Airbar Shock Mounts?

[ArtosDracon]

How strong are the shock mounts on the airbar? If I were to do something like pull the bags off like they were never there and bolt coil-overs in place of the shocks then take it to PIR and beat on it all day on the road-course or take it down to bondurant and whoop on some corvettes all afternoon, how long till I snap one off and slide off the side of the track trying really hard not to roll it?

[marolf101x]

Chris Alston Chassis Works has been doing exactly this for a couple of years now. They use our AirBar, but replace the Shockwaves with conventional coil-overs. It's quite popular in the Pro Touring crowd.

http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/...M10_DS_WEB.pdf

[dailydragger00]

proboly not that long heres my road grader shock tab after 1 donut in a sandy parking lot...

[marolf101x]

Did you drive the vehicle for a while without a shock attached? I ask only because the break line is completely rusted over, which tells me it either broke in one fell swoop and you drove without a shock, or that the shock bolt was loose which allowed the tab to bend back and forth with each compression/extension cycle creating a crack. The crack did not fail immediately, but over a longer period of time, which rusted while exposed to the elements. Then, after the crack widened, and the rust crept forward, it eventually failed completely.

[marolf101x]

My guess is the latter is the cause of the failure as a shear failure would have happened in a straight line beginning between the two cut points where the bend is. This would have sheared toward the bottom of the bolt hole. (Please see attached image for line).

Also in the image I have placed an arrow where the metal was ripped upward parallel to the bend. This "rip" would only occur after repeated flexing; which indicates to me that the bracket was bending back and forth. You'll notice the shock attachment hole center is above the bend line, which reduces the chance of a straight shear.

In all actuality this is the first time I have seen a failure at that point. I have seen AirBars ripped from the bottom of cars when the rear end comes apart, I've seen shocks torn in two, but I have never seen the bracket break in this location.

Rest assured, if this were a re-occurring problem, it would be addressed and a running change would be made to correct the issue. I personally drive the crap out of our cars at Autocrosses and Road Courses all the time (like Road Atlanta just a couple weeks ago: http://www.ridetech.com/more/category/events/) and we have NEVER had a failure in this location. I wish I could say the same for engines!

(I'd also like to point out that if you view the pics in the link you'll see a bad blue 68 Camaro that hails from New York that uses our Street Challenge kit. Vinny won the participant Autocross at Road Atlanta {vendors are excluded} and ran a 10.60 1/4 mile the week before!
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sho...ighlight=vinny)

Britt Marolf
Product Development Manager
Air Ride Technologies
3509 S St Charles St
Jasper, IN 47546
Web: www.ridetech.com

[ArtosDracon]

Thanks for the responses both of you. I have to agree with marolf101x about that particular breakage, looks like it was bent a few times before shearing, if it was just a weak tab or if it had a factory flaw it probably would not have sheared that smoothly and that symmetrically. Good to know, this further re-enforces my design idea. Again, thank you both.