Crossmember Bars POLL (cross member cross section)

[rocco16 at sbcglobal.net (Larry Fry)]

 Based on my assumptions and
simplifications, the bar should hold just fine with no fatigue
problems for the forseeable future (although I'm very much more sure
about uncracked crossmembers as I am about cracked ones, but it should
be fine for both). Basically it should hold the forces put on it by
the engine and not fatigue at all.


I do have one more question that I posed to Larry and Allyn but didn't
get a responce. Did VW, during the same time as they changed the
crossmember, also go to the thinner and less tough metal for the arms
that the bumpers attach to?



Nate,
  I don't believe fatigue will be a problem with Eric's bar....simply 
because the bar is not rigid enough to be stressed sufficiently.
You could stretch a length of 20lb monofilament across the chassis, attach 
it at the same places, and it would not fatigue either.

 By the way, assumptions and simplifications may be sufficient for most 
listers, but it is not a very accurate way of coming to accurate 
conclusions....as I, myself,  have discovered.  :)

Did VW go to steel with less strength/thickness in the MkII?  I do not know.

Larry
sandiego16v