Do they copyright DLM chassis?

[84wedge]

Can a person just clone any old DLM chassis they want and sell it under a different name?

[EvelB7]

Pretty much....Most think they can change a couple of things and make it better, few actually do (but that is how we got away from Rayburns and Howes).....

[wreck]

Isn't the general rule on copyrights/patents that a 10% change is fair game? I'm sure it's more nuanced than that, but even if it is patented, one wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel.

[billetbirdcage]

Copyright or patent is only as good as the lawyers or amount of money and time the person wants to spend to defend them.

[Barbecueboy]

Truth^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Jking24]

Pretty much....Most think they can change a couple of things and make it better, few actually do (but that is how we got away from Rayburns and Howes).....According to Rayburn every car ever built with 4 bars holding the rear in and a double wishbone front suspension is pretty much an exact copy of his. So basically Austin Kirkpatrick is the first guy to only half copy cj

[billetbirdcage]

According to Rayburn every car ever built with 4 bars holding the rear in and a double wishbone front suspension is pretty much an exact copy of his. So basically Austin Kirkpatrick is the first guy to only half copy cj

No copy, because it was a 1 link on RR

[Austin34471]

According to Rayburn every car ever built with 4 bars holding the rear in and a double wishbone front suspension is pretty much an exact copy of his. So basically Austin Kirkpatrick is the first guy to only half copy cj
Yeah well you see where that got him...

[FlatTire]

Copyrights are reserved for books, songs, poems, etc. Perhaps you mean patents? You can't patent a dirt late model frame. It doesn't meet the basic rules to patent something. Rumley's left rear suspension from a few years ago probably could have been patented. Types of shocks could be patented.

[dirtcrazy4u]

To patent something it has to be unique in design. Most get them before it gets released, but if you do get one and someone see's a flaw they can redesign the look but still have the same function. A chassis, waste of time. Move a few bars and you can call it whatever you want. All these cars are close to being the same as it stands today anyhow. Some just have a lot more of them out there and have greater feed back from there customer base.

[formercrewguy]

Can a person just clone any old DLM chassis they want and sell it under a different name?

Sure. Mark Richards has been doing it for years!

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

No copy, because it was a 1 link on RR

I call that a leaf spring!

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Yeah well you see where that got him...

In the rules HoF with Rumley. Another chapter in the theater of the absurd, that is modern dlm racing.

[lurker]

(but that is how we got away from Rayburns and Howes).....

Threads like this make me think of the good old days of, Bopp, Howe, Tri-City Buggy, Lefthander, Dillon ------ Ahhhh, the good old days!!

[Jking24]

I call that a leaf spring!I never seen it. He just caught my eye a few years ago at Eastbay. At least I thought that was him. Then when he popped back up I kinda kept tabs on him a little. Question was it a leaf or did it actually have a single link on the rr similar to a 3 link ?

[dirtcrazy4u]

Sure. Mark Richards has been doing it for years!

Funny, if anything, his cars have probably been copied more than anyone's. Let's remember Richards and Ed Howe had a close relationship for many yrs. Then someone mentioned about Rayburn. H*ll his leaf spring cars were the car to have back in the day when you didn't have that LR shock behind the axle.

[EvelB7]

Larry Shaw was one of the first to make the four bar work well in the 80's... I ordered a car from Warrior in the early 90's and asked for a four bar, they tried to talk me out of it-said nothing was better than a mono leaf car....

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Funny, if anything, his cars have probably been copied more than anyone's. Let's remember Richards and Ed Howe had a close relationship for many yrs. Then someone mentioned about Rayburn. H*ll his leaf spring cars were the car to have back in the day when you didn't have that LR shock behind the axle.

He's never had an original design. He copied a Bloomer. The blue car is a Rayburn front. The combo cars they built were 100% Rayburn.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Larry Shaw was one of the first to make the four bar work well in the 80's... I ordered a car from Warrior in the early 90's and asked for a four bar, they tried to talk me out of it-said nothing was better than a mono leaf car....
Yeah, by like 88 or so, everyone had abandoned 4 link.
Then around 94/95, 4 links came back again.

The reason I was drawn to LM was because the rules were very basic and any geometry was fair game.

[lurker]

EvelB7 & MasterSbilt_Racer,

Do either of you remember the ShawBurn chassis campaigned by Billy Moyer Jr. --- Late 80’s I think? Shaw front clip, Rayburn rear --- if memory serves me correctly ??

[Rajflyboy]

Great thread👍 Multiple informational posts 👍

[84wedge]

Interesting. I guess the only reason there aren't hundreds of different builders out there is because it ain't easy or it's too expensive.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Lurker,

I remember the Shawburn. I forget which way the combo went.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Interesting. I guess the only reason there aren't hundreds of different builders out there is because it ain't easy or it's too expensive.

It's not easy to build a brand and be profitable.

[dirtcrazy4u]

MastersBuilt I have doubts about chassis as you say rocket has copied. I will concede that you have more insight on a slm platform than I do. I was around when combs and richards were together and most of there input into chassis design came from Ed Howe. Today, if you have a dominate car it will be copied before seasons end.

[Raceready]

I hope we are not forgetting Ray Callahan and Bullitt Chassis ?