Any of you hardcore dragracers out there know of the 63 pontiac catalina and the swiss cheese frame, where they took a holesaw and cut 3" holes cut every half inch down the length of the frame. Does anyone know if that would cause a problem in chassis flex? The circle distributes itsload evenly, so I dont see how it would increase flex or warp or anything of the sort. Just throwing the idea out there.

 

last year one of the fastest fwd grand prix's (right around 9 sec. flat 1/4)did just that to the subframe/bumpers/etc on his car. well to make a long story short, the subframe snapped like a twig under the 8-900hp loadwith all the holes. on a full frame vehicle though, not sure how well that will work.

 

Seems like it would, but I dunno racing that much. If you dimpled it, which would be really hard, it would hold up no problem.

 

I would not do that on a Ram.

If you want to lighten the frame
consider removing the rear tire brackets and hoist.

 

I was hoping for your input on the idea. Why do you say you wouldnt?

 

That just seems like a very bad idea

 

Sounds like a bad idea to me. Most racers try to strengthen their frames and loose other stuff. The swiss cheese cars were not for daily driving and if they broke, GM would give them another. As Hank said, there is a lot of metal, bumpstops, and other items that can be deleted. Smaller tank. ABS or fiberglass rear roll pan. I would try loosing the weight in the front before the rear though. Need the rear to stay planted.

 

I know theres a lot of OTHER things, thats not the question at hand. Also, gm wouldnt give anyone another car for any reason. The swiss cheese cars were for track use yes, which they saw a lot of, and to my knowledge none ever had a problem with warping. As far as I see it, it doesnt degrade the integrity of the frame much, as the weight is still properly distributed. If it were squares cut into it they would be ****ed. Take a lesson from aviation, almost EVERY support piece has large holes cut into it to lighten the aircraft. One can argue that that is built into the design of the aircraft, which it is, but I believe that the support would be the same either way. I have a buddy that has a buddy that has a drag car with a swiss cheese frame, Im gonna try to talk to him and see what he says on the subject.

 

I don`t think I would tow with it.

 

I dont tow. Just my boat from drydock to moaring twice a year.