Alumimum links

crash2 · Apr 19, 2006

I know troy is runing them on his new rig. Anybody know how well they are holding up? As well as mine are holding up they are a lil bent and troys rig is comperable to mine so wanted input on how they are holding up....

Roccrawler · Apr 19, 2006

I beat them hard in moab and no prob yet

crash2 · Apr 19, 2006

roccrawler said:
I beat them hard in moab and no prob yet

I am going to keep an eye on them. One thing I hate are bent suspension stuff....

blownblue1 · Apr 19, 2006

:tank: No aluminum links here..what is lightweight? my tires weight more than most buggies

ILLYOTA · Apr 19, 2006

I want aluminum links but my cromo's well work for now

sarg · Apr 19, 2006

crash said:
I know troy is runing them on his new rig. Anybody know how well they are holding up? As well as mine are holding up they are a lil bent and troys rig is comperable to mine so wanted input on how they are holding up....

Im gonna get cromo next and have them heat treated. when the aluminum gets weak it will let go and bend real bad. There has been some good threads about this on pirate.

crash2 · Apr 19, 2006

The only problem doing that sarge is when you heat treat them you truely want your weld inserts for the hiems to be made of the same material. Now granted they are at the ends of the links so leverage is not as a big of a factor as lets say in the middle of the link but still. I am not sure on how the heat treating will react with the mild steel weldserts..

sarg · Apr 19, 2006

crash said:
The only problem doing that sarge is when you heat treat them you truely want your weld inserts for the hiems to be made of the same material. Now granted they are at the ends of the links so leverage is not as a big of a factor as lets say in the middle of the link but still. I am not sure on how the heat treating will react with the mild steel weldserts..

I agree, I wont be using inserts when I go to cromo. the only guys that have had good results with aluminum are the moon buggy's and we all know how much your short bus weighs:redneck:

crash2 · Apr 19, 2006

ILLYOTA said:
thats why you just tap them out and don't run weld in's:flipoff:

hEY YO!!!!!!!

Shuddddyup and finish your rig :flipoff:

But ben has nailed it as far as chromo links go unless you have chromo weldserts made up...

Ben you should look into getting them heat treated as your yield strength is about 40% stronger with them treated from what I have read...

crash2 · Apr 19, 2006

sarg said:
I agree, I wont be using inserts when I go to cromo. the only guys that have had good results with aluminum are the moon buggy's and we all know how much your short bus weighs:redneck:

Thats why I used troys rig as a comparison since we weight close to the same--granted mine is probaly a tad heavier...

sarg · Apr 19, 2006

crash said:
Thats why I used troys rig as a comparison since we weight close to the same--granted mine is probaly a tad heavier...

from what I have read they do hold up at first and then they let go with no warning. all the arizona guys went with them over a year ago and all of them bent the crap out of them and are not running them any more:kiss:

Roccrawler · Apr 19, 2006

crash said:
I am going to keep an eye on them. One thing I hate are bent suspension stuff....

oooohhh ya... me too

Roccrawler · Apr 19, 2006

ooohh wait , heres a idea... if they start to bend!!! buy new ones :redneck:

Roccrawler · Apr 20, 2006

as long as you guys know everything and are happy with your 50lb bars compared to 5lbs thats cool :stirpot:

Roccrawler · Apr 20, 2006

moto261 said:
maybe i should re-phase that you can weld to alum. links but it wont hold and im not telling why :flipoff:

what did you want to weld to them anyway??

sarg · Apr 20, 2006

roccrawler said:
as long as you guys know everything and are happy with your 50lb bars compared to 5lbs thats cool :stirpot:

I wouldnt want something light if I was going to hit it all day with all the weight
of my truck. Plus the weight would be in the right spot to keep the rig planted on the ground.:redneck:

Roccrawler · Apr 20, 2006

we should let Boeing in on our secret.. they can start making jets out of dom instead of aluminum :stirpot:

crash2 · Apr 20, 2006

ha ha ha--now thats funny.....

But to kep on topic I can't wait for them being used for about 6 months and see how they work...

Berne · Apr 20, 2006

crash said:
ha ha ha--now thats funny.....

But to kep on topic I can't wait for them being used for about 6 months and see how they work...

this is a really good topic....

for a competition rig, (race cars, comp rock buggy's, whatever...) Aluminum is a great material....
for that matter, Aluminum is a great material for anything where:

--weight is a HUGE factor (comp' rigs, AIRPLANES, etc...)
--there is a high inspection/service/replacement rate (Comp rigs, AIRPLANES, etc...)
--Cost is not as important as Weight ('competitive' comp rigs, AIRPLANES, troy's rig apparently)

for me, and I suspect MANY others, aluminum is NOT the solution for links.....
cool, yes....practical....I don't think so.

DOM is prolly good enough (if designed right).....
Chro-moly is NOT worth it unless you heat treat it (cost wise)

my $.02

--B

cisco · Apr 20, 2006

6061-t6 45,000 psi ultimate tensile strength 10,000psi modulus of elasticity, 4130 heat treated 161,000 psi UTI and 29,000psi modulus. So the steel links are almost 4 times stonger and 3 times stiffer. These properties are for the one big whack scenario.

Under fatigue I dont have the numbers but you should be able to bend the steel back and forth a jillion more times than the aluminum before it breaks. This loading would be light, the kind where there is no permenent deformation.

Heres a couple links to some material properties

http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=M4130U

http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MA6061T6