i'm about to start making the de-dion axle and i have a few doubts as to what materials i've chosen:

1. for the trailing arms, are they 25mm diam. x 1.5mm wall tube all round? does anyone know what diameter tube is needed for GTS polybushes to fit?

2. Is 50mm diam. by 3mm wall enough for the de-dion tube? will be pretty heavy

3. how exactly are the chassis brackets made? the book says to drill one hole, bend the plate and then drill through the other one....but past experience tells me this is not very accurate... is it better to drill out both holes and then bend?

4. i understand the hub carrier plate is 12mm thick?


thanks for your help

anyone pls?

For the chassis brackets you could use ERW box section. Drill one hole right though from one side to the other so the holes are properley lined up. Then cut out the welded face to leave the "U" shape and shape the edges to finish. 50mm x 50mm x 3mm box section is readily available and should be roughly the right size and cheap too.

Can't comment on the other materials I'm afraid!

HTH
Nick

1. Sounds reasonable if you don't make them extremely long, but it's easier to make them from square tube. And they all have to be the same length, if you use pu-bushes I guess within 1 mm and the tubes for the bushes have to be square to the arm, but you know that already, don't you

2. Trust Rorty

3. If the holes line up parallel to the “backside” of the bracket, it is easier to fit on the frame.

4. Trust Rorty

Cheers!

[Edited on 06-7-27 by leto]

thanks a lot... saved my day cos the metal supplier is closing tomorrow for vacations so i need to get as much as i can get my hands on.

good idea using square tube.. i happen to have some scrap tubes which are exactly 50x50x3!