Aluminum link material group buy

Tacoma747

Tacoma747

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Winston-Salem
Changed our minds (maybe), so instead of getting steel to make links out of, I am going to call tomorrow and get a price on aluminum.

As of right now, I am going to get a price on:

(3) 2" 7075 solid
(3) 1.5" 6061 solid

I THINK I can get good prices, comparable to steel and half the weight. Both sizes are stronger than the steel tubing we would have used.

I am going to call MONDAY morning, and possibly order it monday, after I get finalized prices. So let me know ASAP.
 
Maybe we can get away with 2 sticks ? I know I only need 12' of 1.5 and 15' of 2"
 
I saw some links built out of aluminum. Pretty beefy looking. The fellow said his other buggy had the same links. When he slammed it down hard on rocks it would bend,........but when the weight was back off of them they come right back into shape. I think it would be pretty cool to have links that could take a beating like that. I think he said his cost about $100 for each link. No ends, just tapped for the ends.
 
Actually, using this 2" 7075 solid, is quite a bit stronger than 2" .500 DOM, at 1/2 the weight..

It would take 5,872 lbs of force to bend this one in my configuration, vs. 3,761 lbs with 2" .500 DOM, which I didn't think would bend easily..

Looking forward to it.
 
I would like to have enough for myself to be able to do a rear link suspension later on. Richard wants a stick of each, and I think he is only linking one end of his rig as well. I will see what the price difference is between 3 sticks of each and two of each.

I don't have a clue what the length of my links will be yet.
 
I could not get the 7075 stuff, so 6061 it is.

To make up for the loss of strength of the 7075 2", I upped the size to 2.5" 6061 solid. Rich said it is actually stronger I think than the 7075 2".

Prices are:

$7/ft AFTER TAX for the 1.5" solid 6061
$16.5/ft AFTER TAX for the 2.5" solid 6061 (12 ft sections)

2" .500 wall steel tube is about $15 per foot, the aluminum is stronger AND lighter, so it is worth the couple bucks extra.

I don't have to order it until Tuesday morning, so I will wait to see if anyone else wants to place an order.

Let me know EXACTLY how many feet of each you need (the length of EACH link) so I can order the correct amount to save us all money, no sense having a bunch of waste.
 
The 2.5 is 6% stronger in bending than the 2" 7075, and weighs about 30% less than the 2" .500 DOM, but is also 60% stronger in bending than the DOM.

I'm waiting for a call back from Southern Steel about the 2" 7075, they said they could supply it...

Honestly, I dunno if we wouldn't be better off with one of those 2 online places I found, only because the 6061 is softer and would gouge up alot easier?

In the brief conversation I had with Southern, they mentioned the solid rod comes in 12' sticks... I'm going to see if they'll cut it too, so that it can be shipped (DHL has an 8' length limit)
 
Got a call back from Southern.. You don't want to know the price...

Industrial Metal Sales-

2" 7075, 36" long - $66 + $5.40 to ship.
1.5" 6061, 60" long - $45 each + $7 to ship.
1.5" 7075, 60" long - $63 each + $7 to ship.

Looks like your source would be a good price, if only they could get the 2" 7075.. Which I really have my heart set on.. (i just have some concerns about the durability of the 6061)
 
Ok. Well I am going to order some for myself no matter what. I think the 6061 will be fine, if is gouges badly after some wheeling I will make some skids for each of the lower links.

The prices WILL NOT change the more or less I order. Quantity only applies over 50 pieces or so.

I am getting one piece of each. That will give me probably 4' extra from each stick.

I am ordering mine tomorrow, but I do need someone to buy at least one stick to meet the $250 minimum.
 
Just to help ya out.. I'll go for 1 12' stick of the 1.5". :)
 
I would not waste any money trying to build links out of 6061.

But this is a FS thread, so I'll keep my comments to myself. ;)
 
saf-t scissors said:
I would not waste any money trying to build links out of 6061.
Click to expand...

Start a thread in tech then.. I'm interested to hear why not, especially for an upper link.
 
I'm not really in the mood for a materials lesson or metallurgy discussion.

You'll have to take my word for it.

For an upper link... 6061 isn't a terrible idea. But it's not a good one, either. It's a Bad Idea to use it for a lower link.

Aluminum, in general, isn't a good idea for links in a 4x4. Comp guys can justify the 20lbs of weight savings. Maybe. At least on paper.
 
A few guys here would disagree.. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=546597

JR and Azrckcrawler are the 2 that are the most noteworthy in that, since neither of theirs are comp rigs, and they get BEAT on... Those BTG guys define hardcore rock crawling..

I guess I'll have to learn the hard way. The ONLY area where I could see even remotely marginal strength is the FS buckling on the upper, which still requires 28,000+ lbs of force, and I still have a 6+ FS on it.
 
I don't see anybody agreeing with you. A couple of people using 7075... which is a hell of a lot better than 6061. But still only a marginal weight savings for a higher initial cost and much more catastrophic failure mode.

This is what I mean when I say that the "4-link Calculator" is the worst goddamn idea that anybody's ever come up with. It takes the common fawking sense out of the equation. "Oh, but it works in my little calcumalator!" Sure, sure, whatever.

What's your design goal here? If it's weight savings, tell the bitch to walk. Or run D60s. You'd save 5x more weight with either one. Hell, you can save more weight *per tire* in selecting a tire/wheel combo than you can from swapping all of your links to AL. It just doesn't make any sense. And just because some other guy on teh intarwebs did it is no excuse. Making poor design decisions is not "cool", no matter what the people on PBB might tell you.
 
saf-t scissors said:
I don't see anybody agreeing with you. A couple of people using 7075... which is a hell of a lot better than 6061. But still only a marginal weight savings for a higher initial cost and much more catastrophic failure mode.
Click to expand...

You stated that aluminum links were not a good idea for a 4x4. You didn't say 6061 or 7075, so I take that to mean ALL aluminum. Doesn't look like anyone is taking your stance that "aluminum in general, is a poor choice" at all.

This is what I mean when I say that the "4-link Calculator" is the worst goddamn idea that anybody's ever come up with. It takes the common fawking sense out of the equation. "Oh, but it works in my little calcumalator!"
Click to expand...

It's a tool, nothing more. It makes it easy to compare different materials and their strengths & weaknesses using the same metallurgy properties you'd be looking up to make your decisions without it. How is that taking common sense out of the decision? It's just taking alot of the research out of it IMO.

What's your design goal here?
Click to expand...

*My* design goals for the LOWERS:
1: For the lowers to be as strong as possible, mostly in bending. ~50% increase in bending at a ~30% price increase seems like a good deal in my book.
2: Light weight is nice especially for the spare links which will be carried somewhere on the rig, but it's a distant second
3: :bling:
4: Logistics. A 20-22' stick of the DOM I was going to use weighs 160-175lbs.. That's alot of weight to lift onto the trailer, off the trailer, into the garage, up to the level of the band saw, etc since I'll be doing most of this by myself.

UPPERS: There's no good reason for me to do the uppers in aluminum other than #2 & #3 from the above.
 
Rich said:
It makes it easy to compare different materials and their strengths & weaknesses using the same metallurgy properties you'd be looking up to make your decisions without it. How is that taking common sense out of the decision?
Click to expand...

... because you still don't understand what you're talking about. You're putting out just enough information to avoid giving it away, but you're not willing to objectively discuss the strengths and weaknesses. You don't know what they are.

Either way, you've already made up your mind.
 
I'm perfectly willing to discuss the strengths and weaknesses... You're the one who isn't doing any discussion, rather just saying "it's a bad idea" and leaving it at that.

At this point I'm leaning heavily towards 7075 AL for the lowers, and am undecided on the uppers, but it neither case have I already made up my mind.

So, AGAIN, I'm interested to hear facts about why it's not a good idea?
 
I would like to hear facts also. Rich, Richard is calling sometime this week (hopefully tomorrow) to see if a guy he knows can get a better price on the 7075.

6061 is harder than the 7075 (I think) and would be more prone to breaking instead of bending. I think 6061 should be fine for uppers, since they don't see any hard hits from rocks and such, only torque stresses on it. For that matter, might be a better idea to use 1.75 solid 6061 for the uppers, just to give a little bit of extra reassurance.

At $24 ft/ for the 7075 2.0", that is a hefty bill.
 
Two things guys:
The link will be very weak at the threaded end since you are removeing material from it. This mean you need to recalcuate it as a hollow tube with the inside dia being the dia of the threads. If you do decide to run them go to mcmaster.com and get some threaded inserts or heli coils to put in this will make the threads way stronger. You may still deform the hole when you load it ive seen it happen twice in custom off road aarm app.

Also aluminium has a much lower fatigue life then steel. Though you may never reach it you reduce the strength everytime you land on one and bend it to the plastic deformation state and then bend it back.
 
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