assume the frames were all originally built on a jig so was surprised that my newly painted beam doesn't want to line up . At the moment I can get 4 bolts in but one of the big front ones is as I say about 2mm adrift.

Any ideas please ?

Derek UK · Feb 4th, 2019, 12:43

I'd think that a stretch of 2mm would be OK. It's only 1mm per side, not much more than the thickness of the paint. The factory +/- figures for the frame are only 0.5mm for this width but that is probably a bare metal measurement. If this is/was one of your rally cars, they do get tweaked quite a bit. That is why Volvo added the triangular stiffeners where the chassis arms join the bulkhead. That is also one of the reasons the cross member is shimmed, so that it gets squared up with the frame at the same time as setting the castor. Have you compared the width to the original one?

mocambique-amazone · Feb 4th, 2019, 15:14

To stretch in this area about 2mm isn't deforming anything. You will be still inside the elastic deformation range, plastic stretching will be far ahead.

If you do measure carefully with the help of Derek, and the drawing he did post, in front of stretching it will be better too

good luck, Kay

red122 · Feb 4th, 2019, 17:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek UK

I'd think that a stretch of 2mm would be OK. It's only 1mm per side, not much more than the thickness of the paint. The factory +/- figures for the frame are only 0.5mm for this width but that is probably a bare metal measurement. If this is/was one of your rally cars, they do get tweaked quite a bit. That is why Volvo added the triangular stiffeners where the chassis arms join the bulkhead. That is also one of the reasons the cross member is shimmed, so that it gets squared up with the frame at the same time as setting the castor. Have you compared the width to the original one?

Thank you Derek
I got it done today . I actually needed to draw the chassis nearer each other..managed with the aid of a trailer ratchet strap and its all bolted on fine now

Feb 3rd, 2019, 14:39	#1
red122 Master Member Last Online: Feb 16th, 2024 11:52 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: tunbridge wells	Amazon Front Beam Alignment I had a spare beam blasted and painted whilst i had my car painted . Ive just tried to offer it up and it doesn't align with the bolt holes in the chassis . Its only about 2mm out but I don't want to enlarge the holes on the beam as the bolts would then not be centrally such a snug fit . Any ideas on how I can sort this out . I was thinking of using a jack and some wood to gently force apart the chassis rails to give extra room but suspect this will maybe stress the frame . I assume the frames were all originally built on a jig so was surprised that my newly painted beam doesn't want to line up . At the moment I can get 4 bolts in but one of the big front ones is as I say about 2mm adrift. Any ideas please ?

Feb 4th, 2019, 15:14	#3
mocambique-amazone Master Member Last Online: Jan 24th, 2022 17:08 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: small village in the north of Germany	To stretch in this area about 2mm isn't deforming anything. You will be still inside the elastic deformation range, plastic stretching will be far ahead. If you do measure carefully with the help of Derek, and the drawing he did post, in front of stretching it will be better too good luck, Kay

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