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Looking to build a chassis jig in the off season. Right now I'm leaning toward a flat table design with bolt on fixtures for my pickup points. My question is, does anyone who has done this mind sharing some tips or pictures if they have done this. I'm a capable fabricator, but I'm always open to suggestion and ideas. Thanks!
The jig I had was 4x4 1/4 wall square tube. It got the job done just fine, but if I was doing it again I would build a plate style as you are describing. If you are on Facebook, you might check out Beak Built. They have built a really nice jig, and there are a few pics of it. Might give you a few ideas for your own. Good luck!
Thanks, I did very nice jig and cars. That helped a lot as well as identifying a few extra points on a chassis to jig for. Thanks again!
I recently built my second jig. I would not go with flat table design, to hard to access bars from outside. Tips I have for you Make sure totally square so can measure from any rail of jig to keep bars where they belong. Add adjustable feet to allow for leveling I use weight jack bolts with plates on bottom to place on floor be sure to recheck level often. I used 4 inch H beam works great. Build it with legs high enough to get cherry picker under.[first one 9 inches high now 2 feet off ground] First jig was as log as frame of racecar latest jig is long enough to reach from front horns to rear suspension pick up points, from there I have a separate bolt on tail jig that adds another 3 feet. I start at 4 point main cage of car then do front work before I work my way to rear. This design allows for less jig to lean over. I also made my jig fairly narrow and install cross members to reach widest part of car. The best part of the new jig is a self leveling laser level that slides under H beams to ensure square and level placement of bars.
Everyone has their preferences, I've used both, plate was my preference. The only thing I didn't care for was the amount of slag it caught compared to the rail style. Excellent idea with the lazer! Almost makes me want to build another so I could try that out...
Anyone have some pictures of there jig?
When I helped my buddy build his jig many moons ago we used heavy wall 6X6 rectangular tubing. We drilled and tapped holes along the top of the rails so we could use smaller pieces of tubing (2X2) for support cross members under the chassis frame rails. The X-members were bolted to the jig rails with holes drilled thru L-brackets that were welded to the 2X2's.
We had sub-frames built (to locate suspension points) that would bolt onto the table for each different chassis we were building or repairing… at the time we had 4th and 5th design Howe style plus Chevelle styles.
I think the top of the jig was about 30" off the ground and it was an open design so we could access all areas of the chassis easier than a table design.