Originally Posted by Tim:
It's not so much that the chassis is "designed" to bend to absorb energy (although that is a plus), but more that the chassis are not structurally designed to minimize the deformation in the lateral (side) plane. The chassis are designed to flex somewhat and with that built-in flex there is a trade-off - that being lack of resistance to said lateral force.
I have repaired many chassis with the front end "askew" from impact. This has ranged from pulling back into place and re-welding to full front clips. The customers I've done this for are predominantly local/regional racers with limited budgets. I've not done any "high end" competitor chassis, mostly because they are "crash it and trash it" folks who don't have time to go through the repair process, with many of them getting their chassis for a heavy discount (or free). It will be interesting, however, to see how this continues with the supposed additional tariffs on foreign steel and subsequent hike in prices.
Tim Simmons
Who besides Triple X is using imported tubing?