Aluminum body panels...looking for REAL info

Have you looked into titanium sheet? Seriously (for once).

You could through-bolt or rivet it to your fancy tubing and have submarine like toughness at aluminum weight. It's not as expensive as it used to be, either. I'm keeping my eye open for a sheet to protect my buggies tender underbelly.

CRASH
 
I have to correct something here 7000 series is weldable. There are special steps needed to make it strong but it is weldable.
 
DTH, thanks for watchin out for me, but sean and I bust each others chops, both publically, over e-mail, as well as face-to-face......even though his come-backs are lacking, its just for fun, another form of metal bitch competetion!

He told me in the form of a constructive critique that the "s" form of the door opening does not match the lines of the cherokee, and looks out of place.....I think he said "it sucks" or something as well, which is "polite" compared to the rippings I got in art grad school, so i can deal with the process and subjectivity of critique.

I have to agree with him, straight angles would probably be more appealing, but from a fabricating standpoint, too easy....

somewhere in the middle would be the ideal thing.

But then I was reminded that Moab is around the corner, and since my XJ is still on jackstands without any suspension connecting the unfinished axles, and no crossmember to support the drivetrain, and no exhaust or fuel lines for the motor, and no brakelines to stop the thing, I probably was not prioritizing effectively......

he *might* be right about that, but he's still an asshat.
 
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He can't put his axles under it, one of them is a 6 hour drive away from the other one.

I do consider his 1st rendition of the door openings to be pretty much butt ugly, wasn't going to make it public knowledge unless he did though.

You wanna get complicated with straight angles? Make the skins match the roll of the body and make it all look correct and like it came that way from the factory. I wanna see what you do with your b pillar to keep it from looking like ass. That is, if you feel the need to keep a b pillar.
 
sean, just so you know, I don't need the other axle.....

I can run the 37/5.38 combo up front with the 35/5.13 combo in the rear, same relationship.

I might even find this is the secret to surmounting the waterfall on upper helldorado.......

How much would you pay me to show up to moab like that?

that would be funnier than hell.
 
DTHBOX said:
Tell it to the FAA that 7000 is weld able. Makeing it stick together and welding are two different things.
Click to expand...

Like I said SPECIAL processes are needed to weld it to make it strong. Dry welding the 7000 series will make it weaker at the weld. Dipping the aluminum in a special acid base will displace all the air in the material and will allow the weld to to penetrate and harden without weakening the material around it. It is the air in the aluminum that causes it to be weak and hard to weld.

Bicycle manufacturers have been using 7000 series since the mid nineties and they quickly learned that those frames had a higher rate of failure so they changed their process of welding 7000series to compensate since 7000 series is a far better frame material than 6000 series. The FAA is the organization that pretty much got 6061-T6 designated as Aircraft grade aluminum. Who cares if aircraft use it? Use of a material is application based not aircraft based.
 
Beezil, you did the research, build it.

5052-H32 (quarter hard) is easy to bend with standard sheetmetal brakes and presses. The stiffness is similar to annealed steel. It is much stiffer than annealed 6061-T6, and cannot be reheat-treated like 6061. Availablilty should be simple as it is a standard sheet metal stock item.

I built considerable lengths of 5052 ductwork (and custom items) for the Jet Propulsion and Rocket Propulsion Labs at Edwards AFB in my youth as a Union sheetmetal worker. It works for boats and cars, and is weldable. I even got to sit in a Gurney AAR Eagle that once placed at Indy, with a monocoque made from 5052.

2024 is great for hardness, but it also deteriorates with age. I found this out helping with some rebuilding work on the main spars of a P51. the 2024 crystalized. If you plan for the XJ to last 40 to 50 years ;) it may not be the best choice.

Get out there and build ...
 
What are street signs made of?? They seem to take abuse pretty darn well on my friend's recreational buggy....
 
I like 6061-T6 and have worked with it for years. It should be readily available at any metal supplier. You have to be a bit more careful bending it, but it is pretty strong for the weight. It also has pretty good corrosion resistance. Its about as strong as you are going to get out of aluminum without going exotic.

Most body panels could easily be .060" with .090" being the next kind of standard size up from there.

Oh, and remember if you are going to paint it, use a zinc chromate primer, otherwise most paints other than Hammerite just won't stick for long.
 
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I think the reason it got moved over here is that it is a classic thread about material selection. The info is as relevent today as it was two years ago. You will be seeing lots of good older threads being moved here for reference.
 
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